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Review by zweberjv 
Posted: 15 days ago
member for 6 years, 26 visits, last login: 15 days ago
 Xenia,Greene,OH
 $40 per month (12 month contract)
 "Preferable to satellite, Easy to install, Shareable to home network"
 "Slower than cable or DSL"
 "Works as advertised."
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I replaced my WildBlue satellite broadband with Cricket wireless on my main home desktop PC. They have one speed, unlimited usage, but will slow you down if you exceed the limit (5GB per month, I believe) and we have hit that. Cricket has a better fair usage approach than WildBlue.
The online order process was good and the install was easy. I received a Cal-Comp A600 USB modem. Everything works as advertised so far. I am still in the waiting period for the rebate, so I can't comment about the rebate yet.
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 Review by pupowski
UPDATED: 32 days ago
member for 7.6 years, 2105 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Vancouver,Clark,WA
$35 per month
 about 1 days
"Cheap and portable"
"Slow and unreliable"
"Not ready for prime time"
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Cricket broadband is slow and erratic,even from a fixed location.Speeds have improved somewhat, but they trail the local competition. Will probably drop them for clear and/or T-mobil in the near future, as I replace many laptop functions with a Blackberry. Their service is slow and erratic, averaging 400, with high latencies. Their customer service is also erratic, with widely divergent quality and fees. They wanted, for instance, $15.00 for implementing a modem change at one office, and nothing at another.
Canceled service after having bandwidth throttled over 5GB. This service just isn't worth having due to unreliability,crappy customer service,throttling and bandwidth caps.
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 Review by Green Day
UPDATED: 43 days ago
member for 3.1 years, 1193 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Mesa,Maricopa,AZ
$45 per month
"It works and does what it says"
"Not high speed."
"Good as a short term solution."
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Bought after a house fire and needed temporary internet in a temporary living space. It cost $87 out the door with a promotion, and we will get a mail in rebate. I came home and expected high speed (atleast 2mb) but the speed result I got was 600kb/50kb which sucked and I was extremely dissapointed at first because I thought it was going to be fast, as they advertised. It's not. But, it's reliable. It's an 1x-EVDO rev. 0 network, which dissapointed me as I thought it'd be 3G (my cricket phone is - or it says it is).
Anyway, after a few days of using it, It doesn't feel any different surfing the web and I wouldn't know the difference from a cable line, until I start downloiading. Download speeds vary from 50 to 80kb/s. It's stable though, and so it's a good solution for me right now. I also love that I can go anywhere with it.
As I said, I got it to use short term while recooperating from a fire. This is not something I'd use long term, under any circumstances. For a few months while getting resettled though, it works great.
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Review by justliquor
UPDATED: 68 days ago
member for 68 days, 0 visits, last login: 68 days ago
Lockport,Will,IL
Contract price not specified.
"lowest cost"
"No nationwide coverage"
"Does what it is supposed to do"
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I see a lot of complaints here that could be explained with some common sense and simply paying a bit more attention. Cricket doesn't work well everywhere. In Chicago it works great. In Dogbarf Montana, it may not. But then most carriers probably don't work well in Dogbarf Montana either. Check the coverage before you buy.
READ THE TOS! Most of the complaints about latency, downloads, etc can be explained because the user didn't bother to read the part in the TOS where it says that Cricket is not to be used for Peer-to-peer, web cameras, video downloads, online gaming, etc. Why? because it quickly jams the system and slows it down for everyone if everyone starts doing those things. THIS is why Verison, Virgin Mobile, ATT, Sprint and all other carriers either have a cut off at 5GB or they charge you an enormous amount for overages. At least Cricket still allows you to stay connected, they just don't allow you to continue playing WoW or using your peer-to-peer to download stolen music at the expense of everyone else. EVERY carrier stops you at 5GB or gouges you for it.
Mobile broadband was never meant to replace DSL, Cable or anything else that is hard-wired to your desktop. It was designed so that people who need to send and receive emails, send text files or an occasional Youtube video or funny email attachment could do so. No service offered by any provider anywhere is designed to do hard core gaming, webcams, P2P or anything like that. Some will do it at 3AM when the system is quiet. Don't expect it from anyone at 4PM. If you get lucky, great.
