Wireless Broadband and gaming...

[Valden]

I have a friend who is unable to get cable or dsl internet. She is able to get Verizon's BroadbandAccess wireless internet however for a pretty reasonable price right now...

According to what I read, they advertise between 450-800 kbps with bursts up to 2mbps. PCworld gave them a good review, testing an average of 741 kbps with bursts up to 1.2 mb. This seems decent for playing online games like WoW and other online games, but I am still concerned that it wont be very good.

Has anyone here done this or had any luck with it? Should it technically work as long as she has a good reception? I have a friend with 384k (gets about 600kbps on speed tests tho) dsl and he still gets a decent connection when playing WoW.

[ua549]

Actual throughput will be much lower with longer latency. That said, it it is the best available, go for it. She will be able to connect no matter where she travels in the USA.

[Valden]

Thanks man. Even if the latency is a bit slow, it should still be playable right?

[JoeGuy34]

I think I read somewhere that average ping times are like 300-400ms.

[Learux]

Correct, throughput is sufficient, latency is horrible. Remember the data has to travel to and from the satellite. It will be ok for slower paced games(RTS, MMORPG etc) FPS will most likely not work due to server ping limits set by administrators (usually ~200ms)

Check out www.dslreports.com they used to have good info on this subject

Have a nice week-end

Learux

[ImaNihilist]

Just remember, you are limited to 5GB of bandwidth per month. Go over that, and they cut you off. 5GB really isn't a lot. If all you are doing is playing WoW, it's fine, but if you wanted to say download ONE 1080p movie trailer every day of the month, you'd likely go over the 5GB limit.

[Valden]

Hmm interesting, the Verizon rep assures us that it is unlimited use.

[speedstream5621]

I've used the Verizon card, and it would be absolutely miserable for online gaming. The way it achieves acceptable browsing performance is by reducing the quality of images loaded, etc. Obviously, this feature wouldn't impact games, but be aware that those performance figures really aren't all that accurate.

Also, these cards heat up considerably. I'd be wary of using them for prolonged periods of time.

[ImaNihilist]

Hmm interesting, the Verizon rep assures us that it is unlimited use.
It ABSOLUTELY is not. The "unlimited plan" is 100% ABSOLUTELY NOT UNLIMITED. It's very limited, and the contract clearly states the 5GB limit.

In fact, here are the terms from their website:

Additional Plan Information:

Required Equipment

NationalAccess or BroadbandAccess–capable PC card

Minimum Term, Activation and Early Termination Fees

* One– or two–year minimum term required per line.
* Activation Fee/line: $35, except $25 for secondary Family SharePlan® lines with two–year minimum term.
* Early Termination Fee: Up to $175 per line.

Taxes, Surcharges and Fees

* 1–year or 2–year contract term required.
* Tolls, taxes, surcharges and other fees, such as E911 and gross receipt charges, vary by market and as of October 1, 2006, add between 3% and 33% to your monthly bill and are in addition to your monthly access fees and airtime charges.
* Monthly Federal Universal Service Charge (varies quarterly based on FCC rate) is 1.97% of assessable wireless charges other than separately billed interstate and international telecom charges. The FUSC on these charges is 9.7%.
* Monthly Regulatory Charge (subject to change) is 5¢ per line.
* Monthly Administrative Charge (subject to change) is 40¢ per line.
* The Federal Universal Service, Regulatory and Administrative Charges are Verizon Wireless charges, not taxes. For more details on these charges, call 1–888–684–1888.

Important Customer Information:

For more information, refer to the Customer Agreement or speak with a Sales Representative. Service is subject to the Customer Agreement, which you should read before activating service. Plans not available in all areas. Credit approval required. Billing, shipping and end–user address must be within the Verizon Wireless licensed and service areas where the wireless phone number is issued.

NATIONALACCESS, BROADBANDACCESS
Subject to VZAccessSM Acceptable Use Policy, available at www.verizonwireless.com. To make sure you have coverage in newly expanding markets, from the VZAccess Manager, go into "Options" and click "Activation," while in the National Enhanced Services Rate and Coverage Area every three months. This may alter your Rate and Coverage Area. You are responsible for maintaining virus protection when accessing service. NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess is for individual use only and is not for resale.

Charges for Quick 2 Net® or dial–up calls will be based on the cell sites used and time of day at the telephone switching office that carries your call, which may be different from the time of day shown on your device. Rates do not apply to credit card or operator–assisted Quick 2 Net or dial–up calls, which may be required in certain areas. Usage rounded up to the next full minute. Charges start when you first press CONNECT or the call connects to a network on Quick 2 Net or dial–up calls. Time may end several seconds after you press DISCONNECT or the call otherwise disconnects. For Quick 2 Net or dial–up calls, we only bill for those calls that are answered (which includes Quick 2 Net or dial–up calls answered by machines). Quick 2 Net or dial–up calls to "toll–free" numbers are toll–free; you will be billed airtime.

UNLIMITED DATA PLANS AND FEATURES
Unlimited Data Plans and Features (such as NationalAccess, BroadbandAccess, Push to Talk, and certain VZEmail services) may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine–to–machine connections or peer–to–peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month.

For individual use only and not for resale. We reserve the right to protect our network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, and to deny or terminate service, without notice, to anyone we believe is using an Unlimited Data Plan or Feature in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels. Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice. We also reserve the right to terminate service upon expiration of Customer Agreement term.

Verizon Wireless Plans, Rate and Coverage Areas, rates, agreement provisions, business practices, procedures and policies are subject to change as specified in the Customer Agreement.

Last Update 12/26/06

[Nightlord]

Um... ouch. Big Brother is DEFINITELY watching.
Here it is in plain English for anyone that missed it:
"We're going to monitor your internet usage and make assumptions based soley on the amount of traffic to/from your computer. Then, based on those assumptions we will treat you like a criminal and cut you off from the Web."

What bugs me more is that while sitting on that pedestal they might get the idea to call the authorities and have you investigated for "improper internet usage". Arg.

[Valden]

Well she has been playing WoW the last few days and it seems to be working fine. The latency comes between 200-300, with spikes. Basically she says it is like dialup when it lags, but faster once it gets going.

Our biggest concern is bandwidth limit. She is really only going to play WoW so I think it will be ok.

[Learux]

By just playing games she will not even come close. Downloading movies is another story.

Learux

[kent1146]

Other people have already replied with comments about latency and quotas, which are two drawbacks of the service.

The other drawback I want to mention is that your friend will only get broadband speeds if she is in an access area that has wireless broadband (typically only in cities). Otherwise, she'll get NationalAccess speeds (around 64kbps-80kbps). If she can't get cable or DSL, then there's also a good chance she won't have wireless broadband speeds. You might want to check before you commit to a contract.

[mqhavic]

Hi looking for help with Verizon VZaccess and playing WoW. I keep reading all the post that people can play using access cards on EVDO, and I can to.

However, while playing WOW my connection stay connected, but I stop receiving traffic, the repeats the whole time I play. Everything is fine and then everything stops.

I am also trying the whole "Dormant" keep alive thing but I do not think that is my problem.

We have also tried this on other PC's and have seen the same problem.

Using an Aircard595 on Verizon AZaccess plan and I connect to REV-A Broadbandaccess.