On Sat, 24 Jun 2006 09:49:39 -0700 (PDT), "Jeremy C. Reed"
<reed@reedmedia.net> wrote:

> I am researching wireless internet options for NetBSD. This is for 
> something I can use with my laptop when I am traveling in the western 
> United States. (I am not looking for 802.11.)
> 
> I read about EVDO and my friend has told me he has had good experience 
> with Verizon's plans. (But he uses some operating system I care nothing 
> about.) Cards they sell are:
> 
> AudioVox PC 5740 (or PC5740)
> 
> Novatel (or Merlin?) V620
> 
> Sierra Wireless Aircard 555D (but doesn't support their broadband plan)
> 
> Kycera KPC650
> 

I use EVDO with a PC 5740; in fact, I'm sending this now from a moving car
that way.  It works, though not perfectly.  At least two other NetBSDers
use EVDO as well; we all have similar experiences.  And speed can be good
-- last night, at a hotel in Boston, I was getting ~700K bps.

The device itself is a Cardbus card that contains a USB hub and a umodem0
connected to it.  Here's the attach dmesg:

ohci0 at cardbus0 function 0: NEC USB Host Controller (rev. 0x43)
ohci0: interrupting at 11
ohci0: OHCI version 1.0
usb3 at ohci0: USB revision 1.0
uhub3 at usb3
uhub3: NEC OHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub3: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
ohci1 at cardbus0 function 1: NEC USB Host Controller (rev. 0x43)
ohci1: interrupting at 11
ohci1: OHCI version 1.0
usb4 at ohci1: USB revision 1.0
uhub4 at usb4
uhub4: NEC OHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub4: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
umodem0 at uhub3 port 1 configuration 1 interface 0
umodem0: Curitel Communications, Inc. Curitel Communications, Inc., rev
1.10/0.00, addr 2, iclass 2/2 umodem0: data interface 1, has CM over data,
has break umodem0: status change notification available
ucom0 at umodem0

No system changes were necessary for it to work, though I recently
committed a fix (suggested by nathanw) that improved performance by
increasing a buffer size.  Other cards did need some tweaks, but maybe
those changes have been committed by now.

The catch is that sometimes, *something* makes the connection drop
frequently.  One cause appears to be packets with an erroneous IP address
going out the interface.  I have filtering in place, which helped a lot,
but I need to review the scripts that generate my pf filter; I think they
could be improved.

The other gotcha is that sometimes, removing the PC card -- after PPP was
stopped -- would panic the machine.  I solved that by using drvctl to
detach the card before removing it; that 100% solved that problem.

As for Verizon -- check their terms of service; they're somewhat
unpleasant, and they sometimes enforce them.  I haven't dared try VoIP,
because they bar that -- they are a telco -- but given the latency, I
doubt it would be pleasant in any event.

Contact me offlist for more.

		--Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb