BSNL EVDO Data Card: An Overview

Wireless broadband is definitely the future of mobile communication in India. Most of the students and young business executives these days prefer to use wireless internet services.

Of the all the wireless internet services currently available in India,  BSNL offers the cheapest of them all, but most of the people still have doubt about what it actually is. In the days to come we will try to discuss in detail all you want to know about BSNL EVDO Data Card and what you can expect from it. Here is a brief overview.

What you would Love

1. Very Low rates
2. Unlimited Downloads
3. Better connectivity
4. Quick Activation

What you would Hate

1. Poor Customer Service
2. Variables speeds
3. Frequent Disconnections
4. Problems in Windows Vista and Windows 7

What kind of wireless internet services does BSNL Offer?

BSNL offers the following two types of wireless internet services.

CDMA 1x: This service uses CDMA technology for data transfer. CDMA 1x is relatively older to EVDO in terms of speed and performance. It offers speeds up to 144 Kbps and download speeds up to 18KBps. It is available is most of the cities and is currently in the process of being phased out.

The service is available through NIC (Network Interface Card) and EVDO data cards.

EVDO: EVDO stands for Evolution-Data Optimized/ Evolution-Data. It is a new technology and offers speeds up to 2.4 Mbps and download speeds up to 300 KBps. It is available in major cities and BSNL is rolling out EVDO in other cities also. Here is a list of cities where this service is available.

The service is available only through EVDO Data cards.

What exactly is EVDO?

EVDO is a telecommunication standard for wireless transmission of data through radio signals for broadband internet access. It uses multiplexing techniques including CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) as well as TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) to maximize throughput.  It is standardized by 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and has been adopted by many mobile phone service providers around the world.

Is BSNL EVDO Data Card Backward Compatible?

Backward compatibility means that the new device/technology can work with the input generated from an older device or network.

Yes, BSNL EVDO card is backward compatible. In simple terms, in case EVDO service is not available in your city, you can still opt for EVDO card and use it to access internet through CDMA 1x networks. The speed in this case would be that of CDMA 1x network i.e. up to 144Kbps. When the EVDO does become available you can switch over to it.

The reverse however is not true. If you opt for a NIC data card, you cannot access EVDO services on it.