Cricket didn't think out their marketing well. They are appealing to the very people who will complain most about their system. They are appealing to people with bad or no credit or people who can't afford to sign multi-year contracts because their employment is spotty. Business users don't have time to sit around playing online games, have too much to lose to get sued by RIAA for stealing songs on a P2P, or sit around endlessly downloading videos all day. They hit and run with mostly text files. Thats perfect for mobile broadband. Cricket is too often the last resort for kids whose time could be better spent on things other than the internet, or losers that don't care to fulfill their contract obligations and ruin their own credit ratings and then blame others.
In this economy, God bless those hard working types that need this to search for jobs, send resumes, etc. Or the low-paid military family that tries to send out emails to keep in touch with their loved ones over seas. These are the people who most need this. And the bandwidth is being eaten by some knucklehead that wants to play online games all night. Cricket is no better or worse than any other provider although they could improve their customer service and should do so ASAP. The bottom line is, do the due diligence before buying the service and if you are not happy, move on.
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Review by Protokiller
UPDATED: 81 days ago
member for 1.7 years, 37 visits, last login: 80 days ago
Exeter,Tulare,CA
$35 per month
"Easy set-up, fast when it wants to be, no contract"
"latency."
"Only buy if you check-email and message."
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I bought it as a temporarily solution to hold me over until I get Verizon DSL. I was fairly happy with it around 1:00pm but around 3:00pm the latency jumped from around 150 average to around 250+ then at around 6:00-7:00pm my game servers were reading OVER 1500MS latency! You can't even attempt to play at those latency's.
Anyway don't buy if you plan on doing any gaming, unless perhaps you only try to use it very early morning/late at night.
Can't steam youtube videos without constantly needing to pause to buffer.
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Review by azhuskerfan
UPDATED: 137 days ago
member for 137 days, 2 visits, last login: 95 days ago
Tucson,Pima,AZ
$40 per month
about 1 days
"Price, No contract, Quite Fast, Easy setup, FREE USB modem!"
"None yet, although it does have limitations where it can be used. No problem otherwise."
"Great product... so far. I have used it for 3 weeks now."
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Is this as fast as Cox Cable, NO. Should it be? NO
For mobile broadband, it is outstanding! I can even watch my Slingbox in VERY good quality with zero dropouts. I can drive all over town listening to streaming audio. Web pages come up VERY fast, even graphic-intensive pages do quite well.
So far, I am SOLD!
The only bad part was walking into the Cricket dealer and having to deal with all the losers and misfits of society yelling and screaming about their phone being shut off "for no reason." Seriously, I don't mean to be a snob, but the clientele are a bunch a bottom-feeders at best. The showroom actually had an armed security guard. Can't say I have seen that at the AT&T store 2 minutes away up the street. I have an iPhone and have used AT&T for years. I guess I was surprised to see the HUGE difference in customer service (although the rep that served me was VERY nice) and the overall low-rent way they operate. I would suggest mail order to you from Cricket.
No matter what, however... this Cricket USB Broadband Card is a keeper. I will do another update when I start visiting more places outside of my home areas of Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.
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Review by jmlemmel
Posted: 139 days ago
member for 139 days, 0 visits, last login: 139 days ago
Cincinnati,Hamilton,OH
$41 per month
"Easy to install and use, system always available so far."
"Supposed to receive rebate for purchase of modem, but didn't."
"As for the actual ISP service, thumbs up so far!"
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My laptop is my primary computer. It is enabled with wireless internet, but I cannot get a signal where I live unless I sit on the front porch, which isn't always ideal and not comfortable at all. Since I only use a cell phone and don't have a landline, dial-up was not an option. I detest my cable company, so they were not an option, either. Since my cell phone service is through Cricket I decided to try Cricket Broadband.
