how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by clocktower 
Posted: 1.2 years ago
member for 3 years, 4 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
 Henderson,Clark,NV
 Contract price not specified.
 "included with my plan"
 "Had to do some light hacking on my Instinct"
 "Good service"
| |
Well after getting my data tethering turned on, it works great. Something's wrong with the bluetooth though, it only works up to 256kbps, but that could be my adapter. Notice: Sprint doesn't officially support this through the instinct, but it works. Just have to google it. thanks to instinct-samsung.com
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by MagicVuedoo
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 4.4 years, 15 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
Hatley,Marathon,WI
$15 per month
"Better then dial-up"
"Connection is not consistant"
"Better then dial-up... what else matter?"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Well, I live in a area that have no broadband service. None, zip, nada, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Of course, I could have gone with satelite internet service but get real, who the *bleep* wants to pay $60-$100 a month for 256-512k? Not to consider also paying upward of $200-$300 for the equiptment and installation. Thats with a 2yr contract!
Well, long story short, I figure $15-$30 for dial-up or add another $15 for the PaM plan. Considering that I must also pay another $30-$40 for phone service, no comparision. I already pay about $170 for two phone with unlimited roaming, data, long distance, navigation, blah, blah (the PowerVision Pro plan), sprintPCS to sprintPCS, 7pm nights and weekend with 2200min. Whats another $15?
Now when I say no broadband service, THAT includes Sprint Broadband too. I am on 1x. Know what though? Lets see... 40-52k on dial-up or 60-120k for SprintPCS that also allow me to take it anywhere I wanna go? I'll let you decide. (And yes, those are tested speed. It varies widely on where and when I am.)
Tough choice, right?
Sprint tells me that EVDO will be here some time within the next 90 days... we'll see.
The only issue that I have so far with the service is that I use a Red RAZR. And it is a VERY poor choice. It doesn't always stay logged in. I will still have internet connection and it does register as 'Connected' but it wont send nor recieve data. Go figure. Sprints technical service tells me that it is because I am not in a EVDO area, it might be due to bandwidth limitation on the network. Yeah, right. Why can't they just say, "I dunno?" I mean, I can use the wife Upstage II to connect and it will stay on and connect 24/7. Why not the RAZR? Duh, I dunno. Another thing is that if I am in an area that has EVDO, it will connect at that speed instead of the 3G speed.
As far as the cap goes... I dunno. I read a lot about it but from all the representative of sprint that I've talk with, customer care, technical service, and sprint store personnel, they all tell me that it is unlimited data usage with unlimited roaming data usage too. And yes, SprintPCS customer care personnel tells me that EVDO is availible in this area. It's not but they say it is. So it isn't because I am on 1x. They are telling me unlimited data usage with EVDO. Eh, maybe I should go and read my contract again?
Overall, I got to say that there are bigger and better things out there. But for me, the cost and infrastructure is well worth it even if I am on "dial-up" speed. I mean, how many times can you take *your* DSL or ADSL connection with you?
Update: YAY! EVDO here now. Of course not yet where I live but it is in the Wausau area... YAY!!!
Update: Whooopie!!! As of today, it is in my area!!! 500k only of course but that is better then even 60k!!!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by pcx99
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 7 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
Spring,Montgomery,TX
$45 per month
 about 1 days
"Fairly reliable and affordable."
"Performance, connection stability."
"When you absolutely positively need the internet no matter what, this might be the plan for you."
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I initially tried using a dedicated broadband modem in my computer but the expense was almost double a phone as modem plan PLUS I got hit with all the 911 and other fees of having another line even though I couldn't use it for voice. So I switched to the $40.00 phone as modem plan (be REALLY careful you get a phone that can do EVDO, I shelled out for a mogul). Overall I'm much happier with the phone as modem plan than the broadband, the cost is much more bearable. But even then it's still a very expensive way to connect to the internet.
When using the phone as a modem, I get performance equal to a low-mid range DSL connection (1 megabit down and 150kbps up) on average although the connection can quickly drop to isdn (100kbps down, 50kbps up) if the phone loses the evdo connection and reverts to the 1x data connection, something it does frequently. Like all wireless plans, the latency of the connection is just high enough to make the connection unsuitable for gaming. I typically get a ping of 100ms, and for WoW the client usually reports around 350ms. Playable, but not rock solid and will probably cost you a few pvp matches.
So the key is not to buy this (or any wireless) plan as a primary internet connection but as a backup for those times when you're not able to otherwise connect through your cable or dsl service and there's no wifi laying around (or there is wifi but you really need a secure connection).
