Riccochet vs other mobile Ethernet services?

[mark at buttery.org (Mark Dulcey)]

Scott Ehrlich wrote:
> 
> At the last two LISA conferences I've been to, I've heard of Riccochet,
> but never used it.   I have had the opportunity to use CDPD via Verizon
> Wireless.
> 
> What, overall, is available in the Massachusetts/New England area
> (Blackberry, CDPD, Riccochet, etc)?
> What is the coverage like for each respective service?
> 
> It would be nice find a fast, reliable service using a single PCMCIA card
> to establish the connection regardless of OS!

Ricochet isn't available in the Boston area yet, and given the
current financial difficulties of Metricom, it may never be. (The
company has set up some sites in the Boston area, but the service
has not gone live yet.)

CDPD through Verizon is available. But it's slow, and the
coverage is spotty. I have an OmniSky modem for my Handspring
Visor, and it seems to be even-money at best whether it will work
where I want it to work.

The Blackberry RIM is available here, and coverage seems to be
pretty good. Some people at my office had them, and loved them.
But it's not a full-function wireless Internet service, and only
works with their dedicated devices.

Data services are available through Sprint PCS (CDMA, 14.4Kbps)
and VoiceStream (GSM, 9.6Kbps). Both are very slow; coverage is
as good as their cellphone coverage, which is good but not
perfect. Rates are high. These work with a serial connection to
your computer (the phone emulates a modem); although they only
officially support Windows, it should be possible to use another
OS. The Sprint version just gives you a "modem" connection to an
ISP, so you also have to have a dialup account somewhere. Sprint
has promised higher-speed wireless Internet later this year, but
no pricing is available yet, and you will need to buy a new phone
to make it work.

My former employer, Broadband2Wireless, was working on a
high-speed wireless network in Boston based on 802.11FH
technology. But given their financial problems, that's probably
never going to be complete, either, though service is available
in the Back Bay, South End, and Beacon Hill. Info can be found at
http://www.airora.com

-- 
Mark J. Dulcey               mark at buttery.org
Visit my house's home page:  http://www.buttery.org/
Visit my home page:          http://www.buttery.org/mark/
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