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High-speed Wireless Internet access is becoming a reality, with service pending from Sprint PCS, Cingular, and AT&T Wireless. The first to take flight is Verizon Wireless's Express Network service. Introduced in February, it offers wireless access to the Internet from mobile devices at speeds of 144 kilobits per second. With an Express Network account and a 1XRTT PC Card in your notebook or handheld, you can surf the Web almost anywhere in the Northeast, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Salt Lake City. Running at nearly ten times the speed of wireless Internet services that use older technology, the Express Network is great for heavy-duty Web browsing or for corporate data access by notebook users on the go. Verizon Wireless's high service and hardware prices, however, may lessen Express Network appeal to consumers.

I tested the Verizon Wireless service in Boston using a $300 Sierra Wireless AirCard 555 wireless modem for both my notebook and Pocket PC. Verizon also sells an alternative: You can use Kyocera's 2235 phone ($80) and Mobile Office connectivity kit ($80) to connect the phone to a notebook via a serial or USB connection. The monthly Express Network fee is $30, on top of a regular monthly digital voice-calling plan of $35. Billing for wireless Internet access is deducted from your voice-calling minutes.

You can purchase a Verizon Wireless phone, PC Card, and service plan only at Verizon Wireless retailers or through Verizon's Web site.

Rocky Launch

Installing the required Verizon Wireless software on my Windows 98-equipped IBM ThinkPad was not flawless. It took me an hour--with the help of a Verizon Wireless engineer--to install the Sierra PC Card and compression software. The problem turned out to be a lack of free network adapters on my notebook. After disabling my notebook's infrared port, resources were freed to support the Sierra Wireless PC Card.

Throughout a week of testing in the Boston area, the service has worked remarkably smoothly when coverage is good--and not so smoothly when coverage is poor. I can surf the Web, check e-mail, and use AOL and MSN instant messaging services while on the subway, riding in a car, or sitting at a coffee shop. Connections take only a couple of seconds to establish, with average speeds of 70 kbps. Verizon says its top speed is 144 kbps. But using compression technology and a full-strength signal, I can hit a surprisingly high 244 kbps for Web access.

Verizon's Express Network service is supported by various portable Windows computing platforms, but not by Palm. Currently, no suitable software is available to support Palm or Macintosh users in the United States.

To use the Sierra Wireless PC card on the HP Jornada 560 series, you need a PC Card Adapter accessory. HP's PC Card adapter costs $150 (with a MultiMediaCard slot and an additional battery).

On an HP 560 series Pocket PC, the Verizon software supports data and outbound and inbound cellular calls. Because the Pocket PC version of Verizon's wireless service does not work with the same data compression as Windows, data transfer rates are slower. In Boston my average speed using a Pocket PC was 29 kbps.

Learning to Fly

Express Network presents two drawbacks. One is poor performance when you are outside a prime service coverage area. Like cell phone coverage, wireless speeds are as good--or bad--as your signal to a cell tower.

When the signal is weak, download speeds drop to a glacial 10 kbps. At three-quarter strength, signal speeds hover around 60 kbps. But if you get caught outside a coverage area, you can still connect wirelessly at 14.4 kbps using Verizon Wireless's old network. Factors like riding in a car can affect bandwidth as bit error rates increase and TCP/IP packets need to be retransmitted.

I couldn't get live streaming audio or video feeds to work on my laptop, though Verizon Wireless says I should have been able to. Another shortcoming of the Express Network service plan: Some customers may have to pay for voice service that they don't want.

Verizon Wireless bundles its voice and data service for a total fee of $65 ($35 for the voice service and $30 for Network Express), but you can't just add the Network Express Service to your existing Verizon cell phone service. That's because Verizon assigns your wireless PC Card a unique phone number for incoming and outgoing cellular phone calls. You can use the voice service that's bundled with the Express Network service to make calls--but you must call via your PDA or notebook. So if you want both a Verizon Wireless cell phone and Express Network service through a wireless PC Card modem in your notebook or PDA, you must pay for two separate voice accounts as well as for Network Express.

If you're willing to dump your existing cell phone and upgrade to the $80 Kyocera 2235 phone and the $80 wireless software kit, you can use that cellular phone as a tethered modem with your notebook. For that service, Verizon charges $65 monthly. Because my Pocket PC doesn't support serial or USB connections, I can't wirelessly enable my Pocket PC with a Kyocera phone.

Verizon Wireless says it may reconsider its pricing plans.

Wireless Wars Heat Up

The Express Network can't touch the high speeds of cable or Digital Subscriber Line modem service. But the service is about ten times faster than most wireless modems available today.

Verizon service may be flailing slightly as it gets its wings. But the company earns kudos for being the first to roll out high-speed 3G wireless Internet access--3G is industry jargon for third-generation wireless service, defined by average speeds of at least 100 kbps.) Express Network is considered a 2.5G network by some observers, because average speeds do not always exceed 100 kbps.

By 2003, Verizon Wireless hopes to serve its entire client base of 29.4 million customers nationwide in 50 states.

By then, it should have competition from Sprint PCS, which plans to launch its 3G service this summer, based on the same 1XRTT technology. Other competitors include Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless, which are preparing their high-speed General Packet Radio Service. Last November, VoiceStream launched its IStream service with speeds comparable to dial-up access.

The Ricochet service, which was shuttered last year when Metricom entered bankruptcy, is slowly being resurrected by Denver-based owner Aerie Networks. Aerie says that it will revive the network in Colorado and California on a limited basis.

Analysts say it will take time before consumers begin seriously flocking to wireless high-speed services. High prices and a lack of meaningful wireless services are leading deterrents, says Charles Golvin, senior analyst with Forrester Research. For now, he says, 3G is primarily for mobile warriors and the business set.

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