This week, I've been experimenting with various bits of EVDO wireless Internet kit from wireless-internet-broadband-service.com and Verizon, and I've been really impressed (and depressed at the thought of going back to Europe, where the comparable equipment is all locked down, overpriced and metered).
I've had the use of an EVDO card that worked flawlessly and speedily (rates comparable to the Ethernet connection in my hotel room) in my Mac, and which also seamless interfaced with a WiFi access point that was literally plug-and-play: just connect it to the wall-power, stick in the card, and the EVDO wireless service was retransmitted to my whole hotel-floor.
The number of situations in which I find myself captive to overpriced Internet service provided by hotels is climbing (in Amsterdam, I stayed at a hotel where the Swisscom WiFi ran 30 Euros/day, with a cap of 250MB — I spend 90 Euros in one particularly busy day) and gear like this points the way to freedom. I'd love to bring one to an airport ($10 bucks for a couple hours' broadband? Geez) with me and set the Internet free for my neighbors — hell, with the right software, you could even set up a competing ISP that charged a buck instead of a sawbuck for access!
(Thanks, Geo!)