I did research all the providers before purchasing from sprint. If you live in a service area the Sprint plan was obviously the best when I purchased it (Unlimited data) however sprint has now gone to the same 5gig limit as all of the other providers and the 3g service used by verizon and at&t pretty much runs rings around evdo although sprint usually comes in a bit cheaper (10-20/mo) than the other carriers. If I were buying the plan today I'd probably go with at&t for the higher bandwidth and performance.
The bottom line is that I've not been disappointed in sprint, it's done exactly what I expected it to do, serve as a good backup to ensure that I always have Internet connectivity no matter where I am. If I had purchased it as a primary means to connect to the internet I would have been sorely dissapointed. I believe that sprint, like all wireless carriers, over-price the service and the bandwidth caps really don't lead me to believe that our wimax and 4g futures are going to be all that bright.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by bobjohnson
Posted: 1.3 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 262 visits, last login: 346 days ago
Titusville,Brevard,FL
 Business customer
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"As good and reliable as you can get... 2 years so far"
"Fla thunderstorms slow it down"
"Good value for mobile broadband"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
I almost went with Cingular Wireless until the store rep couldn't get it to work in the store... I originally had the phone as a modem plan and used bluetooth to my laptop but Sprint sent me an advertisement that they would give me a wireless card for free and a router for 39.99 so I took it... I ordered the service throught B2B sales with the offer number from the ad. They billed everything to me (no upfront cost) and guaranteed me next day shipping which they held up, i got it the next day at like 11 a.m. They sent me a Novatel Merlin EX720, the Sprint Portable Router and the expresscard adapter for a grand total of about $55. Everything has been good so far and everything functions as advertised and I have no problem with coverage in this area.. So it's all good...
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Alennx
Posted: 1.3 years ago
member for 6.2 years, 51 visits, last login: 4 days ago
Redding,Shasta,CA
$50 per month (24 month contract)
about 3 days
"Better coverage than T-mobile or Nextel!!!! Nice and Fast"
"None yet..."
"recent convert from T.mobile so probably biased :)"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I had T-mobile because they were cheaper to get into to begin with. You get what you pay for. I was seeing 250K and less in the best places. Sprint is consistently above 500K up to the edges of coverage. I drive all over CA, OR and WA so coverage is key. Sprint, can you smell me yet?
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by eidalac
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Neosho,Newton,MO
$59 per month (24 month contract)
"Solid connection in my location, same price as satilite"
"Troublesome to setup with a home network"
"Way better than dial-up without the $300 setup for sat."
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
We've been on dial-up for for 15 odd years in this location and are too far out for any wired option and satilite just cost too much for the setup (plus I've never heard anything all that good about that option).
However, while reading reviews on this site I got the idea to check on the pricing of mobile broadband service and realized it was virtually the same per month as it would have been for a dish but without the huge install cost.
I wanted to go with Millenicom, but they are only doing BYOD sign ups right now, and the only way I could get a modem was via a 2 year agreement with sprint, so I went and signed up at best buy and was running inside of an hour.
Installing the software took an hour, which I found to be very odd, but no real issues other than that. I had a heck of a time setting up my home network to share the connection, but I finally got a proxy setup to work around the issue. The main problem is that the USB modem I got won't plug into a standard router, and the routers that do take USB seem to run in the $150+ range, which is just too much for me ATM.
The signal is ok in my house, but there is a spot in my room that gets 100%, which is where my desktop is, so that works out perfectly without any kind of tweaking.
Only been 2 days so far, but no issues to speak of.
The 5 Gig cap is a slight concern, but even with moderating myself to keep under that will be way better than I ever had before, so I can live with it, but I plan on switching to Millenicom after my 2 year contract is up.
Minor Update:
While the main Sprint site states about the usage cap, the My Sprint webpage, which you can use to track your usage, lists the plan as "Unlimited KB", which is a bit confusing. Customer Service confirmed that there is a Cap, so the info on the My Sprint page on the data plan is incorrect. Pretty minor, and it might have to do with me being a brand new customer, but I can defiantly see people taking that info and assuming there was no cap, which would make for an unhappy discovery.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by urcordova
Posted: 1.3 years ago
(review was emailed from domain yahoo.com)
Bayamon,Bayamon,PR
$68 per month (24 month contract)
"1"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
bad experiences,because the speed in internet is slow
Followup comments:  ydoucare
join:2003-03-12
Rensselaer, IN | ... ...probably another one that ordered service before checking coverage maps and can only get 1xRTT. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by mikeyharm
Posted: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Cincinnati,Hamilton,OH
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"Steady, workable speed, coverage seems good everywhere in metro areas"
"speed tests report low EVDO speeds, especially for RevA coverage."
