I’ve been thinking a lot about EV-DO recently. Not because I’m using it. Quite the opposite. I’m not using it. That’s the way I’ve been thinking about it — just like you dream about a thick steak when you’re hungry or a cute boy when you’re a love-sick teenage girl.
EV-DO has been on my mind because I’ve been traveling – moving among three northeastern towns ranging from happening Portland ME, to Binghamton, NY — heartland of upstate New York’s economic disaster — to Honesdale, PA — a tiny town just out-of-reach of the Pocono vacation crowd. In between I’ve been in several airports.
One thing all these places have in common is difficulty finding free WiFi — or any WiFi for that matter.
Where there’s WiFi, it’s usually not free and, if you’re on the move, involves signing up with multiple providers. In San Francisco I could pay $8.00 to AT&T for a day pass. Then, later in the afternoon, I could pay T-Mobile another $8.00 for another day pass to get online in Philadelphia. If you’re a road warrior, those $8.00 charges add up in a hurry.
When I got to Portland, I was able to use the U. of Southern Maine’s network, but only because my friend is on the faculty.
Surprisingly, Honesdale, PA has two cafés offering free WiFi — but one of them doesn’t allow users to send outgoing mail and both of them close at 7:00 p.m.
And, Binghamton, well all I need to tell you about Binghamton is that the only place you can ship a package there is the Post Office. Forget advanced technology.
Now Philadelphia does have some free WiFi hotspots — I’m writing this in one — but the signal is weak and limited to a few (unmarked) locations. Performance feels like a dial-up connection.
Between all these locations and acces points, I could hardly manage to get my email. In the end I resorted to tried and true dial-up. Imagine trying to make a VoIP call.
But while I was doing all this shucking and jiving to stay Internet-connected, my Sprint mobile phone worked everywhere — even in the remote corners of rural PA.
Which brings me back to EV-DO. A while ago I wrote a piece on EV-DO after a conversation with Erik Lagerway, SIPthat blogger and CTO of Shift Networks, about VoIP over cellular data networks. A couple of people I spoke with for the story poo-poo’ed EV-DO as too expensive, too limited. Ubiquitous WiFi was going to make it a non-issue.
My report from the field is it’s far from a non-issue. And that if staying connected is important, right now EV-DO looks like a better bet.
hey from the industrial wasteland… if you’re in the area you can get access at these points
Holiday Inn Vestal Binghamton University
4105 Vestal Parkway
Vestal NY 13850
3.6 miles Map | Directions 1 provider
All locations matching your search criteria
McDonald’s 07671
167 Main St
Binghamton NY 13905
1.3 miles Map | Directions 2 providers
McDonald’s 28852
3 West State Street
Binghamton NY 13901
1.8 miles Map | Directions 2 providers
Starbucks Binghamton Front Street
904 Upper Front Street
Binghamton NY 13905
1.8 miles Map | Directions 1 provider
Holiday Inn Binghamton-Dwtn (Hawley St)
2-8 Hawley St
Binghamton NY 13901
2 miles Map | Directions 1 provider
Broadway Coffee Cafe
400 Riverside Drive
Davis College
Johnson City NY 13790
2.6 miles Map | Directions FREE
Residence Inn By Marriott Binghamton University
4610 Vestal Parkway E
Vestal NY 13850
2.6 miles Map | Directions 1 provider
McDonald’s 05894
560 Harry L Dr
Johnson City NY 13790
2.7 miles Map | Directions 2 providers
Red Roof Inn Binghampton
590 Fairview Street
Johnson City NY 13790
2.8 miles Map | Directions 3 providers
Fedex Kinko’s Binghamton
3951 Vestal Pkwy East
Vestal NY 13850
3.7 miles Map | Directions 3 providers
SUNY Binghamton University Libraries
Route 434 East
Binghamton NY 13902
5.1 miles Map | Directions FREE
McDonald’s 17555
3136 Vestal Parkway
Vestal NY 13850
5.1 miles Map | Directions 2 providers
Starbucks Vestal Parkway
2540 Vestal Parkway East
Vestal NY 13850
5.6 miles Map | Directions 3 providers
Barnes & Noble
2443 Vestal Parkway East
Vestal NY 13850
5.9 miles Map | Directions 6 providers
1 FREE
McDonald’s 08143
3333 E Main St
Endwell NY 13760
6.2 miles Map | Directions 2 providers
McDonald’s 04860
603-605 E Main St
Endicott NY 13760
8.6 miles Map | Directions 2 providers
as well as Montana Mills Bread Company next to the Starbuck’s in Vestal (free) and if your stuck at the airport (free) and if needed, while at Kinko’s you could mail that package… hope this helps