enna sprouts from a standard connector on the battery pack, so you can substitute a different antenn
a for better performance.
This small package is nice, but it's still far from the ultimate solution. The battery module, sticking out of the slot, makes it hard to pack the laptop in a carrying bag for fear the battery part could break off. Megahertz should have attached the battery pack with a flexible wire so you could disconnect it. This would also allow you to move the antenna around to avoid interference from the laptop and to angle for better reception. On the other side, such a flexible connection wouldn't work well with palmtops and personal digital assistants like the Apple Newton. With those systems, the integral modem package lets you hold the entire machine in one hand.
The PC Card supports Windows 95 Plug and Play. When we plugged in the modem for the first time, the PC laptop asked for the disks with the right drivers. Thereafter it functioned perfectly. The Apple PowerBook, however, was even smarter; it didn't need help from any disks to talk with the modem card t
he first time. It just worked. That's
real
plug and play.
On the Air
The AllPoints modem uses primarily the RAM Mobile Data Network, though it can also use the Cantel and other 900-MHz Mobitex networks. RAM is a wireless network (used mostly for pagers) that operates independently of cellular phone companies in most urban areas of the United States. RAM estimates that it covers 90 percent of the places where people do business in the U.S. If you're considering buying the AllPoints modem, you should definitely investigate the RAM coverage first. Farmers and others who live outside metro areas might like to use the modem, but there's a good chance that the RAM network doesn't extend to rural zones. Business travelers, on the other hand, should enjoy good access because RAM base stations are often located at airports.
Our experience with coverage was generally good. At the first place we tried the modem, we couldn't receive a signal because of a large, wooded hill betw
een the house we were in, located at Baltimore's northern edge, and the city itself. Later we discovered that a faint signal was getting through, but it didn't register on the software's monitor. Megahertz might consider offering an integral hardware signal meter in the future, as some other company's radio modems do.
We also used the Megahertz modem while riding the train to New York City. The signal was often very strong, and we could send and receive packets for most of the journey. On New York's Upper West Side, the signal was just barely strong enough to be functional.
Good signal strength is very important when sending or receiving E-mail this way. With a strong radio signal, data packets flow quickly, and there are few errors that require resending a packet. A weaker signal can severely degrade throughput and multiply transmission time by a factor of 10.
Wireless E-Mail
The AllPoints modem comes with software to support basic Internet E-mail, which you must pur
chase for a separate monthly fee. We used Wynd, from Wynd Communications, in versions for a Canon Windows-compatible laptop and an Apple Powerbook. The Wynd software was functional but Spartan, with none of the extra features now standard on most desktop mailers.
The software does provide two neat tools for sending messages. You could mail a message to a particular phone number (e.g., 2125551234@phone) and the Wynd system would dial the number and read the message via a computerized speech synthesizer--great for sending a message to someone without a computer. Wynd can also send a fax, and you can ask Wynd not to send you long messages over the radio modem
The PC Card also came with several DLLs that you can use to build your own applications to run over the RAM network. With C code for a demonstration application, we built a chat connection between two laptops from an ordinary Internet chat application; we just replaced Winsock calls with calls to the AllPoints DLL. Programming is pretty straig
htforward if you have network experience.
The AllPoints radio modem PC Card is a great tool for many people who need to swap packets while out on the road. The radio E-mail connection alone could justify the cost for a sales force. A company that wants to offer flexible access to databases might also investigate writing software using the DLLs that come packaged with the modem.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
AllPoints wireless PC Card modem........$499
Megahertz
(a division of U.S. Robotics)
Salt Lake City, UT
Phone: (800) 527-8677 or (801) 320-7000
Fax: (801) 320-6010
Internet:
http://www.megahertz.com
Circle 1096 on Inquiry Card.
E-Mail Without Wires
