You don’t have to with EVDO or HSDPA in your laptop
by Rick Telberg
Technology moves along at an ever-accelerating clip. Five years ago, broadband Internet connectivity was something special, and was slowly taking over from dial-up. Today, it is almost ubiquitous. If you are still using dial-up, it’s because there are few or no broadband options in your area.
Just a few years ago, options for mobile broadband were sparse and expensive. One of the more popular offerings, wifi, required that you be able to locate a hotspot that not only provided access, but provided access for your carrier.
Times change as does available technology and business needs. Accountants have always been among the most mobile of professionals. Because of this need for ubiquitous connectivity, accountants as a group have been fairly quick to adopt wireless wide-area devices, including Smart Phones.
A new Yankee Group report — “To EVDO or Not to EVDO Shouldn’t Be a Question for SMBs†– points out that new technologies “foster both an increase in employee productivity and more easily balanced work and personal lives.â€
One reason that the Yankee Group gives for this increased productivity and life balance is that wireless technologies allow you to get productive work done in a variety of venues, such as while commuting on a train or bus, or while eating lunch in the park, where you would previously be disconnected. Of course, this enhanced productivity will be primarily reflected in the areas which require connectivity, such as email and online research. Accountants have been using their laptops to be more productive on the go since the advent of the laptop computer.
One thing that Yankee Group does emphasize, though, is that EVDO and HSDPA (High-Speed Download Packet Access) cards and services are very much worth investing in. Different carriers are split between which technology they employ. For example, AT&T uses HSDPA while Sprint and Verizon employ EVDO.
Both of these technologies provide speeds considerably faster than dial-up, though at 300 to 800 kbps, the speed is a bit less than cable and roughly equivalent to many DSL connections.
Yankee Group points out that not only can equipping your staff (and yourself) with EVDO/HSDPA cards make all of you more productive, but can also save money if you must travel frequently and pay for hotel and hotspot Internet access charges. Another money-saving area mentioned by the report is replacing traditional landline phones and ISP access with high-speed wireless cards in branch or home offices with limited broadband needs or lower levels of communication intensity.
Free or low cost Internet phone services such as Skype or magicJack can save a lot over a conventional landline phone or even cell phones if you travel.
High-speed EVDO or HSDPA is easy to add with a plug in PCMCIA card or USB adapter. The cost of these varies depending on which carrier you choose, the length of the contract, and what data plan is selected.
And if you are in the market for a new laptop, many popular brands are now available with an internal high-speed wireless card already installed. It’s worth considering when you’re shopping for your next laptop.
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