A Look at Sequans Single Mode LTE Baseband
by Brian Klug on January 11, 2014 6:19 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
- LTE
- CES
- CES 2014
- Sequans
Verizon completed its LTE coverage rollout and achieved nearly parity with its 3G EVDO coverage in 2013, in addition to green-lighting LTE-only devices with its newest RFPs, allowing a number of silicon vendors to begin certifying their single mode LTE modems for use. In addition to Altair, Sequans also was able to approve one of its LTE modems in two different modules, the surface mountable EZLinkLTE VZ20Q, and M.2 form factor VZ20M. These kind of modules usually go into tablets, laptops, M2M, or other data-only applications.
Both are based on Sequans Mont Blanc LTE baseband, which is 3GPP Release 9 capable, supports up to Category 4 speeds (150 Mbps on the downlink), and is built on a 40nm process. In addition the two modules support both Band 13 and 4 on Verizon. The transceiver has 6 ports, so there's room for adding even more bands as well.
The VZ20Q will provide LTE in Verizon's upcoming kid-oriented Kurio 7x LTE tablet, in addition to a few more upcoming tablets. Sequans told me the price for both modules is already sub $30, and the goal is to get price down to under $20 eventually.
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hrrmph - Sunday, January 12, 2014 - link
Thanks for the warning. Craptastic pile of junk tablets on the way.Initial price: Zero $. Real price: At least a $1000 worth of overpriced sticky-bundled services.
Waste of time. Needs voice capability.
Most important to recognize, this is another attempt to enable one of the most viciously "walled gardened" USA telecoms to ensure that its customers can only communicate on 2.2% of the surface of the Earth. All this due to its proprietary works "no-where-else-but-here" network and devices.
Why do they do this to us?
If you said "To attempt to financially enslave us!" then you win awards for High IQ and Low Naivete!
So they dangle the half-baked 4G-LTE data capability on a give-away tablet, but don't tell you about the effing they plan to give you while they milk n bilk you for exorbitant fees and extras.
No doubt these devices will be locked down tighter than a duck's arse in a rain storm. Just try to use another carrier's services with a tablet sporting one of these. Good luck with that.
Just say no to this drivel.
Pay up front for your devices.
Buy your devices on the open free unlocked market.
Buy what you can afford: no more than you can pay, and no fewer features that what will really help you out.
Don't ever buy a device from a telecom. Never buy a device, used or new, that has a telecom's label on it.
Buy devices that are interoperable on networks that comply with international standards (T-Mobile and AT&T are compliant networks in the US and work with devices that meet worldwide standards. At least T-Mobile was until Sprint tried to buy them and had eyes on jacking T-Mobile's network all up).
Buy devices with sufficient radio bands to cover the areas, continents, countries, regions, and telecom operators that you would most like to use.
The more 4G-LTE bands that a device has, the more likely you'll get the coverage you want in 4G. A compliant 4G-LTE device with 3G-Quad Band will drop to 3G in a pinch just about anywhere you go on the beaten path.
Don't ever sign a contract.
Mobile means just that: MOBILE. Make sure your tablets are truly mobile and telephony SIM slot equipped.
WiFi tethering isn't adequate if you plan to seriously roam - way too many single points of failure (plus multiple sources of battery drainage) that could leave you without any connected devices at all... or without even a single working mobile device.
Reasonable redundancy is your friend. How many jetliners do you see tethered to another jetliner for voice or data communications? Yeahh... thawt so. Its an "emergency only" procedure for those folks, and it should be an "emergency only" procedure for you too on any serious trip. Don't be an "Emergency" condition before you get out the front door.
Do your research. Buy well. Don't ever let em tell you that they're all the same...
Yours truly,
Unlocked and Non-Mortgaged from Day 1
EJ Truth - Monday, May 19, 2014 - link
@ hrrmphHey I really like your perspective in this post. I'm ready to change the world with internet and I need people who see the way internet should be and hate how jacker up the system is right now. If you want to join my team contact me eli.protiva a-t protivasynergy d-o-t com
lmcd - Sunday, January 12, 2014 - link
While likely not the same quality as the baseband in the N7, this could be a pretty awesome way to put a Tegra Note 7 at $250 as a connected tablet.