Millenicom → Millenicom email

Millenicom uses several gateways to insure redundant connectivity to our upstream carriers. We apologize for this inconvenience however in your circumstance we need to make a modification to your account and require your assistance to make that change.

Please provide your preference how you would like to move forward:

1. We can ship you a new Franklin TriMode U770 USB device that works over the Sprint footprint (you currently use the Sprint footprint with your existing service with us).

Please note this option has the same usage allowance as your current plan (soft cap of 50 gigs).

2. We can ship you a new Novatel MiFi 4620LE hotspot device that works over the Verizon footprint which has by far the nations largest coverage area.

Please note this allows for 20 gigs of data usage and can connect up to 10 wireless devices simultaneously.

Your account historically uses less than 20 gigs.

Your address is in the Verizon LTE area so you would receive outstanding speeds and reliability, especially compared to your current connection.

In the event you go over 20 gigs, Millenicom does not charge overage fees. However consistent or egregious overage would require the purchase of an additional account.

3. If your circumstance requires a different solution, please respond with instructions.

In all cases your existing charges will remain the same and you will not be charged for any modifications to this account (device purchase, activation, shipping, etc.).

Again, we apologize for the abruptness of this request however we need your response at your earliest opportunity (Thursday July 11th at the latest to assure uninterrupted service).

Please feel free to respond to this email with questions or contact us directly at 800-996-1285 x1.

Millenicom Support

Has anyone else who uses a BYOD gotten the above email today? Does this mean BYOD will no longer be allowed? Confused ATM...

I got it also.. though they are just sending me a free u770. . Very nice!

They're plan no longer show 3g unlimited, so I guess thats why they have to upgrade the 3g people? Its very nice of them! I can't wait! I think they still have BYOD plans.. just have less devises that can be used with it now..

"In the event you go over 20 gigs, Millenicom does not charge overage fees. However consistent or egregious overage would require the purchase of an additional account."

They will just disable your account for the month, has happened multiple times on some traveling sales accounts we have at work.

I'm on a 3G at home and haven't received this, but the hotspot blows in speed compared to the USB modem in my location.

I just got the following message: (BYOD here, currently on a U589 device)

quote:

---

Millenicom uses several gateways to insure redundant connectivity to our upstream carriers. We apologize for this inconvenience however in your circumstance we need to make a modification to your account and require your assistance to make that change.

To address this issue we would like to ship you a new Franklin TriMode U770 USB device that works over the Sprint footprint (you currently use the Sprint footprint with your existing service with us).

Please note your existing usage allowance and charges will remain the same and you will not be charged for any modifications to this account (device purchase, activation, shipping, etc.).

In the event this is not a satisfactory solution to your needs please respond to this email with instructions.

Again, we apologize for the abruptness of this request however we need your response at your earliest opportunity (Thursday July 11th at the latest to assure uninterrupted service).

Please feel free to respond to this email or contact us directly at 800-996-1285 x1.

---

Anyone know whats going on behind the scenes on this one? I mean A 5pm 4th of July message asking for a response within a week seems odd. The good news for me is the U770 supports 4G, and I HOPE sprint 4G is coming to my area soon. Biggest annoyance is that I have to order another antenna adaptor for it.

I'm truly shocked.

Just a month ago, I had had a Millenicom account for over a year. It was a BYOD account, and I had brought to the table an Overdrive Pro, which worked fine. The Overdrive Pro also was a Hotspot, which meant that I had no trouble connecting all three of my laptops to it and thus being able to network the three computers to each other.

If I had stayed with Millenicom (I just left them for Wireless 'n' WiFi literally four days ago!), does this mean that my Overdrive Pro would have been deactivated, and that the Franklin, which is just a modem, not a hotspot, would have been my only option? That I would have had to give up connectivity on all but one of my computers, unless I had created an ad hoc wireless network of the sort I used to use but which doesn't work right between my current three computers, Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (it only works for about thirty minutes or so and then the satellites start dropping off)?

I wonder whether, for those BYOD folks who have a Hotspot (like I was), Millenicom would have offered a Tri-Fi or something like that free of charge instead of the Franklin. I can say that the Wireless 'n' WiFi Tri-Fi Hotspot works fine for networking, just as well as the Overdrive Pro. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have to lose that hotspot networking capability. I may just have dodged a really nasty bullet!

By the way, I took a walk on the wild side and called Millenicom to see if they could answer any of these questions. The phone rang straight through to technical support (no one else is there today), and the tech support person said that she had heard about this but has no idea as to why this became technically necessary. She also had no idea whether those folks whose BYOD plan is based on a Hotspot, like the Overdrive or the Tri-Fi, will be forced to switch to a non-Hotspot plain vanilla modem.

In fact, she expressed great surprise about this. She had already heard about it, but second-hand from someone else, and has still not even seen this email quoted above.

Is it at all barely possible that the email is a hoax? That would be wild, wouldn't it? But it probably isn't.

I have a BYOD Sprint "Unlimited" acct which I have had for 5 years using a Novatel 720 for 3G only....4G Lite does not reach my house. I use at Maximum 15 gig per mo...normal 12-13.

Has this got anything to do with the Softbank deal going thru???
Wall Street Deals are always done Over The Weekend.

This is the Email I just received.

And yes I will give them a call...after the weekend.

____________________________________________

Millenicom uses several gateways to insure redundant connectivity to our upstream carriers. We apologize for this inconvenience however in your circumstance we need to make a modification to your account and require your assistance to make that change.

