Cdpd? Cdma?

[PocketKitty]

I want to purchase a wireless internet for my iPAQ 3835 but I really don't know which one to get.

I' want something that will not make my iPAQ too bulky.

I was thinking about a wireless Air Card (or something like that).

If I do decide to get the Air Card do I need to get the CF or the PC Card expansion pack? or does that depend on the Air Card I get?

Also what does CDPD and CDMA mean? It shows up in the AirCard desciptions.

Can someone recomend a good wireless internet option and service. I've been getting all my info from mobilplanet .com

Thanks In Advance

[rlenig]

As far as I know, all Air Cards that are currently available are of the PC card type. As for CDPD and CDMA, CDPD stands for "Cellular Digital Packet Data". I am not sure of a lot of carriers that still use this technology. It was mostly used by older analog cellular carriers. CDMA stands for "Code Division Multiple Access". This is the technology that Sprint, Verizon, and Cricket use. Sprint has or will be releasing soon an Air Card made by Novatel that will work on their new "PCS Vision" network or 1xRTT technology. It will give you speeds of up to 144K wirelessly. Up until recently, most carriers had a maximum speed of about 19.2K.
Hope this helps some.

[kniaz]

I actually just ran into the same type of questions and here is what I found.

CDPD - older network. Still plenty of carriers that offer service for that (Earthlink is one of them). Speeds go up to 19.2 kbps
CDMA - one of the digital wireless technologies (GSM is another one) that provide 2.5G data access. Speeds up to 144kbps.

As far as cards are concerned, CDPD cards are available in either CF, CFII or PCMCIA cards. Higher speed 2.5G cards are exclusively PCMCIA and will require you to get a PC Expansion Pack.

One note - I would recommend getting a PC Expansion pack PLUS - these modems drain battery pretty fast and having the battery in the expansion pack sure does help.

[PocketKitty]

Thank You for the responses.

It definately helped.

I was going to get the PC Card Expansion pack but which wireless modem should I get? Any recomendations on that??

My price limit is up to 0-$500.00

I was looking at the AirCard 300 (for Handhelds only)? Is there anything better?

Thanks again.

[kniaz]

Well, that really depends on your wireless provider. I'd say that the best place to get it from. All of the ones we have in NY (Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint PCS) have those options and fairly decent plans. My Air Card 550 from Verizon cost me $249 for the card, plus $99 a month for unlimited access. Altogether, you are probably looking to stay well within your price range - figure $250 for the card, $150 for the expansion pack with battery and you are all set.

[PocketKitty]

I only checked into Verizon so far, and they do offer wireless internet in Chicago.

Did you buy the AirCard directly through them or through another provider/site?

Also another question of the subject.

With this wireless internet, can you view regular websites like you can on your desktop or laptop? Or only the ones like from AVANTGO?

THanks :p

[kniaz]

I purchased my card directly from Verizon - helps to have the technican support from Verizon as well as Sierra as the technology is brand new.

If my company wasn't paying for it though, I'd go with T-Mobile which is based on GSM standard - personal preference I guess.

As far as the web sites that you can have access to, the answer is yes and no.

Yes you potentially have access to all of the web sites, however, if they are not WAP enabled (specifically designed for PDA or cell phone access) they may not be usable. In order to be sure you can access and use a site, you need to make sure that it is WAP enabled. For example, I know Yahoo is. So in order to access the WAP version of it, you'd neet to enter http://mobile.yahoo.com/home into your PDA.

AvantGo is simply a synchronization service that downloads contents into your unit.

I pretty much just go to a web site I visit frequently and see if they have a WAP version. If not, I try to find a similar web site that is WAP enabled. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any listings of sites that are WAP enabled.

[ordxpres]

There's also one more option for iPaq which is what I'd go for. IT's the GSM/GPRS cf card that would turn your PDA into world phone. I'm actually thinking about doing the same myself as I believe that the GSM/GPRS expansion pack made by compaq is WAY too pricey.... I'm talking about the new CF Plus expansiopn pack for iPaq which contains the battery PLUS the new card from Audiovox (right now not available in the US but you can buy it through one of the Asian resellers at http://www.shoppingpda.com/product/rtm8000/rtm8000.asp ) This card is not for CDMA but rather for GSM networks (VoiceStream...transitioning into T-Mobile brand or AT&T). Both of the montioned providers have GPRS service which right now seems to go up to 44kbps (the equivalent of dial up modem..which for PDA formated sites is sufficient). The advantage to this option is that the CF Plus pack is less bulky than PCMCIA pack and weighs less too) plus it turns your pda into world phone since GSM is all over the world... Also one nice thing about the above mentioned card is that it has a tiny antenna instead of the longer one from Sierra Wireless or other PCMCIA cards. One may say that Sprint or Verizon's services are faster but in my defense I am much more of pro-GSM person since it is in use all over the world and since I travel quite a lot - this is an advantage to me to take my phone whenever I go and such would be the case with the above combination. One more advantage to CF cards...they use MUCH less power than PCMCIA cards therefore allowing longer talk/stand by time

For Kniaz.....
For PocketPC's not all websites have to be WAP enabled. There are quite few sites that recognise whether you are accessing the site from your PC, PDA or WAP phone. One of the many resources are www.wapenabled.com


Maciek

[mperetz]

Just a caveat. Don't buy too deeply into the hype on GSM yet in the U.S. Your mileage may vary as they say. For example, there is NO GSM coverage where I live, 33 miles north of New York City. None.

CDMA and CDPD work fine though.