David Sims writes a great piece on CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A technology and it is faster as you would expect that traditional EVDO. Verizon and Lucent are trialing this new technology and I can’t wait till it comes out. I can’t tell you how many times this network has saved me in the last year or so since I have had it.

Revision A enables users to receive data (forward link) at speeds of theoretically up to 3.1 Megabits per second, and send data (reverse link) at speeds of theoretically up to 1.8 Mbps. I suppose these terms are Lucent wireless speak for upload and download.

Now I was never able to reach theoretical speeds before the upgrade and I am sure I wont be able to with the upgrade. All I can ask for is that I get a proportional speed jump and I will be happy. I have probably saved a grand total of $50 over the past year by not using WiFi connections when EVDO is available. Certainly the technology didn’t pay for itself but when you factor in the arcane logons you need to do to get on various WiFi connections and the credit card verification, etc. EVDO sometimes can save your life just by being faster to sign on to than WiFi.

The great thing now is that we will be able to use the network for VoIP and video which makes it all the more useful. The question is when do we need to scrap our cable modems and DSL?

I don’t get wireless access at home at all but for millions of people this solution could do the trick for them. The question is, will we need new modems to access this new technology? We will have to wait till 2006 until it is rolled out. Until then, find your closest WiFi hotspot and logon.