In Brief

If you have an ultraportable or other notebook without a card slot, such as a MacBook or 12-inch PowerBook, Sprint's Broadband USB Modem is the solution you've been waiting for. Finally, you too can join the ranks of cell data users, getting a broadband connection anywhere within Sprint's EV-DO coverage area. Better yet, the USB Modem is EV-DO Rev. A, which boosts typical speeds to 450- to 800Kbps downstream, and 300 to 400Kbps upstream. While Rev. A service is just rolling out across the country, Rev. 0 is widely available, with data rates of 400- to 700Kbps down and 70- to 144Kbps up. Sprint says that it "covers more than 170 million people with EVDO services, and over 20 million people with EVDO Rev A coverage, as of November 2006."

With a two-year contract, the USB Modem is priced at $49.99, less than most PC Cards. Unlimited contract prices range from $59.99 per month if you have a voice plan, to $79.99 with no voice plan. Cheaper alternatives would be to use a phone-as-modem plan with limited usage, along with Wi-Fi where available. However, if you're looking for one convenient solution that does not require fiddling with your phone or finding a Wi-Fi hotspot, the USB Modem is our pick.

In Depth

Setup on our Windows XP laptop was a breeze. We popped in the CD, installed the drivers, activated the card, updated its firmware and made the first connection, all within 30 minutes or so of opening the box -- even though the software told us it could take up to 4 hours to register the modem on the network. And after activating it on our PC, it was even easier to get running on our MacBook Pro. We simply installed a free modem script from the EVDOInfo Forums, changed a couple settings in the Network preference pane, and then got connected immediately.

Even better, on both the Windows and Mac laptops, the USB Modem did not exhibit the sleep/wake freezes and other problems we typically experience when using PC Card or ExpressCard modems. We have gotten used to laboriously disconnecting from the network, quitting the Connection Manager, and shutting down/ejecting PC modem cards before closing the lid, then turning around and putting it in again when waking up, a process that can easily take 5 minutes round-trip. Compare that to near-instant Wi-Fi reconnections. With the USB Modem, by contrast, we didn't even have to disconnect before closing the lid. That happened automatically when going to sleep, as it should, and both our PC and Mac laptops woke up without incident. We did have to manually press the Connect button again, but that was it.

Sprint's simple Windows Connection Manager software shows signal strength, data transferred, and connection status, as well as diagnostics and update information from a drop-down menu.

There's no corresponding Mac software, although some enterprising users have been running the card with Verizon's Mac software. We don't recommend that. Sprint says that Apple will be supporting the modem directly in a future system update, as it has with earlier EV-DO cards. However, Mac owners will continue to have to activate their card on a PC first (or use Boot Camp on an Intel Mac), and use Windows for firmware updates as well. Sprint retail stores and third-party sellers like EVDOInfo.com will also perform this service for you if you don't have access to a Windows machine.

So what about performance? We tested the modem in several locations around the SF Bay Area, and got download speeds consistently above 1Mbps with a five-bar signal, as measured by Speedtest.net. At lower signal levels, speeds dropped, as you would expect, but were still respectable. Our lowest downstream measurement was about 250Kbps, and highest about 1250Kbps, and we averaged more than 800Kbps, better than Sprint says to expect. Upstream results were disappointing, however. Rev. A's major claim to fame is increased upstream throughput, but we never got rates in the stated 300-400Kbps range. We topped out around 180Kbps, and averaged about 150Kbps. That may be due to heavy usage in our area, or may simply mean that Rev. A service is not fully ramped up yet. We will continue to test and update these results if things improve.

Physically, the modem was on the bulky side, three times as thick as a PC Card, and almost as big. It protrudes a couple inches out of your USB port, and may block neighboring ports. It has a flip-up antenna, as well as a port for an optional external antenna. For best performance in low-signal areas, Sprint recommends using the included USB Y-cable, which takes up two USB ports and thus draws more power to boost reception. The cable also allows placing the modem away from the computer, which can cause interference, further improving reception. In strong signal areas, we saw no improvement in Speedtest results when using the cable; in low-signal areas we did see a performance boost, but the cable is not really needed. It was also impossible to use with our MacBook Pro, which has its two USB ports on either side of the computer. When traveling, the increased battery drain from using two ports would outweigh the small speed advantage, in our opinion.

One other interesting note is that the modem has a built-in GPS receiver, although Sprint has not put it to use. We look forward to seeing what applications are written for it, either by Sprint or third parties.

Overall, the Sprint USB Modem is an excellent broadband solution for slotless laptops, and has some key advantages over PC Cards, notably a lack of sleep/wake problems. With downstream data rates averaging more than 800Kbps, it should keep even the most demanding business travelers happy. The only real negatives are bulk and a less-than-par upstream rate, which we hope gets remedied soon.