Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Broadband?

S

slaphotk

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 10, 2008
40
0
Did anyone get a Wifi only Ipad instead of waiting for a 3G because of having mobile broadband (Sprint or Verizon)?. if so, thoughts experiences etc? Trying to figure out which one to get. I have mobile broadband for work purposes.

Thx
 
I got the wifi and was having issues with it saying my password was incorrect and asking me to enter it again like every five minutes. Seems you need to disable your password. I did and haven't had an issue since.
 
Thx. Do you have Sprint or Verizon? I assume speed is same as with a laptop?
 
A good friend of mine runs a speed testing site. He received his WiFi-only iPad yesterday and wrote me with his initial impressions. Among that review was this:

My experiment with the Sprint 4G Overdrive portable router was disappointing. The speeds averaged about 150kbps download and 600kbps upload. Just like the iPhone, the iPad and Overdrive don't play nice together at least when it comes to download speed. I'm told by an Apple engineer that it has something to do with "conflicting efficiency algorithms."

Later in the message, he mentioned that it looks like he will be selling the WiFi-only iPad when his pre-ordered 3G model arrives.

These portable WiFi 3G/4G routers might be convenient for the folks with multiple devices. But there have been many reports of iPhone owners not really getting all that great of speed using them.

Mark
 
Mark Booth said:
A good friend of mine runs a speed testing site. He received his WiFi-only iPad yesterday and wrote me with his initial impressions. Among that review was this:

My experiment with the Sprint 4G Overdrive portable router was disappointing. The speeds averaged about 150kbps download and 600kbps upload. Just like the iPhone, the iPad and Overdrive don't play nice together at least when it comes to download speed. I'm told by an Apple engineer that it has something to do with "conflicting efficiency algorithms."

Later in the message, he mentioned that it looks like he will be selling the WiFi-only iPad when his pre-ordered 3G model arrives.

These portable WiFi 3G/4G routers might be convenient for the folks with multiple devices. But there have been many reports of iPhone owners not really getting all that great of speed using them.

Mark
Click to expand...

Great feedback! Thx! If the same is true for Verizon then that makes my decision easier.
 
Well, I just tried the iPad here with my overdrive, and I am getting about 1.5 mbps down and 450 kbps up. That is tied to EVDO - no WIMAX signal where I am today. So I suspect your friend who runs the speed testing site had some other issue.
 
I think the speed is going to depend on your area.

The proof is always in the pudding!

I plan to try out the Sprint 4G when I get my iPad 3G.

Sprint has a 30 day free trial period.

If I do not like the 4G, I will fall back to 3G
 
dwiese42 said:
Well, I just tried the iPad here with my overdrive, and I am getting about 1.5 mbps down and 450 kbps up. That is tied to EVDO - no WIMAX signal where I am today. So I suspect your friend who runs the speed testing site had some other issue.
Click to expand...

My friend lives in Portland, Oregon. I don't know if he has WIMAX up there or not but he says the Sprint 4G Overdrive screams with his MacBook Pro. He consistently gets 4500kbps down with his MacBook Pro/Overdrive combo. The same is not true for either his iPhone 3G3 (on WiFi) or his iPad. Both of them underperform considerably compared the MacBook Pro.

Perhaps it is a WIMAX signal and that's where the trouble comes in for the iPhone and iPad? As he said, he was told by an Apple engineer that there ARE conflicts when it comes to the iPhone.

FWIW, my friend is Robert Morgan and he runs this Mac speed testing site:

http://www.barefeats.com/

Mark
 
I'll have my overdrive on Monday. WiMax is in my area, but i don't live near a major city (45 min North of Austin). In my experience, the Sprint EVDO connection here is good, so I'm eager to give WiMax a shot. As mentioned, the great thing about the Overdrive is that it does 3G or 4G. If anyone considering the 4G mobile hotspot through Clear, just remember you get 4G or nothing.

Once I get it setup, I can post some speed/bandwidth test. Does anyone have a recommendation on a good speed test app? I usually use Speakeasy, but I believe their test is in Flash.
 
Yea my 3G connection with the overdrive varies from like 16kbps up to as fast as 11mbps, just depends. I am assuming the 4g speeds will obviously be much faster than the 3G speeds even on the 3G iPad.
 
dwiese42 said:
Well, I just tried the iPad here with my overdrive, and I am getting about 1.5 mbps down and 450 kbps up. That is tied to EVDO - no WIMAX signal where I am today. So I suspect your friend who runs the speed testing site had some other issue.
Click to expand...

Here in Portland we have a stong WIMAX coverage. It's not clear why the iPad and iPhone go so slow on the Sprint 4G Overdrive. The Nexus One downloads 10 times faster using the Overdrive at the same location 1.5 miles from downtown. The MacBook Pro is 30 times faster using it.

One other downside to the Overdrive: battery life is much shorter than the iPad.
 
I've had the Sorint 4G Overdrive here in the Chicago area for about 2 weeks.....I've now successfully used it with my iMac, iPhone 3GS, and iPad. The speeds for me have varied depending greatly on the signal strength....in areas where I get 4-5 bars on the meter, I'm seeing DL speeds at or near 2.5 mb....still not 10X the 3G speeds as advertised, but still very respectable...and useable for sure! One issue I did encounter with the iPad yesterday (that I did not see while using the iMac or iPhone), was the Overdrive unit asking me for a password every 5 minutes....a network reset on the iPad has solved the problem so far.... Also worth noting about the Overdrive....if you have or get one, make sure to do the firmware update....the latest update certainly solved some dropping and 3G/4G handoff issues I was seeing initially. Hope this helps. BTW....I haven't given my iPad a rest since yesterday morning.....what an unbelievable piece of hardware.....ingenious IMO!!!
 
