Mac drivers for the Pantech LTE/4G USB modem arrive. Verizon launched two LTE/4G USB modems on Dec 5, 2010, the Pantech UML290 and the LG VL600 - neither with Mac drivers, until today. The LG VL600 was fast and reliable in our tests and edged out the Pantech UML290 also offered by Verizon Wireless. 3G connections were also solid in our tests with better speeds than we’ve seen from older generation USB modems. When LG and Verizon offer Mac support, we’ll even more heartily recommend Verizon LTE and the LG. The LG VL600 LTE USB modem measures 98.5 x 37.6 x 14.7 mm, weights 50g, has a 4-color LED Service Status Indicator and supports Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 computers. It also features flip USB cover and allows high-speed 4G internet connectivity with speeds between 2Mbps to 5Mbps on upload and download, which is more than 10 times faster. The VL600 modem works only with Windows computers and supports Windows XP or later. Setting it up is easy. First you need to install the included software from the CD, which will also install the. LG VL600 LTE modem finally gets some Mac love. Verizon released a Mac driver for the screaming-fast LG VL600 LTE modem. This means that Mac users now have two 4G modems to choose from, both are.
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Editor's rating (1-5): Carrier: Verizon Wireless Manufacturer: LG Discuss this product Where to Buy |
What's hot: Fast 4G LTE performance, good reception.
What's not: No Mac OS drivers (yet), relatively large.
Reviewed January 28, 2010 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief
Not so long ago, a USB cellular modem was something you used only when desperate for connectivity. Speeds weren’t near what Wi-Fi offered and Outlook simply floundered with a 1Mbps – 2Mpbs connection. 3G EV-DO Rev. A made for small improvements and saw speeds up to 2Mpbs down but that pales to Verizon’s new LTE network with its 10 to 24 Mbps download speeds. That’s significantly faster than many folk’s legacy 10Mbps 802.11b home Wi-Fi connections and it’s good enough for watching Hulu, downloading hundreds of emails and working with online content management systems and blogs.
In our tests we saw speeds of 10Mbps down and 2 Mbps up in the Dallas area with 2 out of 4 bars, and 18Mbps down and 5.8Mbps down with 3 bars. In the Las Vegas McCarran airport, we got a miraculous 24Mbps down with full bars. Verizon claims 5 to 10Mbps speeds and I’m sure once this new and relatively uncongested network is loaded speeds may drop to those rates, but that’s still plenty fast enough to do anything and everything Internet.
Right now Verizon with their LTE network and T-Mobile with their HSPA+ network offer the fastest 4G speeds, but Verizon traditionally has a coverage advantage, and we expect that once their network is fully built-out, they’ll cover more folks with 4G than T-Mobile. Verizon expects full nationwide coverage by 2013, and they’ve got 4G in many major metro regions now.
Building penetration is excellent since Verizon’s 4G network runs on their recently acquired 700MHz band (the lower the spectrum, the better the building penetration). 4G uses a SIM card like GSM networks, so each 4G product, be it a USB modem, smartphone or laptop, will have a SIM card. You need not do anything with the SIM card since Verizon provisions it when they activate your 4G product.
The Modem
The LG VL600 is a fast USB 4G LTE modem that also handles fallback to 3G EV-DO Rev. 0 and Rev. A as well as 1xRTT. It performed well in our tests with excellent speeds and fairly fast initialization times as well as fast downloads. It’s not exactly small though; at 3.88 x 1.48 x 0.58 inches it looks large when plugged into a netbook or ultraportable notebook. LG includes a USB cable and stand/clip should it block an adjacent port on your notebook or should you need to position the modem away from the computer for better reception (we had no need to do either, even when using the little Acer TimelineX 1830T 11.6” ultraportable and 11.6” HP DM1z).
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Keep in mind that USB modems, unlike Mobile Hotspots like the MiFi, only serve a data connection to one device at a time (your laptop or computer with USB port). There’s no 5-way connection sharing over WiFi, nor will the VL600 work with the iPad or other non-Windows/non-USB host capable devices.
The Data Plans
Verizon Wireless currently offers two data plans with their 4G LTE USB modems: a 5 gig/month plan for $50 and a 10 gig/month plan for $80. If you go over your allotted plan allowance, Verizon will charge you $10 per gig of overage. You can get the modem with your choice of 1 or 2 year contract, or pay full retail for the modem and go with prepaid daily/weekly or monthly plans. Prepaid plans cost more—you’ll pay $80 for the monthly plan with 5 gigs of data when a contract plan gets you 10 gigs, but you won’t have to pay during months when you don’t need the service.
LG will launch the first LTE (Long Term Evolution) USB modem for Verizon Wireless on Sunday Dec. 5 in the same day which Verizon is set to launch 4G LTE service in 38 major U.S. metropolitan areas along with 60 airports.
The LG VL600 LTE USB modem measures 98.5 x 37.6 x 14.7 mm, weights 50g, has a 4-color LED Service Status Indicator and supports Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 computers. It also features flip USB cover and allows high-speed 4G internet connectivity with speeds between 2Mbps to 5Mbps on upload and download, which is more than 10 times faster than 3G.
The modem will cost you $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a new two-year contract.