Worldcall EvDO Detailed Review
I have had the chance of using it for about 2 weeks now and here is a detailed review of how it fared from the purchasing experience to the usage one.
bye the way for those of you in Karachi Mohtashim at IT Tazee has done a detailed review here also for those of you weighing your options against PTCL techlahore has a post here
So how did it fare in Lahore hit the read more link for details
Getting on Board
Getting a connection of Worldcall Wireless Broadband is as simple as it gets, you need a copy of your id card and a copy of utility bill (I still don’t understand the need for this ) The will provide you with a box like a CD box which you can take home and start using). The box contains the sleek USB Device a USB Extension cable and manual. Introductory price of Worldcall EvDO device is Rs 3000. That’s all the cost you need to start using this connection
Installing and using the connection
Installing and getting up on the connection is also pretty easy, as soon as you plug-in the device it will automatically run the installer utility and all your drivers will be installed automatically, a new connection with the name “Worldcall EVDO” and a new Program “Mobile Partner” are installed automatically. You can use the mobile partner to connect and you are online !!
Device
Worldcall’s has provided a very sleek device to access the EvDO Network, the device itself is a HUWAEI EC168C EvDO USB Stick. It is a durably built device looks good, the USB Connection rotates and fixes in place to make it more secure for carrying in a pocket or your Laptop Bag
The rotable USB connection makes it very easy to connect to a USB Port on your computer and adjust it so it does not obscure your work.
Icing on the Cake
The most interesting thing for me (might not be important for every one) in the device was the ability to access a micro SD card, there is a hidden slot which appears when you open the device where you can insert a micro SD card, I had a 1 gb old Micro SD card which i inserted and viola!! I had a usb stick with me, I had been thinking of buying a USB device for some time but this really came as a savior, now don’t need to carry two separate things, also it will enable for quicker access to the Micro SD of my black berry for the pictures or videos i keep snapping. According to specs it should be good up to an sd card of 8 gb capacity which is enough for my needs. One caveat how ever would be how this device acts when connected to a computer which does not have all the drivers installed it will install the drivers for evdo before allowing the system to access the storage, however for me its a god send gift
Packages
We have already covered the packages in our previous post Worldcall EvDO coming to Lahore on 25th Of May
just reposting for new readers here
| Package | Price |
| 256 Kbps | Rs. 1200/- |
| 512 Kbps | Rs 1800/- |
| 1024 Kbps (1 Mbps) | Rs 2500/- |
Introductory price for service activation is 2999/- (Its my assumption that it means the cost of device too) which is not a bad deal considering the device is being charged at 4500 in Karachi, and PTCL device costs 6000 rs
Comparing with PTCL EvDO Rates for 2000 you get an upwards of 1 Mbps connection with same unlimited downloads where as for 1800 worldcall gives you a 512 Kbps, and with the recent launch of USB Device from ptcl the competition would be stiff, the plus point PTCL also has is the continuous functioning of device even out of major cities, but Customer service of PTCL has been an issue for people having problems.
Some addition to our initial observations is that wordcall does have an edge of providing flexibility in packages where a user with a lower budget could go for the 1200 Package which is absent from the PTCL deal.
Speed and Connectivity
Speed of worldcall EvDO is as promised on speedtest.net I got this (the download never exceed the 512 though which is the speed of my package.
The browsing is fast and ftp downloads are also fast (will update with accurate speeds later).
I have so far have not faced any signal or connectivity issues how ever as one reader has suggested in his comment and on his blog its not working in Cantt area of Lahore
http://daudahmed.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/worldcall-evdo-not-available-in-lahore-cantt-yet/
similarly i have heard that there are some times (rare) issues of remote computer not responding type but they are still far and beyond.
Conclusion
For us consumer the advent of EvDO and Wimax present some very good alternatives to DSL which some times can be a night mare if your landline has noise etc (Try getting it fixed through PTCL). EvDO in itself presents a very viable options for people on road, allowing connectivity in small portable packages, also with the current load shedding if your laptop can withstand a 1 hour black out it would mean that you can stay connected through the load shedding which in itself was a major thought when i went for this. The competitor in its space is PTCL which has a better cost to speed ratio but a little less flexibility in packages and a considerable startup cost of 6,000 rupees (against worldcall’s 3000 )
Do let us know your experiences and comments
29 Comments on “Worldcall EvDO Detailed Review”
Great review. But does this also work for Linux? Cause I don’t use Windows.
The price is so high…DSL packages are so cheap like from PTCL and LDN…when will the price of this be reduced? Students can’t afford this!
The rate plan is high.Please reduce it, and begin in small city.
@ Ayesha an Tahir, i guess the rate is higher than DSL but it does offer conveinience to fight the menace of load shedding all you need is a laptop or your PC to power this thing
They have provided the service, despite of the fact that the rates are higher, still in many areas there are problems with the device, I am facing the problem moving around the city. Other competitors are offering the service with much cheaper rates.
Beside rates you see that there is no downloading limit.
