VERIZON EVDO UPDATE: Reader Doug Wingate writes:

I’m considering getting onto the Verizon EVDO network, having read your blog entries in which you praised the Verizon service some weeks ago. Will you consider giving your readers an update on your satisfaction with that service and any thoughts you may have as to whether it’s the best thing going for wireless connectivity in the urban areas where the service is offered?

Well, since — in spite of the salesman’s promise to me last fall — Verizon hasn’t rolled out its broadband service in Knoxville yet, I’m not sure I can answer that. I’ve used the broadband service when I’ve been in Washington, New York, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and other areas that offer it. It seems quite zippy. Around here it’s the slower “national access” — nominally 122kbps, though it’s sometimes slower (and, actually, sometimes faster) than that. That’s not a patch on wifi or DSL, but it’s perfectly usable. And you can blog from a moving car, which is kind of cool. The service is pretty reliable, although it doesn’t work everywhere. I’ve used it out in the boonies, but there are areas (for example, a stretch of I-81 in southern Virginia from about Abingdon to Roanoke) where there’s no service at all.

I like it a lot. I’m not sure I’d make it my primary Internet service, but it’s very cool to be able to work anywhere.

I still wish they’d roll out broadband in Knoxville, though, as I was promised.