Click to Enlarge Sprint's two-year contract price for the Sierra Wireless U595 Aircard is $129.99 and online purchases are eligible for a $50 mail-in rebate. Only two monthly service plans are available: 40MB for $39.99 or $59.99 for unlimited nationwide access. Sprint's Aircard will also work in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada as well as Cabo, Cancun, Mexico City and Tijuana in Mexico. A North American unlimited connection plan is available for $99 a month.
Verizon's 2-year contract price for their USB720 wireless modem is $149.99. You can purchase the USB720 online with a $50 instant discount for $99.99. Verizon Wireless offers only one BroadbandAccess plan: unlimited monthly service will run you $59.99. Limited roaming service is also available in Canada and Mexico, though broadband coverage is only available in the Canadian province of Alberta, so you'll likely be surfing at dial-up speeds if connecting from anywhere else north or south of the Continental United States.
| Have a card to test? Share your results on the forums. After purchasing your wireless broadband card, follow the steps below to test your connection speed and share your results with other readers. 1. Be sure to close any open applications before opening a single web browser window. 2. Visit Ookla Speed Test'sWeb site at http://www.speedtest.net. 3. If not already selected, click on the United States on the regional map and select the Cincinnati test server (test server locations organized geographically). If the Cincinnati test server is no longer available, use the suggested test server. 4. Be patient while your download and upload speeds are tested (this can take as little as a few seconds or as long as a few minutes depending on your connection speed). 5. Click "Forum Link" under the "Share Your Result" heading and paste that link in the "Connection speed" section of the PopPhoto Forums. Be sure to include any relevant information with your post including your operating system, web browser, and current location (be sure to provide as much detail as possible). |
Download and upload speeds were tested using USB wireless cards from each provider five times in each of five cities using the Ookla Speed Test Cincinnati server. We averaged results from each carrier as tested in Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indianapolis, St Louis and Kansas City, resulting in an overall average score.
Speeds varied from city to city, though some wireless carriers had more consistent results. Verizon offered the best overall connection speeds with an average download speed of 110.2 KB/s. Verizon's average upload speed was nearly twice that of the other carriers tested with an average upload speed of 67.8 KB/s; if you're emailing photos from the road, expect a 1MB image to transfer in just over 15 seconds from these areas.
Sprint came in a close second with an average download speed of 96.6 KB/s, though the carrier performed significantly better in Pittsburgh and Columbus with average speeds of 155 KB/s and 140 KB/s respectively. Sprint scored second in average upload speeds as well, averaging 37.4 KB/s between the five cities tested.
AT&T had the slowest download speeds in all but Kansas City, but with an average download speed of 214 KB/s in the country's BBQ capital, the carrier scored significantly better than the next best download speed, achieved by Verizon in St. Louis at 156 KB/s. In Pittsburgh, AT&T crawled just past dial-up; with an average download speed of only 13 KB/s.
All three networks provided constant service without any dropped connections, even while driving on the highway. As we drove in and out of high-speed coverage areas, all three network cards adjusted automatically without requiring us to reconnect.
Speeds varied so greatly from city to city that it may be necessary to do some research on your own in your own city. Providers often offer a 30-day grace period, allowing customers to return purchased equipment within the first 30-days without an early termination penalty -- you're only responsible for service charges incurred. Be careful; once you submit a rebate claim you won't be able to return your equipment, so be sure you're in for the long haul before cutting off your wireless card's UPC for rebate submissions.
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