We are using World call evdo 512K for quite some time. It is ok for net surfing, e-mails but for downloading World call evdo is terribly slow. On paper it says 512 KBS but in reality its speed is merely 2.7Kb/s to 12Kb/s, thats pathetic. Believe us it takes long time to download a pesky 10 minute mp3 file, and you-tube is unberable to watch as it pauses dozens of time. We are basically very disappointed with world-call evdo wireless internet. In fact this is not our problem but all of my frustrated friends using World call evdo are experiencing same sluggish downloading speed. We wonder what speeds Rival PTCL EVO or Wi-Tribe offer…We should appreciate if users of other services could throw some light and whether other services are better or not??/ Thanx n Kind Reg Taimiur ali / natasha/ faisal j
Salam
i m intrested to buy EVDO, plz someone tell me that what device is better for me, PTCL EVO or WORLDCALL EVO, or Wi-Tribe?
Khayyam, depends on what your needs are, if you are some one traveling alot PTCL, if you want flexibility in plans Worldcall (though i don’t know if they have launched in Islamabad do let me know if they have. WiTribe has just revamped their packages, but i have not seen their USB device (need to do some investigation
), i have also heard rumors about wateen launching a wimax usb.
prices r 2 high……it is out of range of student……dsl is quite reasonable
is there any entina available for worldcall wireless EC168C? Because i have very low reception of signals in my room…
or anyway to boost the signals ?
Thanks
@raza u can get antenna but it will cost u additional 1000pkr … i tried to use my ptcl vfone antenna with it but didn have ne effect on the signals …. easy way to find a good spot in ur room is take out ur mobile phone start dloading a file using gprs/edge n check at which location in ur room u get the max speed :O) i know its silly but its working for me ..even with 3/5 signals i m getting speed upto 130kb/s with my 512kbs evdo and yeah it is faster than ptcl dsl but it has one drawback it works on shared bandwidth so more users less BW u will get
I’ve connection of it at 1Mbps which means it should give me download at 120Kb/s, but what i get is a very variable speed from 0Kb/s to 125Kb/s .
In my two months experience with EVDO 1Mbps connection average speed i get is max 65Kb/s and min 20Kb/s.
@raza is right about “signal strength is different in different rooms of a same house” and ” because of shared bandwidth speed is variable”.
For me it gets slower after 4PM till 3AM but faster viceversa.
Conclusion: i regret ,why i bought it!!!?
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My usb is detected as a mass storage device and not as mobile modem. i have xp3 it worked fine before. i unistaled worldcall and now reinstalled and program began. strangely usb works on only one port when working.
i think its a bug, does anybody have a fix???
i need evdo worldcall wireless usb modem driver for windows 7 please help me in this regards.
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I think i am very benifial customer of worldcall. I have buy 6 wireless broadband USB Devices for my office, 3 of 512kbps and 3 of 256kbps. But now i need one more function in worldcall wireless broadband. It should be auto connect on window startup. I request to worldcall company. Please proceed my request and requirement, otherwise i have to purchase PTCL landline broadband. Any Wireless broadband of any company in Pakistan does never auto reconnect on window startup, but if worldcall will offer this i think customers quntity will be up. But if anybody know about auto connect on window startup, please tell me on khadim_hussain1234@yahoo.com, I ll’ ba thankfull to you.
I m using Worldcall Evdo 256Kbps
Signal : 60%
average speed is betwwen 60kbps to 85kbps
Sometimes when downloading torrents, my downloading speed raised to 300+Kbps
Never had a problem,
the guys who are complains about low speed, the actual cause is virus and spywares, there many spywares those reduce your internet & PC speed,
you need to install a good antivirus,
and signal strength should be 50% for good speed,
dont buy any Wireless device until you test the signal strength either wateen or Worldcall Evdo.
Signal Strength Really Matters
worldcall evdo review Reviewsbest post. I has been collection in my blog.2010-6-3
worldcall evdo review ReviewsPretty good post.2010-6-5
Hi Guys,
Great review btw
i have been using World Call for about 6 months now and never has it let me down! The speed is awesome and works almost everywhere, just one question mate. I live in Multan and will be going to Lhr for a short visit, just wanted to know if it would work in another city.
Regards,
Junaid
P.S Check out my website too
the speed is too slow near Gym Khana , upper mall even u can’t browse sometimes
has anyone tried any antenna for it??
worldcall wireeless broadband is so cheap…………………2.4mbps is just for 600rs per month.And downloading speed is 100_150.And its range is 17km…………………..I like my wordcall device………………………………………..
I have this device from almost the beggining and its very reliable. ive had a max of 5-10 disconnections from that time. you can also slide a micro sd card in the device upto 8 GB. And when youre signals get low try raising the device with a usb cable. I use a ten foot cable extension to raise it and it works like a charm. And the best thing is i have used it to download around 125 GB of data till now. The speeds pretty damn satisfactory
. hope this helps others. Becoz PTCL evo really let me down…