8703/EVDO Rev. A?

[attyhal]

Just got a solicitation call from VZW about adding the broadband access to my 8703e for $15/month. The sales rep said that EVDO Rev. A will be in my area soon, and that when it arrives there will be a software upgrade for the BB to be able to take advantage of these speeds.

I thought that Rev. A was hardware specific, and that a software or firmware upgrade could not make a device Rev. A compatible. I specifically asked her about this, and she claimed that a software upgrade would make the 8703e Rev. A compatible. Is she wrong?

[southwestcomm]

Your BB has a Rev 0 chipset. It won't be able to take advantage of Rev A when VZ turns it on.

[BryanHarig]

She is wrong. The bb 7250 was software upgradable to support evdo, there is no indication the 8703 is. The 8800 most likely will, it is due mid year on vzw.

[netwiz01]

Your BB has a Rev 0 chipset. It won't be able to take advantage of Rev A when VZ turns it on.


I have 8703e from Sprint. I was told by Sprint that their device would be capable of Rev A. via a software upgrade.

[southwestcomm]

Sorry. You were given bad information. Same reason a Rev 0 EVDO card can not be upgraded to take advantage of Rev A - radio not software.

[gbalbach]

Probably won't but it is promising that we were able to upgrade the firmware on one of our PCMCIA Rev 0 Sierra cards to Rev A, wow is it a lot faster now!

[southwestcomm]

Firmware upgrades are released all the time. If you Sierra card is a Rev 0 card it will not function on Rev A -just Rev 0.

Probably won't but it is promising that we were able to upgrade the firmware on one of our PCMCIA Rev 0 Sierra cards to Rev A, wow is it a lot faster now!

[phinger23]

rev a is hardware dependent, not software dependent.

from what i have been told by verizon data personnel, there is no immediate time frame as to when handhelds will be be rev a will begin to enter the market.