Your passport to wireless web freedom

As soon as you're stuck in an airport, you start to realize how powerless today's road warrior can be. Other than playing countless hours of Minesweeper or messing around in Microsoft's ridiculously elementary Paint program, there's not much a traveller can do without an Internet connection.

Finally, the years of 'netless nuisances are over, as new technology offers solutions for travelling Internet users.

Using the Kyocera KPC-650 Passport EVDO card plugged into my computer, I am able to connect to cellphone towers and surf the Web at near-broadband speeds.

EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) technology is a relatively new wireless protocol offering high-speed Internet connections across North America. The surfing speed isn't quite as fast as a wired connection or Wi-Fi, but it's light years ahead of old-generation PC cards that connected on snail-speed GSM- or GPRS-based data connections.

But speed isn't the critical issue here - accessibility is. With EVDO, you're not dependent on somebody else's decision on whether or not a location should have Wi-Fi access. In other words, you're no longer forced to buy an $8.00 peppermint mocha at Starbucks just so you can check your email.

EVDO allows you to connect to the Internet anywhere there's a cellular signal. If you can see a couple of bars on your cellphone, you can use EVDO technology.

While not every location in North America has been wired for 1xEVDO, many major cities in North America support the technology. The weakness: If you're outside the city limits you'll slow down to 1x digital speeds which are very similar to the sluggishness of dial-up.

There is, however, a price to pay for wireless freedom; while the KPC650 itself isn't expensive - it can actually come free if you sign a contract with your cellphone company - the service can get fairly pricey. Charges are based on the amount of data flowing in and out of your device, not on time spent on the phone or wireless device. A high-volume data plan will give you more peace of mind while surfing, but they can cost about $100 per month.

One other drawback of EVDO technology is that it rides on the CDMA mobile phone technology prevalent in North America and thus pretty much nowhere else in the world.

But despite its slow speeds outside cities and its lack of function overseas, EVDO is probably the first technology to seriously present a challenge to Wi-Fi. So if you're in a major North American city (and you can expense your Internet charges to your boss), this Kyocera card is just as important to pack as your passport.

(Google News)