To address this issue we would like to ship you a new Franklin TriMode U770 USB device that works over the Sprint footprint (you currently use the Sprint footprint with your existing service with us).

Please note your existing usage allowance and charges will remain the same and you will not be charged for any modifications to this account (device purchase, activation, shipping, etc.).

In the event this is not a satisfactory solution to your needs please respond to this email with instructions.

Again, we apologize for the abruptness of this request however we need your response at your earliest opportunity (Thursday July 11th at the latest to assure uninterrupted service).

Please feel free to respond to this email or contact us directly at 800-996-1285 x1.

Millenicom Support

I got the e-mail too, it's a good and bad thing, considering that my MBR-1000 is dead, and I will need to buy an adapter cable for the modem, and now I must see if DD-WRT supports the U770. Going OpenSource this time. But once 4G hits, I am set to go.

Is there anyone reading this thread who currently has a Hotspot with Millenicom? I'm trying to find out whether Hotspot users also got this email, e.g. folks using the Overdrive Pro or Tri-Fi or whatever. Thanks.

I assume only people with 3g only modems got the email, the overdrive pro and tri-fi both also do 4g..

Thanks for the clarification.

Got the email. U770 is on the way at no cost to me along with a new antenna adapter. $9 Same unlimited plan just a new modem that is 4G & LTE ready.

We have 4 3G BYOD's and 1 Novatel Hotspot, no emails here.

Then you must not be effected by Millenicom's action upgrading our modems/plans.

It is pretty cool ; I must say Millenicom gets an A+ for customer service for this. My only question is why the change? Why no more BYOD plan? What's wrong with older devices? Interesting...

This has been the result of actions by Sprint regarding certain accounts. How these accounts are different I don't know. Perhaps it has to do with Sprints transition to LTE.

The BYOD plan is still available

I like the Franklin TriMode U770 USB freebie better. I have to commend Dennis for this.

So why exactly are certain BYOD accounts needed to be switched over to a new modem? I know 4G LTE is scheduled to hit my area soon, but that's all I know.

I called yesterday and they are shipping the same package as Jack noted. I asked why they were doing this, the person on the phone did not have an immediate answer, but then I told him I didn't really care but thanks for the Free Modem upgrade.

PS, In another earlier thread...about my problems with 3G upload speeds...and my call to Millen Support:

*******Spoke to Millen Support. they said Sprint is doing a "Vision Update" in may area, expanding 4GLite and it should be done by Wed."********

I still have slow Upload speeds ...I have a Novatel 720

We resell on the Sprint network to a few mobile customers and have yet to have anything of this sort sent to us.

Seems like it is a Millenicom thing.

The short answer is Sprint closed its oldest gateway. Some, not all, Millenicom accounts were activated on that gateway. When it was shut down those accounts had to be moved and the devices tied to it were not able to be activated to another. Therefore Millenicom supplied new devices at their expense.

This is all related to Sprint's Network Vision and LTE upgrades.

And what did Millenicom do about those accounts with Hotspots and multiple computers who were on that old gateway? Did those accounts get new Hotspots?

any device that was on the old gateway is being replaced

I guess I wasn't clear; that wasn't my question.

My question was not whether the old Hotspots would be replaced. My question was whether those Hotspots will be replaced with other Hotspots or with plain vanilla modems that will have the net effect of removing those customers' ability to network their devices without additional gear or software.

Still on my trusty CDU-680. Hopefully I will get the U770 in tomorrows mail. July 11 doomsday is fast approaching.

U770 Sprint Plug-in-Connect Tri-Mode USB by Franklin Wireless

Go here for all the specs on the U770 that will be used on the Sprint systemDo you have one of these hotspots and multiple computers? If so and did not get any correspondence regarding hot spots one could conclude you are not effected. If you don't why worry about it?

I am seriously not being clear, I guess.

I am well aware that the U770 is not a Hotspot. Indeed that's precisely why I'm asking the question as to what happens to those folks on the old gateway who were using a Hotspot to network multiple computers. Are they forced to switch a non-Hotspot and to pay the money/take the time to get alternate hardware/software to address their device networking needs?Regardless, I see nothing wrong with my question. Perhaps someone else can answer it.

I called Millenicom and got the straight skinny.

A Hotspot customer tied to the old Sprint gateway will be offered a free non-Hotpost, i.e. the Franklin, as a replacement.

If the customer indicates that the Franklin is inadequate for their needs, here's the deal.

Since the old gateway is being phased out, the customer WILL lose connectivity. However this does NOT mean the termination of your account. If the customer is willing, Millenicom will re-assign the Hotspot to one of the new gateways.

The catch, and the reason why Millenicom is offering a free replacement device as the first choice, is that this re-assignment takes quite a while. It can take up to several hours, even a day or more, before the reassignment is complete. And during that period the customer has no connectivity at all.

I can say that in my case, as a former BYOD Sprint Hotspot Millenicom customer, I would almost certainly have chosen the non-replacement alternative. I would have been prepared to live with doing all my surfing on the phone for a day or so. That's better than having to redo my whole network from scratch with new hardware, new software, new headaches, new hassles, etc. etc.

For those without multiple devices which they desire to network, the above is irrelevant. For those with multiple devices which they do network and who are on a Sprint Hotspot with Millenicom, the above will probably be helpful.

When I called Friday about my upgrade, they told me that they would not be shipping the Franklin U770s until the 11th....

I asked about having to call to get the U770 turned on, was told that that wasn't necessary, that they would know when I fired it up, and also that it wasn't necessary to Turn Off the 720 I have now, that would happen when they saw that I was using the Franklin 770.