Sprint's Wireless Data Network Trumps Verizon's

The Novatel USB 727 is part of the family of so-called USB data modems. I like USB data access tools: They plug into those cute little USB ports in your laptop, and they tend to quickly create a stable wireless connection to a fast cellular network.

And so it was with Sprint's version of the USB 727. I installed the unit in an office lobby while plagued by some fairly hilarious wireless data usage problems -- I was covering Apple's(AAPL Quote) mega-trade event MacWorld, and every hotspot and wireless access point in the greater San Francisco area was completely clogged.

The 727 worked well right out of the box. It launched a very nicely done broadband connectivity application that dovetailed with the Microsoft(MSFT Quote) network access software and into my laptop's wireless integration package. And it provided stable, fast access over the next several months across the country.

Bravo, Sprint.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same of Verizon.

Verizon takes a different tack for data access. You load software to connect to the network, but it is not the same "connect to anything" broadband application that Sprint provides. Instead, you install VZAccess Manager, a centralized software package that attempts to control all connectivity to your laptop.

In my testing, access is not what this application provided.

In a little more than a month of solid testing, my assistant and I simply could not get the USB 727 modem to reliably work on the Verizon network. We had almost every conceivable problem: The Vista upgrade from Microsoft confused the software so the modem refused to work. Drivers were often left installed deep in the operating system that created conflicts. The VZAccess Manager fought with Sony's wireless connectively tool and we had to de-install that application to get the modem to function. On a trip to Baltimore, the unit flat out refused to connect to the network.