I ordered their cheapest package, which is $40.00 a month. Total out the door price was $143.00, with a $50 mail-in rebate. (Only after I got home and read the fine print did I learn that the rebate was only good after the service was active for 45 days. I mailed everything in that was requested and received a response that I was not eligible for the rebate since the information was received after the deadline. Go figure.) I was able to install it in the store and test it before leaving. It was fully functional when I left the store.
I received a UTStarcom USB Modem.
The best thing about it so far is the reliability of the network. It's always been available every time I've used it thus far. I've never lost a connection, either.
The worst thing about Cricket Broadband is the mail-in rebate nightmare. Other than that, two thumbs up so far!
Followup comments:  scottae316
join:2007-12-26
Cranberry Twp, PA | Rebate? You said that you did not receive your rebate. That is not fair because you did not fulfill the TOS. After 45 days you will. ALL rebates from these companies have a hold period. | |
| hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | No Signal via Wi-Fi Of course you're not going to get a Wifi signal if you DO NOT HAVE INTERNET! You were only getting the Wireless signal due to STEALING it from one of your neighbors! | |
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 Review by KA3SGM
Posted: 162 days ago
member for 3.8 years, 1320 visits, last login: 1 days ago
West Chester,Chester,PA
$35 per month
about 1 days
"Reasonable Cost, Easy Setup, No Contract, Decent U/L-D/L Speeds"
"Company Is Too New To Market(Philadelphia), No Nationwide Roaming"
"I'll Let You Know Later, I Need More Time To Test It Out."
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Just to make a baseline here for the Broadband service review, I started with trying Cricket's "Unlimited" 1xRTT CDMA voice service about 1 month ago, looking for a cheap phone with no contract, that I could let my kids use over the Summer, without worrying that they would run me up a several $$$ bill, and I picked up the relatively cheap Moto VE240 handset for it.
I fully expected the newest carrier in town to have dead spots all over, but good coverage where my kids would be, as I could just roughly determine, by Cricket's rather poorly detailed coverage map.
I was however greatly surprised to find Cricket's coverage being quite good, and after dozens of voice calls, and easily 500 minutes of usage, I had yet to have even a single call drop or fail to connect.
Cricket is a No-Contract carrier, so I can start and stop service my services at will, and only eat the activation fee to go back if I suspend my service for a while(So They Tell Me, I Haven't Tested That Claim Yet).
(I also have voice service with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, 2 incumbents that have been offering digital cell service here more than 10 years, and I seldom have dropped a call with either of them recently as well)
Philadelphia is one of Cricket's "Tri-Band" markets, which means it is operating exclusively in the relatively new 1700MHz/2100MHz "AWS Band", so coverage capabilities should be in range with the existing 1900MHz PCS carriers, when their network is fully deployed.
Cricket is running full EV-DO Rev.A for their broadband service here, I am using the Cal-Comp "A600" USB "Stick" modem, and I have been getting download speeds between 380-800kbps, and upload speeds of roughly 300-600kbps, and that seems pretty consistent, regardless of time of day, or signal strength trending between 2-4 bars.
I can compare it to my old T-Mobile Sony-Ericsson GC89 GPRS/EDGE card, that gets about 150kbps down, and 45kbps up.
I was looking for a mobile broadband solution for my laptop, that was a bit faster, and I didn't want to be tied to a dedicated WiFi Hotspot all the time.
T-Mobile, who would have been my first choice for 3G mobile broadband, has launched their 3G service in the Philly Metro area, but they have yet to reach the Suburbs where I live, so I wasn't going to tie myself to a 2-year contract with a provider that was charging $25 more per month than Cricket is(Cricket discounts their Broadband an extra $5/mo for having a voice line with them), and for $60/mo w/ contract vs $35/mo wo/ contract, the T-Mobile UMTS 3G USB modem would only still fall back to the existing EDGE network speeds.
Cricket is also running a hybrid, Cell Tower, DAS(Distributed Antenna System) network in my area as well, which probably is the biggest contributor to their decent voice and data coverage.
They still use a fair number of conventional Cell towers, but they are combined with an array of fiber fed Micro-Cellular RF "Nodes" that they attach to the top of utility poles.