"Great for business, but with slightly higher speeds, could replace some DSL lines at home!"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
I am testing both AT&T LaptopConnect and Sprint Mobile Broadband for my company, and coming from personal use of the AT&T service, I can say that the Sprint service seems more reliable, and the places it seems to work are limitless - I've yet to find a place in the Cincinnati, OH area where I open my laptop to anything less than RevA - also seems to handle more consistent speeds, although not as high as other providers. Reliability is key in business however and Sprint seems to be our top contender, not to mention seems to offer the best devices for the service (currently using a Sierra Compass 597 Modem - One of the smallest I've seen, but a real performer with extra features like Location Based Services with GPS, and a MicroSD slot to use the modem as a USB thumb drive as well!
No comparable devices have been seen from AT&T or Verizon, but their USB options from Sierra performed comparably well in bandwidth tests performed. It was refreshing to find from Sprint something other than the Sierra 581 (CDMA) or 881 (GSM) USB cards that are cheap and flimsy, and also seem to pull on the notebook's USB port.
When it boils down to it, your choices of wireless broadband are really about coverage area, and device choice/flexibility, and Sprint seems to offer the best of both.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by netwire
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 2527 visits, last login: 5 days ago
Mooresboro,Cleveland,NC
$59 per month (24 month contract)
"Setup is simple, connects quickly, speed is decent."
"5GB cap, speeds do not reach 3.1mbps or near it."
"Good alternative for dial-up, but watch for the low cap."
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Without DSL or Cable services in my area I have tried Satellite but found it's latency to be unreasonably high. I thought that I was doomed to spend the rest of my time here without broadband. One day I found out that Sprint offered EV-DO service in my area.
Followup comments: jayf1965
join:2007-08-22
| Sprint mobilbroadband Yes, I agree with you, i have the sprint Evo broadband card also. I would have to say its not like the speeds of cable at around 5 or 6 MBP, but i say its better! However you can't take comcast or any wire based service any where you go and still be able to get streaming media and actually play on line games. I can even access internet while on the road in my car.. I tried verizon also and chose Sprint. I did have a problem with the sprint card on my HP Pavilion DV5040US. I got a blue screen alot. I think it was due to power out put through the card slot. To fix this you need to update your bios..Problem will be fixed after that. 
Enjoy the freedom of sprint mobile card..
jayf1965 | |
| ydoucare
join:2003-03-12
Rensselaer, IN | ... I think you mean "i wish there WERE..."  | |
| iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | Millenicom? You might want to look into getting service from Millenicom. You have to bring your own modem but they charge $60 a month flat and it's unlimited. | |
| |
netwire
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Mooresboro, NC | Re: Millenicom? Thank you for the tip; I've actually already switched to them.
--
World of Warcraft - My anti-drug.
| |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by bwthomas
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 4 visits, last login: 309 days ago
Leesburg,Loudoun,VA
$61 per month (24 month contract)
about 2 days
"Quick connectivity, stays connected"
"Other than cost - NONE"
"I need it, It works, I guess that makes it worth it!"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I use Sprint Mobile Broadband with their PX-500 by Pantech on an Acer Travelmate. The cost is $59.99/month plus taxes all combined in a family plan with three other phones. This is their unlimited connection card data plan. I am a heavy user, stay connected 6 to 8 hours a day 5 days a week, monitoring three email accounts and occasionally downloading large files.
As an alternative, I could use my MotoQ on which I have unlimited data to connect to the laptop, but I often need to use the phone and the internet connection at the same time. This was the method I used when I had the Treo 650, that was sometimes painful. The connection often dropped and then locked up the phone, requiring a reboot, resulting in missed calls.
Download/Upload speeds vary with location. I've tested as low as 530/390kbps and as high as 840/480kbps. But I really haven't felt the need to be testing this all the time, it works when I need it and has never given me cause to question whether I am getting what I'm paying for.
The card and service were purchased online. Arrived next day with free next day shipping from Sprint. Set up was a breeze. Ran the included CD, called Sprint customer service for activation. I was online 30 minutes after receiving the card via UPS.
I use the service mainly in the metro Washington, DC and Northern Virginia area. I also occasionaly use it in Philadelphia, PA and central North Carolina as well as on the road between those locations. Surprisingly, I have gotten service with the broadband card in rural areas where my mobile phone did not.
I purchased the least expensive broadband card at the time. Had I done a bit more extensive research, I would have chosen a different aircard. That is only because others are reporting better connection speeds on the same network with the more expensive card.
At 59.99 a month, that's a big hit for broadband compared to what I pay and get with Fios at home. But it is something I need, when I need it.
I subscribed to the service and purchased the aircard in November of 2007. I've not had any bad experiences with the service.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
|
|
Sprint Mobile Broadband
(45)
·
·
·
·