I’ve been a subscriber of Sprint’s “Powervision” EVDO service for a couple years, and I’m happy to report that it’s still as awesome as it was when I first wrote about it (no link available — that entry is long lost). In fact, Sprint has been busy upgrading their networks in preparation for EVDO Rev A, which boosts max downstream speeds to an impressive 3.1 Mbps. Looking at the Powervision coverage maps, everywhere I checked has appears to have been bumped up to Rev A capability. Unfortunately, neither my HTC PPC-6700 or my Samsung A900 Blade support Rev A, so I’ve never been able to fully flex my mobile connection.

Even so, the results have been impressive; just take a look at the numbers recorded from a speed test I ran at Speedtest.net earlier today. For a non-Rev A connection, 800 Kbps downstream is pretty damn impressive if you ask me.

The title of this entry is “EVDO on Vista” for a reason. I want to give some brief instructions on how to go about tethering to your Vista laptop for anyone out there that might be having trouble with their A900. Basically, you can choose one of two methods to get hooked up. First, there’s Bluetooth tethering. Then there’s always the USB cable that was included with the phone. With either method, there are advantages and disadvantages, but no matter which you pick, I would steer clear of Sprint’s “Powervision Connection Manager” software, which appears to just be a means of monitoring your usage. Here’s how to get around using their garbage software:

Bluetooth - This is actually really simple. Assuming you have either a USB Bluetooth dongle or built-in Bluetooth radio installed and working on your machine, just pair the phone with your laptop. The phone advertises itself as being DUN (Dial Up Networking) capable, which Vista will take note of. After successfully pairing your A900 and laptop, it’s time to set up a new dial up connection in your Vista Network Connections manager. Select the “Connect using dial up” option, and modify the settings to use the DUN via Bluetooth option. I would also take a second to hit “Configure” for the Bluetooth DUN adapter and set the max connection speed to the 921 Kbps option. For phone number, enter “#777″ without quotes, and leave the username and password fields blank. Lastly, check the option to remember your password, and then finish / try to connection (make sure you’re disconnected from WiFi or LAN first though!). When you tell Vista to connect, it should go through a brief dialing sequence and then show you as connected down at the bottom. Congrats! You’re now ready to surf!

USB - My preferred method. This one is a little tougher, but it’s still do-able. First, you’ll need to be connected via WiFi or LAN so you can grab the Samsung A900 drivers. With your phone unplugged from your PC, unzip the drivers and install them as Administrator. You’re free to try to install them as a standard user, but Vista wouldn’t accept them unless I installed as Admin. It’ll take a minute to complete and then it’ll ask you to restart. Do it. After your machine is back up, it’s time to plug your A900 into your lappy’s USB port. I’d like to point out that before I installed the drivers from Samsung, Vista refused to recognize the phone; it showed up as an unrecognized device in the Device Manager, and was obviously useless. So you’ve got the drivers installed, and you’ve got the phone plugged in. At this point, Vista should pop up and tell you that it found new hardware — two new devices to be exact. The first device was listed as “Samsung CDMA Device” for me, and the second was still called unrecognized. Let Vista search for the proper drivers from Windows Update. It’ll take a little while (approximately 5 – 10 minutes for me), but a driver for the Samsung CDMA Device should say it was installed and the unrecognized device should also be installed as “Samsung Dial Up Modem.” At this point you’re almost ready to roll. Head into the Vista Network Manager, and create a new dial up connection. Call it whatever you want, and set the dial up number to #777. No username or pass are required. Make sure you select the Samsung CDMA Modem instead of your internal dial up modem. Last, hit the “Configure” button and set the max connect speed to 921 Kbps. That’s it! You should be ready to dial up and surf using your new connection!

A word on Bluetooth vs. USB

Using the Bluetooth method is cool because it doesn’t require you to carry around any extra cables, and it also allows you to position your A900 next to a window (for maximum signal) while sitting comfortably somewhere else in the room. Unfortunately, using EVDO and Bluetooth at the same time will kill your A900’s battery pretty quick. The remedy for this would be to plug your phone into a charger, preferably near a window, but then you’re forced to carry around a spare phone charger if you want to use your connection for extended periods. Bluetooth also introduces more latency in the connection, and in my experience also decreases your bandwidth to around 300 Kbps downstream (upstream remains at 120 Kbps for me using either Bluetooth or USB). So, you get a little extra freedom but give up some performance. Also, I think you’ll have a much better chance of getting a Linux box to connect via Bluetooth since Samsung only appears to provide Windows-based USB drivers.

Now, with USB you’re limited to keeping your phone within about five feet of you, it’s a little more complicated to set up, and it requires installing Samsung’s A900 drivers. On the up side, you get much better performance, and you should also be able to charge your phone while using it as a modem… so no need to carry a spare phone charger around with you.

A new Rev A capable phone may be in my near future, and if so, I’ll certainly be back to write about my experiences with it!