Laptops with Embedded EVDO - Good or Bad?
Pros
* No need to insert a card, mobile broadband always available
* Nothing to lose or damage, it is built-in
Cons
*Horrible Support (read below)
*No option for external antennas
*No options for external amplifiers
*Hard / impossible to upgrade
*If you upgrade the laptop to one without embedded EVDO, you have to pay retail for new
EVDO card
*Adds to cost of initial laptop purchase (no they are not free)
*Firmware updates / Connection Manager updates from Manufacturer NOT carrier
Some of the newer Sony, Dells, HPs and others are now including embedded EVDO as an option. On the surface, this sounds like a good idea.
But, what are the Pros & Cons of having EVDO embedded (built-in) or as an addon via PCMCIA, ExpressCard or USB?
More on Support:
I purchased a Sony TX model with embedded EVDO Rev A when it first came out (first laptop that had embedded Rev A EVDO). After we received the first one, it was working for a few days and then we started having connection problems with our Sony TX10. I decided to recover and reformat the hard drive and that DIDN’T help, the once working internal EVDO modem stopped working. I returned the unit and got a second unit.
I got the second unit working quickly and all was well. When I started having connection problems, I decided to do what is called a ##RTN which is a trick to reset the modem back to factory settings (I did this on the first unit too). Once again, we reformatted and recovered back to factory and still, we couldn’ t use the embedded EVDO device. The device would show signal strength, BUT wouldn’t connect. I knew the account was OK, because it was previously working. I just got a “Unable to update device”.
Now, here is where the “fun” begins.
Embedded EVDO modems are a lot like illegitimate children. When I called Sprint, they told me that they didn’t provide support for embedded devices, we would have to call the manufacturer. When we call Sony, do you think they have a lot of people on staff that know the internal workings of the embedded EVDO devices? Nope! So, now we get into a finger pointing contest. Bottom line, the embedded EVDO device is not working, so I reverted to using my trusty EVDO cards from Sprint and Verizon, those always work.
Now, since we are a Sprint Master Agent, and we have a lot of contacts at Sprint, I decided to see what we can find out. According to contacts within Sprint Tech Support, they confirm that if you do the ##RTN trick to reset the modem, you can actually damage the modem and you are unable to use it any more. OUCH! Here is what we found out:
“Novatel had an issue with their pre-production 720’s that caused IOTA to consistently fail after the module is refurbed using ##RTN, which sounds like what is happening here. The fix was to send the modules back to Novatel…”
I wonder how many people of embedded laptops will have the same fate? Was this a problem only with the first batch of units or is this still a problem with the current shipping units?
If you are considering getting a laptop with embedded EVDO, you might want to consider an EVDO PCMCIA, ExpressCard or USB mobile broadband device.
So… Sony, Sprint or Novatel, how can I get a replacement for my embedded EVDO modem?