Tonight was one of the rare occasions to play with all these beauties at once. Will spare you of too much introductory stuff and jump right into the testing results.

[+] click picture to enlarge

Toys in test:
1. Reference RDS/RCS 1Mbit cable connection via 54Mb WiFi - http://www.rdsnet.ro/
2. Vodafone 3G/HSDPA 3.6Mbs Huawei USB ‘SmartModem’ - http://www.vodafone.ro/ [product page link]
3. Orange 3G/HSDPA 3.6Mbs Option ICON II USB Modem - http://www.orange.ro/ [product page link]
4. Zapp Mobile 2.4Mbs Z010 CDMA 1xEV-DO wireless modem http://www.zapp.ro/ [product page link]

Testing machine and area:
1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo 2GB RAM Apple Macbook with a/b/g/n - enabled Airport WiFi card.
All tests were performed in a residential area in Bucharest, RO. Time 11:00ish PM. Moderate network loads.
Additional testing was performed on a WinXP Dell 1.6Ghz Core2Duo machine. Performance obtained was about 30% lower!!

Testing on:
- Local (short path) download - Zapp data driver library
Test file - Software image WL-500gx - Deluxe (v 2.1) - 1x/EV-DO [3.20MB]

- External (overseas) download - Revision3 / Diggnation
Test file - diggnation–0108–2007-07-26multipass–large.h264.mov [108MB]

- Ping to google.com

Without further ado, the results:

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The control RDS cable connection needs no introduction or explanations. It performed as expected, capping out at the 1Mbs mark. Response times were great -inline with expectations- but maybe reported a tad lower as the WiFi router adds its own slowdown. This said, here are the screenshots.
Short path:

Overseas:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 12 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 67.475/68.679/71.692/1.056 ms

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The Vodafone HSDPA SmartModem. I had a really good experience using this modem with speeds in excess of 300KBs (3-4Mbs). Unfortunately I was unable to replicate the performance tonight. Granted, and this goes for the other two players, the quality of the link, signal strength, network load and cell performance affect the max speeds attainable. Vodafone RO provides 3G+ (HSDPA) 3.6Mbs service in major cities and a guaranteed minimum of 1.4Mbs. What I managed to get was a not-so-flashy minimum with an excellent signal strength.
The proof-
Short path:

External:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 11 packets received, 8% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 278.274/313.286/609.070/93.856 ms

Notes: The application (Vodafone Mobile Connect for Mac) needs to be downloaded from the VF website. It weights around 15MB and it’s fairly easy to install and use. The drawback is that an additional “Activate” click has to be performed in order to enable the connection in the pref pane. The link is pushed through a VF APN proxy that strongly compresses the traffic (esp JPG images). That adds a certain lag and forbids use of some web bandwidth testing apps.
VMC:

[+] click to enlarge

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Orange touts a fresh 3.6Mbs capability in its network. Although generally slower compared to Vodafone, with a poorer link quality, the very ugly Option modem has performed on par (if not a tad better) with its competitor. Here is the proof:
Short path:

And overseas:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 12 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 267.750/283.606/298.381/8.540 ms

Notes: Orange has performed notably better than VF in the response time test, with almost half the average round-trip time. Great news for VoIP applications. Its Mac application I had to request at Orange Customer Service and was later forwarded in an email. The whole process took around 10 minutes. GlobeTrotter Connect weighs around 2MB and is spartan. It required a restart (not typical for OSX) to work without asking for one. The traffic is also routed through a proxy but optimization is only provided through separate APN.
Orange took no pride in customizing the packaging of their modem, sign of eagerness to take it to the market. More so, the documentation has Mac screenshots of an app you expect to find in the package but can only get separately, on request.
Not so cool!
The app:

[+] click to enlarge

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Zapp…oh Zapp…used to rock when its antenna was in good shape. Anything between 1.4Mbs and 2.0Mbs was possible. It’s generally a connection that can handle many streams at a time without degrading the ongoing transfers. It scales in an intelligent way. Plus, unlike Vodafone and Orange, the connection is direct without a pass trough a proxy for compression.
On the short path the Z010 would usually do 150KBs and on the diggnation file it would normally fly at a sustainable 180KBs!
I’ll add the screenshots though, but with a big fat disclaimer: this is not how a *healthy* Zapp modem performs!
Local (their own freakin servers):

A la longue:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 12 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 254.470/386.584/1362.356/296.632 ms

Notes: It breaks my heart to bash Zapp so badly after serving me 140ishKbs downloads for years in times when Orange/Vodafone only had shitty EDGE (150ishMbs) with this poor performance due to the faulty modem. Yet I think the ping results are relevant, the Z010 still doing good at 254.470 minimum round-trip time! Mkay… we have some spoilers here as I knew what to expect of some modems in test. Also sadly reporting that the CDMA modem was only here for a broader image of the competing technologies, less for actual results. It’s had a long service life feeding my mobile lifestyle and unfortunately it has the antenna bruised, which translates in very poor reception - read performance!
The Z010 needs no drivers for Mac running OSX, a compatible driver already rests in the OS’s library. With the connection set up in the pref pane, call is initiated in 2 clicks and established in less than 3 seconds! No other apps involved! Sweet!
Unfortunately the Z010 is no longer offered by Zapp but can be purchased by special request. It features a battery of its own that improves overall performance and lowers the drain on the notebook battery. It also has a b/w LCD screen that displays data such as signal strength, time/date and battery level. SMS can also be received on the device.

