I received, and started using, the Novatell V640 Express Card/34 with my Verizon EVDO account a few nights ago. The following are my initial thoughts.

First, the good news:
1. For Mac users the updated VZAccess software is a Universal Binary. The Novatell V640 is the first dedicated mobile EVDO solution I’ve found that’s compatible with OS X on my Apple MacBookPro.

NOTE: It is not necessary to install the VZAcess software to use this card, Mac OS X ships with built in support!
This was Updated on 10/25/06

2. Speed wise I have witnessed some great rates: 1254 kbps down; 116 kbps up. On my first SF to Silicon Valley commute I was able to maintain connectivity the entire way (on I-280 no less!) I did notice brief losses of connectivity.

Now, the bad news:
1. Verizon’s VZAccess Manager software (3.0.1 build 1463) isn’t compatible with the Cisco VPN software 4.9.00 (0050) I need to use to access the corporate network. (I was able to successfully ssh to a proxy box and forward specific ports but that’s an additional pain.) Note: the previous Kyocera PCMCIA card I was using worked fine with VPN so I assume that this is a software issue. I’ve contacted Verizon to let them know about the issue. Considering many business users are EVDO subscribers I consider this a **major** problem

NOTE: Cisco is now shipping VPN Client 4.9.01 (0030) which works with this card. As mentioned below in one of the comments it might still be necessary to go to the terminal and (a) unload and then (b) load the drivers but I can confirm the software does in fact work when connected via EVDO. Here’s how to load and unload the drivers:

UNLOAD:
sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/CiscoVPN.kext

LOAD:
sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/CiscoVPN.kext
This was Updated on 10/25/06

2. When restarting the computer with the card inserted I get an annoying message “Starting up your computer with your Expresscard installed has prevented VZAccess from recognizing the device. Please eject and re-insert the Expresscard.” This is just silly, how can the software detect the card to display this message but not actually detect the card!

Picture 28.png

3. Other minor details, the VZAccess s/w has a couple of strange interactions and some trivial button actions don’t work.

Quick Tests:
I was able to make/receive VoIP calls using Gizmo, Skype and Yahoo Messenger so none of my desired ports appear to be blocked (yet).

Overall feedback:
Based on my limited experience testing connectivity and coverage this is a decent MacBookPro EVDO offering but I would definitely expect Verizon to quickly work with Smith Micro to revise the software that’s available so that it doesn’t feel so wanky.