WRT54G3G-ST with Verizon EVDO (Kyocera) KPC-650 card !
ZOMG! it works !
so I'm trying not to pay Comcast for their exorbitantly priced internet + cable service.
Since I am already paying for a Verizon EVDO service, I've entertained the idea about using it full time and ditch comcast.
After I moved to my current location, I decided to build my own EVDO router with my spare box, but alas, the hardware haven't been used for a long time and seems to be highly unstable, (plus I accidentally bought the PCMCIA bridge that is not supported by 2.4.x kernel and I'm too lazy to configure a full blown RH/CentOS installation to do what I want). so I went out and bought a Linksys WRT54G3G-ST
WRT54G3G-ST is the US version of WRT54G3G found in some other countries, it's basically a WRT54G with a PCMCIA slot that accepts data service cards.
Officially the ST version only supports Sprint's cards; searching on the google did not yield much infoo about using it with Verizon cards. There were even a few posts complaining about certain verizon cards not working with it.
As much as I could tell, no one had said anything about using it with a KPC650 card ( possibly the best pcmcia EVDO card for verizon in the market now. )
Anyways, so I bit the bullet and ordered one from an online vendor, dreading that I might have to deal with the hefty 15% restock fee + return shipping or may have to wait a few months for newer version of OpenWRT/DD-WRT firmware to be release to use it.
BUT it worked!
as soon as I plugged the card in, the blue power indicator lit up, and I logged into the web interface, clicked 'connect' and all my computers were online again! i didn't even have to put in any configuration for the EVDO network!
woo-hoo!!
the cell reception in my apt isn't that great but I'm still getting about 550kbps/110kbps, which is quite acceptable for light internet and bi-nightly tivo schedule synchronizations.
so I'm trying not to pay Comcast for their exorbitantly priced internet + cable service.
Since I am already paying for a Verizon EVDO service, I've entertained the idea about using it full time and ditch comcast.
After I moved to my current location, I decided to build my own EVDO router with my spare box, but alas, the hardware haven't been used for a long time and seems to be highly unstable, (plus I accidentally bought the PCMCIA bridge that is not supported by 2.4.x kernel and I'm too lazy to configure a full blown RH/CentOS installation to do what I want). so I went out and bought a Linksys WRT54G3G-ST
WRT54G3G-ST is the US version of WRT54G3G found in some other countries, it's basically a WRT54G with a PCMCIA slot that accepts data service cards.
Officially the ST version only supports Sprint's cards; searching on the google did not yield much infoo about using it with Verizon cards. There were even a few posts complaining about certain verizon cards not working with it.
As much as I could tell, no one had said anything about using it with a KPC650 card ( possibly the best pcmcia EVDO card for verizon in the market now. )
Anyways, so I bit the bullet and ordered one from an online vendor, dreading that I might have to deal with the hefty 15% restock fee + return shipping or may have to wait a few months for newer version of OpenWRT/DD-WRT firmware to be release to use it.
BUT it worked!
as soon as I plugged the card in, the blue power indicator lit up, and I logged into the web interface, clicked 'connect' and all my computers were online again! i didn't even have to put in any configuration for the EVDO network!
woo-hoo!!
the cell reception in my apt isn't that great but I'm still getting about 550kbps/110kbps, which is quite acceptable for light internet and bi-nightly tivo schedule synchronizations.