Red Faced

Boy am I mortfied. When went to advanced settings, it said no (firmware) updates available. So after reading RicksterMac's posting, I clicked "check updates now" anyway. Lo and behold, there was an update available.

After downloading and installing it, I reran SpeedTest.net's benchmark. Now instead of 150kbps, I get 2557kbps downloads! Whoa. Maybe I will be keeping this 4G WiFi palm sized 4 oz battery powered hotspot after all -- especially since it supports up to 5 devices.
 
Robert,

That's great news!! Makes me feel hopeful about 4G coming to San Diego (someday).

Mark
 
barefeats said:
One other downside to the Overdrive: battery life is much shorter than the iPad.
Click to expand...

I work out of my car, do you know if you can power the Overdrive device with a car charger???

I read the device lasts about 2 to 3 hours and tends to get hot. Has this been your experience?

Thanx
 
Alchematron said:
I work out of my car, do you know if you can power the Overdrive device with a car charger???

I read the device lasts about 2 to 3 hours and tends to get hot. Has this been your experience?

Thanx
Click to expand...

I don't have mine yet, but I believe the Overdrive uses a microUSB port for charging. It comes with a USB to microUSB cable and a wall charger. So, I assume if you have a USB car adapter the USB to microUSB cable can plug in and charge through that or you can find a microUSB car adapter.
 
Alchematron said:
I work out of my car, do you know if you can power the Overdrive device with a car charger???

I read the device lasts about 2 to 3 hours and tends to get hot. Has this been your experience?

Thanx
Click to expand...

I bought an inverter from Frys Electronics so I can plug it into one of the two DC outlets in my Car.

I used the Overdrive on Easter Sunday. It was in my jacket pocket. I kept checking the battery status. It never felt warm to me. It still had 55% battery power left after 2 hours.
 
I got my Overdrive in today. It's currently charging, but I will try to run some speed tests on my laptop and iPad tonight.

 
I bit the bullet and bought an Overdrive last night at Best Buy. Right now they have it for $50, or free if purchased with a WiFi device. The salesman gave me the free price even though it was all I was purchasing - I didn't even ask! YMMV.

First, as every review of this makes clear, your experience will depend on where you live. I am in Austin, TX, and the Clear/Sprint 4G service here is reasonably mature and well built out. At my home in the north central part of town, I was getting what the unit described as a "20% strength" connection, but a speed test revealed downloads over 4 Mbps.

My office is in between the UT campus and downtown, and although I have a window, I am completely unable to conect to 4G so far. I bought the Overdrive primarily for office use, so that's a strike for me. I do get 100% signal strength over 3G (I think we have a repeater on our building).

Still, for $60/mo, I get 5 GB of 3G coverage a month, plus unlimited 4G when I can access it. A MiFi from Sprint or Verizon would only give me the 3G part for the same price.

Many users have complained about the unit's construction. I've read about overheating, lock-ups, dropped connections, etc. I haven't experienced any of those yet. Supposedly firmware fixes are in the works - we'll see.

One nice thing - Sprint now has a 30 day money back guarantee. If it fails or bugs out, then I can take it back, get my money back (or could if I paid for it), and get the ETF waived.
 
and as pointed out by someone in this forum..

Overdrive 4G with your Macbook, iPad and iPhone and iPod Touch..i havent even thought about that.
 
I also am trying out the Overdrive in the Chicago area.
The 4 g is very fast. No problem streaming Netflix. No buffeting delays once it starts up. I also like the flexibility of being able to connect my Macbook if I need to. While it cost more than the ATT 3G plan and it does require another device to charge, I like it.
I did have to turn off the security to eliminate having to re enter security password but you can restrict which mac addresses connect to the device through their utility. Overall I am happy so far.

Kenal0
 
Overdrive owner. I live in metro Atlanta, work in midtown Atlanta. So far I have been unable to access any 4G coverage while I am at work. Yet Sprint advertises 4G coverage in downtown and midtown Atlanta. Yet the 4G coverage is nowhere to be found. Decent 3G speeds but very disappointed with the lack of 4G support, especially since that was the major selling point.
 
Here in Kansas City were suppose to be seeing 4G roll out in June, so I went ahead and took the 30 day trail from Sprint, as of Monday the 5th of April. So far the speed is in the 800kbps to 1.5mb range over a 3 day period of testing no only at my home (where I have ZERO ATT 3G coverage) to my work 30 some miles away. It is very consistant so far and since 4G is not far off, and once on 4G it's is "unlimited" data, I am going hopefully use it for home and work as my home cable is only 3mb down, and sucks to say the least.

The added benefits of the Sprint Overdrive, it has GPS embedded, so useful for the Wifi only version of the iPad. Also has a Micro SD slot that will hold up to 16gig cards. I just purchased a card today so going to mess around tonight and see if I can access the info on via the "GoodReader" app or another app. GPS + 16gigs of additional storage + soon to be 4G speeds and far better 3G coverage than ATT has here in KC, it's a no brainer for me. Easy setup, easy to maintain, and sitting on a job site yesterday my builder was very happy I had it as he needed to respond to an email and was 10+ miles from his office. He loved the idea, probably sold Sprint an Overdrive lol. Is their a commission I wonder? ha
 
3336kbps with iPad + Overdrive

I continue to be pleased with the Overdrive. We were at Borders Bookstore the other day. They had free WiFi for the iPad WiFi to use but the Overdrive was 10 times faster. The iPhone 3Gs had 4 bars but nothing would download. No problem. Overdrive to the rescue.

I tried the Verizon MiFi. The Overdrive is 3 times faster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back