Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2006/09/18/sierra_wireless_ships_aircard_595/
Sierra ships Sprint's EV-DO Rev A mobile data card
3.1Mbps AirCard 595 goes out to carrier
Posted in Personal Tech, 18th September 2006 14:49 GMT
Sierra Wireless has begun shipping its AirCard 595 3G mobile broadband card based on EV-DO Revision A technology, the firm announced today. Cards coming off the company's production lines are being boxed up and sent to Sprint.
The 595 is a Type II PC Card that can deliver data download speeds of up to 3.1Mbps and uploads of up to 1.8Mbps on Revision A-capable networks. Sprint began rolling its EV-DO Rev A upgrade to its first-version EV-DO network - based on so-called EV-DO Rev 0 technology - this year.
Sierra said the 595 will connect to the older EV-DO network, but the speed maxes out at 2.5Mbps, while the upload speed is a mere 150Kbps - Rev A is mainly about improving uplink speeds
All these speeds are the respective technologies' theoretical maxima - real world speeds will be lower. Sierra warned users to expect "average download speeds to 450-850Kbps and average upload speeds to 300-400Kbps", but that's still "six times faster than currently available upload rates".
The AirCard 595 can also initiate CDMA connections. It's backed up by drivers for Windows Vista, XP and 2000, Sierra said. The card is also compatible with Mac OS X.
Sprint has in the past said it will ship EV-DO Rev A-compatible devices to end-users in Q3 2006, but the higher-speed connectivity - part of Sprint's Power Vision network - is not due to be made available to the public until Q4. ®