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The conclusion is optional for a buying decision. Both Orange and Vodafone do well in normal-real life tests! Both offers are compelling, reasonably and approachable priced for near-unlimited traffic (8GB/month). Both modems come free with subscription and are both Mac and PC compatible. If on the PC counterpart the modems have PnP installation - the drivers are stored on the modems themselves - you’ll have a little more trouble getting them for your Mac. Be advised! Request those drivers before you are on the road and need further internet access! :)

Not surprisingly, both modems do shitty jobs on Bill Gates-flavoured machines. With Orange capping downloads at around 85KBs I went no further testing and lit up the Mac. And there numbers started looking like the ones on the marketing fliers. ;)

Overall brief: sexiness/performance/ergonomic; grades from 1-5

Vodafone 3G/HSDPA SmartModem: 5 / 3 / 4
Orange 3G/HSDPA Option ICON II USB Modem: 1 / 3 / 3
Zapp Z010 CDMA 1xEV-DO: 3 / 4 / 3

===== 5 cigarettes were smoked during the making of this review. please do not try this at home. smoking is bad for your health!! =====

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Cisco will kill the Linksys brand. Boo! No further comments.

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What happens if you jump from entrepreneurship to full time corporate dude? First, you cease good ol’ habits such as doing email where rubber meets the road in the wireless industry - the WiFi’ed caffe!
Luckily sometimes big guys that work in tall buildings come back to the streets to smell that roasted coffee flavor and sniff those 802.11 airwaves, hopefully one of them free. Had my chance for a couple of days to bring the love back so here I am, feeding heavily on all that online stuff that makes me smarter and more competitive, at Bourbon Cocktails&Coffee in the lovely harbor city of Constantza.
Usually people would be sunbathing and stuff here but instead I’m wirelessbathing in all free nets I can find and hop on.
During my two day stay I ran across plentiful networks to do my job on, all ranging from 1Mbits to 6Mbits, all in key locations such as rep building, hotel, cafe and… parking lot!

Of couse both my N70 and my HSDPA SmartModem from Vodafone could have taken over in case there was no WiFi to grab. But for some reason I love WiFi and simply like to enable the Airport on my Mac and enjoy it from there.

Now missing a more portable device to play with nets for when taking the Macbook out feels cumbersome. I’m considering one of those new HTC touch smartphones. Anyone tried one?

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FON.com’s new precious has landed via UPS at my office today. I paid a fair €46.95 EUR for their small Fonera router and Fontenna antenna, the latter on discount. The package took exactly two weeks to deliver.
I wrote quite a lot about the Fonera so there’s no real news there. But the Fontenna I did not yet test so keep abreast!

Till I get my own oppinion (read other good reviews at ElFonBlog’s for example) will share some unboxing pics below.

Update 2: second one just arrived.
Update 1: the thing comes with two double-adhesive 3M pads (I’d call 3M best quality) to help fasten it on windows. It doesn’t have a smart mechanism to allow aiming and pointing in various directions, but it assumes you’d have a stiff “reach neighbor across the street, period” usage. Say you’re lucky to fit in this description, don’t jump like crazy about those pads. My Fontenna falls off the window every other morning. Guaranteed alarm clock! The sun takes care those pads forget they have to be sticky. ;)
Mine now rests on the floor, pathethic and helpless, till I figgure out a way to fasten it - most likely to look for some suction cups. (yeah, I know, some already pointed out they would have loved those for their Foneras, let alone the antenna)
Read the rest of this entry »

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This is too damn cool to skip! (yea, lotza wireless news passed on without covering them here)

Let me share this web 2.0 story with you. You all know Howard Lindzon. And if you don’t, go over to wallstrip.com or google him and you’ll find out he’s one heck of a stock chap and exceptional web entrepreneur. I’ve invited him many months ago to join Twitter so I could stay in touch with his jibberish that I love reading so much. He declined joining for so long up until a couple of days ago when he made it a ridiculous “I am signing up and will twitter from toilets. Seems to be relevant for that. Track my waste”. And so he did. Until last night when Howard twittered: “Explosion in midtown. What. Pls advise. Seriously.” He was in downtown New York. I was in Bucharest, Romania.

It took about 20 minutes for CNN to react. I was on it. Maybe ten minutes before that Lindzon says “I was a block away from a massive explosion. Maybe grand central. Smoke everywhere.”
No more joking about toilets. No more ambiguity. Lindzon uses the one tool he bashes and pokes fun at to inform and hopefully inform himself of a crisis situation. Instantly! Wirelessly! Have this as an incredible turn of events!

My buddy Loic Le Meur’s twitts a few days ago about how he catches up with news on Twitter more than by reading his RSS. Now excentric Lindzon accepts my invitation to join and unwilingly offers this awesome example of the right person at the right time in the right place using the right service and instantly informing his peers he networked with registering to Twitter.
Is this the real web2.0? Ought to be, as Lindzon did not blog or email about the blast. He freakin twittered it!

Cool Howard! Really cool! Now buy some stock there! I have a feeling this is not the end of it.

I’m really glad you’re Okay and the blast was far enough!!

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