Worldcall evdo device snapshot on ittazee.com

Everyone has been talking and raving/criticizing/talking about Worldcall’s new EVDO wireless broadband service. Techlahore recently talked about the rival PTCL service that just launched in competition. We had been using the service in my old company for the last 3 months and after using it regularly, I think its time to share the experience of using this product nearly daily in a full review.

First of all, any good wireless broadband service is a Godsend for techies, consultants, generally people on the road. If you travel intercity, then even more so. Worldcall EVDO is very usable though it has some ticks that could make it better. In light of loadshedding and power issues I think a laptop with this dongle attached makes you invulnerable to KESC. That in itself, is something to pay for. Should you pay for this each month instead of your electric bill? :)  Read on more for the full review.

The technology

EVDO technology more or less competes with WiMAX, though WiMAX is newer and more powerful. Worldcall is backing EVDO (CDMA essentially , the same thing used by Sprint in the US) while both Wateen and Mobilink infinity have opted to use WiMAX for their networks, so they at the moment do have a technological edge. But lo and behold, technology not being everything, despite a very corny marketing campaign, Worldcall still seems to gaining on the sales of its EVDO Devices.

Setup

Simple and fast. Since its USB it self installs and starts to work. Your firewall might complain a bit if you have any one and running.

Speed

We got the RS 1,200 a month, 256kbps speed option. We got the speed promised consistently as long as we were in the Karachi metropolitan area and along shahraefaisal and clifton. I think as you get signal issues the speed will drop and become inconsistent fairly quickly. However, this is alot better than the “old” worldcall, seems like the Omantel buyout and management change might be helping. I can’t say much about the other higher speeds since I have not tested them. No upload or download cap, but in this day and age if any ISP even try impose a limit on broadband, dump them and move to another one.

Check out our speed test below:


Apps: Mail works well, we tested Yahoo mail and POP through outlook which worked well. At 256Kbps driving in Karachi, youtube just doesnt work well. But your basic browser apps, ie webmail, calendar and IMs like MSN, etc are good. Don’t expect this to be your connection for downloading tons of files from servers. It also disconnects every few minutes unless you’re actively using it, so really its just your “away from my real connection” connection….

Price : 3000 for the device, and 1200 and up for the service. Yes, home DSL is cheaper and faster, I agree but you do pay dearly for the mobility and to bypass KESC and PTCL all at once! ;)

And Yes, GRPS is half the price, at about rs 500 for unlimited, but all you can do on that is access your webmail on an static html interface, like the basic html Gmail interface. And you still have to pay the same price for the pcmcia card, and it wont work in one of those new little netbooks, whereas this usb option will.

Rivals : Mobilink (Wimax?), PTCL.

Here also is a decent overview of PTCL’s competitor to Worldcall’s EVDO.

Interested ? Here is the link to their website : http://www.worldcall.net.pk/wirelessbroadband.html

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