Living on the EDGE

Are you living on the EDGE? I don’t mean to continually confuse you by asking strange questions (see latest post), but I’m not asking if you consider yourself on the fringe of society or any social subsets, I’m asking whether or not you live in an area with EDGE coverage. If you are with either AT&T or T-Mobile, chances are you are living life on the EDGE. But how could this possible change your life for the better?

First, allow me to explain. EDGE is the signal that improved GSM and GPRS cell signals so that they could support data transfer. In order to transfer data successfully, like with a smart phone or laptop with an EDGE card from the carrier, you’re going to need to live in an EDGE zone, otherwise transfers will probably take too long and time out.

So, say you live in an EDGE zone. Awesome, right? Maybe not. Usually if you’re on a data plan with your cellular provider you’re going to either have to use your phone for all of the data you use, or pay a lot more for a PCMCIA card for unlimited data on your laptop. There is a way around this, however. If you use a EDGE USB Modem, you can actually use your phone’s SIM card and get the exact same EDGE signal to your laptop without paying the $60 or so a month for the PCMCIA card. Careful though, make sure there aren’t overage charges for downloading too much data with your phone because you tend to use a lot more data bandwidth when you’re on your laptop as opposed to your cell phone.