There were very few places that I did not receive service.   However, if I continued to drive a few miles, I was back online within minutes. While there were many gaps in my Sprint mobile phone service along my route, there were very few with my Sprint broadband service.

This very compact Novatel card boasts speeds up to 3.1 Mbps on EV-DO Rev. A capable networks, and a GPS capability allows you to retrieve location data from GPS satellites.   While I had not put the GPS to use, I hear that is superb in conjunction with a PC, but did not work with Macs during initial tests.   I am not sure if the problems with the Mac have rectified yet, so you may want to check into that if you plan on using GPS with your Mac.  

The only drawback I encountered with this card was initializing it with my MacBook Pro prior to use.   At the time when I set up my card in May of 2007, it could only be activated by a PC, which is a bit mind-boggling since Apple was the first to use the Express 34 slot.   I was able to get around this issue quite easily since my MacBook also runs Windows XP.   However, if your Mac does not run Windows, you can take the card to any Sprint service center and they will activate your card within minutes on their PC.

Overall, I am very pleased with the speed, reception and performance of the Novatel Merlin EX720 Express 34 card.  

I give this product 5 out of 5 U's!

Retail - $249.99

With service agreement - $99.99