Evolution-Data Optimized or EvDO yet another wireless telecommunications technology to offer you better internet connectivity on the Go! It offers more mobility and advantages over your WiFi. Learn more about EvDO here.
I always wanted wireless connectivity which is cheap, affordable and reliable. Reliance and TATA Indicom did come out with various solutions with their CDMA products like PCMCIA card for laptop and then USB modules which can be plugged into any computer to gain access to internet. Now almost every one provides one or the other solutions for internet. I always enjoyed the internet on my laptop via reliance CDMA connection on my Nokia cell phones (6255 and 2112) and they were ok and better than the dial-up connections which I used to use at home. It was easy for me to configure the cell phones to work on Linux. Still it was very costly.
I found BSNL EvDO solution much affordable and I could make it work on my Dell M1210 which runs on Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). It will just cost you 500 + tax every month and you have to give 1000 Rs as initial payment for the device. Once you have the device in your hand, you have unlimited access to internet 24×7. Depending on proximity and the line of sight to the tower EvDO device would give 2.4 MBPS connections. At present in Bangalore average connection speed is 144 kbps. 1X CDMA network towers are still evolving in various parts of the city. In near future we can expect a better connectivity and high bandwidth via these cute little devices which would match broadband speed.
Image by hpn 
Lets see how I started using this device on my Linux distribution (You can follow the same steps to configure this device on any Linux distribution) :
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