Sprint's 4G WiMax USB Modem is Uber-fast

Remember what it is like when carriers first introduced 3G that rivals early broadband speed. You may feel like you can finally get something done in a timely manner with that extremely precious laptop battery life. Yet it will leave something to be desired. Now with WiMax, it's coming to a point where web pages popping up faster than one could find a hyperlink to click on. Fast it is, but you have to live with a $79 monthly month for two years, drop $149.99 for the 4G U300 USB modem dongle, and be in Baltimore. If you're fine with that, Sprint welcomes you to its new WiMax network (or Xohm as the carrier would like call it).

So, how fast is it? Early reports are coming in that speed can reach upwards of 6.6Mbps. That's 50% faster than its advertised claim of 4Mbps, though, there couldn't be a lot of early adopters sharing the spectrum. The USB modem with a fallback option to connect to 3G is now actually available in Sprint stores throughout Baltimore. Sprint hopes to expand the coverage to major metropolitan areas in 2009, but the 5GB bandwidth allowance is a letdown.