The DAS Node portion of their network is installed and operated by NEXTG networks, and they merely provide the Pole-Top Nodes, and a fiber backhaul network to a Cricket "Base Station Hotel", where everything connects back to Cricket's conventional cellular network.
The handoffs between towers and DAS Nodes has been seamless for voice and data services, and it allows them to install coverage where you would never be able to obtain zoning to build a conventional cell tower, which is probably why a brand new company in the Philadelphia market, has pretty decent coverage from the start.
They do have some weak spots, and my continued testing of their voice and data network will undoubtedly turn up some conventional "dead zones", but as of yet, I haven't really found any thus yet.
OF course, this is still Wireless 3G Broadband, where the speeds do vary a bit, and the latency is much more obvious than Wired Broadband.
I am already spoiled by my 20/5 Verizon Fios connection a home, and am used to respectful WiFi speeds at places like Starbucks, or the Public Library, but beyond my initial T-Mobile EDGE connection, that was always slow but usable, Cricket thus far is providing decent wireless broadband coverage, at about 5x better download speeds, and 10x faster upload speeds, than I had before, and it only works out to be about $10-$15/mo more than what I was paying for T-Mobile 2.5G EDGE.
Cricket calls their service "Unlimited" but it still has a reported 5GB "cap", but instead of charging overages of $0.45/MB by going over that cap, they simply throttle or discontinue your service until the beginning of the next monthly billing cycle.
I have gathered that 5GB "Cap" tidbit from other Cricket reviews that I have already read here on DSLR, and by reading the fine print of Cricket's TOS agreement, but I have not yet had a chance to try and test it yet.
Maybe I'll wait until the last few days of the next billing cycle, and try to transfer my own .MP3 collection from my Fios connected desktop, to my Cricket connected laptop, via a P2P or VPN tunnel, and wait and see what happens.
Unfortunately, Cricket Broadband has nowhere near the National 2.5G or 3G coverage as other providers, and their possibility of Broadband roaming looks to be pretty much out of the question.
But if you need to be mobile, in a single metro/suburban area, it seems to be working out to be a pretty decent contender to other carriers that DO have National roaming capabilities, but also want to tie you to a 2-year contract, and at a significantly higher cost per month
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Review by mark760
Posted: 180 days ago
member for 4.2 years, 12 visits, last login: 139 days ago
Mchenry,Mchenry,IL
$40 per month
about 5 days
"easy!"
"no blazing speed"
"dependable and easy to use"
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no drama install, everything pops up in 10 minutes and is ready to go. 600 up and down. Not earth shattering but all I need.
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Review by ocdave67
UPDATED: 232 days ago
member for 5.3 years, 32 visits, last login: 197 days ago
Gladstone,Clackamas,OR
$40 per month
about 1 days
"Only 40 dollars a month"
"Some websites (MySpace to name 1) has issues with the Cricket Network."
"A unreliable network + pathetic technical support = AVOID"
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Used this service for about 6 months but finally got fed up with issues within the network. I have not been able to load myspace images or access my power companies web site due to Crickets network firewall.
When you try and call tech support to discuss the issue, they know very little about the server side of their business and they will refuse to let you talk to the network administrator about connection/firewall problems. Using Whois and attempting to email the network or technical administrator will NOT get you a reply on network issues.
Also to note.. Fox.com (the tv network), Cricket internet will not allow you to watch full episodes. This is again another Cricket network issue. Try to get help from these people and you will find better help from the family pet..
BOTTOM LINE- Network works with most web sites, but a few major ones it will not. I would rank Cricket as the bottom of all internet providers. Dumped their service as of the writing of this review.
UPDATE- I finally did get a response to emails to the network/technical administrators as mentioned above. I am discussing the problems with them about their network but have not informed them that I have already fired their company as my ISP. I figured I would at least try and help other Cricket users in my area but will only converse with Cricket until my DSL equipment arrives.
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Cricket Broadband
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Texas Cricket broadband having problems