Wireless / Mobile > Sprint Mobile Broadband > Formerly Unlimited (really) 3G card

reply to saintj

Re: Formerly Unlimited (really) 3G card

reply to Max Signal

said by millenicom :

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*Fine Print: The unlimited service is for personal and family use and is not to be used for commercial purposes or as a public WiFi or broadcast to multi-dwelling units or any other extraordinary circumstance. Usage over 50 gigabytes in one month will alert our investigative team.

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Yeah, I had to go and ask at Millenicom if there was an actual limit to the "unlimited". I guess they don't want people using Netflix. LOL.

Although quite frankly I'm capped at 475Mb per rolling 24 hour period for $80 a month with Hughesnet-- but that goes quickly because the modem software miscalculates and claims I load 10x what I'm actually loading. Plus it often times out so I have to reload things over and over. Internet goes out completely when it rains, is cloudy, windy or just randomly for no apparent reason. I'm so accustomed to not being able to download much that I can't imagine using an entire 50Gb. That would be a hell of a lot of porn. :P

To the OP, if your ESN on your air card/modem is clear you can probably get the BYOD plan with Millenicom so you won't have to purchase a new modem. That would save you the $99 plus $15 shipping fee.

There will still be about a $50 activation fee plus the $69.99 per month for the service.

reply to Max Signal
How is 50Gb on 3G even a consideration? Realistically I don't see how anyone could ever use more than 1-2Gb. I tried Virgin Mobile on Sprint and it was so slow it I couldn't even open a web page! How would Millenicom be any better?
Besides Millenicom is a SCAM from the beginning, it requires the purchase of the mobile broadband device for $99.99, a one-time set up fee of $49.99 and a $15.00 shipping fee to get the account started.

Check out download speeds reported on this very forum by Millenicom/Sprint users . Virgin customers do no get access to the same back haul as Millenicom/Sprint customers . That is why Virgin was much cheaper. May not be right but that was little trick Sprint used to justify much lower price for Virgin data versus Sprint 3G. Sorry you had a bad experience with Virgin data offering . But in no way can you paint Millenicom /Sprint data with the same brush

Let me second the motion. When I had unlimited 3G with Sprint, I regularly downloaded between 15 and 20 gigs a month, with no problem. When it works, it works fine.

Unfortunately more and more video streams no longer work with 3G connections, even ones that are operating in spec (minimum of 600kbps). If they did, I'd be switching back to the 50 gig Millenicom package so fast it would make your head spin; unfortunate.

There is unlimited 4G available out there from Clear. Unfortunately they throttle if towers experience enough traffic, and they don't offer the automatic switchover if you're in a non-4G area, a critical consideration since the Clear WiMax 4G rollout became frozen in place incomplete several months ago.

Wireless 'N' WiFi DOES offer an unlimited 4G/3G 5 gig combo, utilizing Clear for the 4G and Sprint for the 3G. Unfortunately you still have to deal with Clear's throttling. In addition, who knows how much longer Sprint will allow that reseller to include Sprint's 3G as part of their package?

In fact, at this point, if one wants unlimited 4G without throttling, versus the only option is a Sprint smartphone through tethering.

One also had that option, for a while, with Verizon Wireless smartphones, but they took that away too.

However both Sprint and Verizon Wireless now offer 4G phones with docks that mimic the computer experience. I gather the docks can even be hooked up to computers so one can operate the phones remotely (others here may know more about that, and whether that's accurate). Sprint offers the combination of the Photon phone and the Motorola Lapdock for a total of $450. Verizon Wireless offers the combination of the Razr and the Moto Lapdock for $500. This way you don't have to trigger the hotspot limitations. And Verizon Wireless now offers a special holiday offer of a 20 gig plan on their smartphones, which might make sense if you figure Sprint's about to kill their unlimited smartphone 4G deal (as many believe).

I'm seriously thinking about this option. If I sacrifice some of my news viewing I could bring myself down to 40 gigs a month, I think, and go with Verizon Wireless (assuming Sprint kills unlimited 4G on their smartphones). Then I only need two smartphones and the lapdock. I already have the HDTV and the external hard drive. The monthly cost with Verizon Wireless would be $160. If I went with the Sprint combo, the monthly cost would be $70, but if they impose a data limit I would still probably be better off with Verizon Wireless, since LTE is superior to WiMax.

Hmmm.

reply to ArizonaSteve
There are many rural customers that use a 3G connection for their primary internet access. Therefore even a 5 GB cap is often not sufficient for their needs.

Millenicom offers 50 GB per month with their Sprint plan. You do not have to buy the modem, you can buy your own and, thus remove the $99.99 from the total. That is called the BYOD plan which is clearly stated on their website.

To say Millenicom is a "SCAM" could not be further from the truth. Perhaps you should ask the Millenicom customers here at dslreports if they feel its a scam: »Millenicom
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... need help? »evdo-tips.com/

Jim_in_VA, all the high fees just to get started before you can even see if it works sure looks like a scam to me! Cricket and Virgin Mobile work the same way and both are scams, they are so slow here you can't even open a web page but you wouldn't know that until you buy their proprietary 3G modems. How would you get your own modem to work with Millenicom? I don't know of any way to do that unless you have the right kind before hand but they don't even tell what kind would work. Also you would somehow magically have to have it re-flashed with Millenicom firmware but how could anyone do that? Actually they couldn't so it's still a scam as far as I can see.

Quite simple. You buy a Sierra 597,598 or a Novatel U727, 760 off of Ebay ...usually for less than $25. Ask the seller to guarantee a clean ESN.

Millenicom is a 1 month commitment. If you are not satisfied, you cancel the account. No ETF. and you're done

Millenicom does not have any "firmware" they install. The modems used are exactly the same you would buy from Sprint. ANY modem that works on Sprint will work with Millenicom.

My suggestion is to buy your own modem, activate it on their BYOD plan, and enjoy 10X the data cap you'd get with Sprint directly.

A simple plan
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... need help? »evdo-tips.com/

reply to ArizonaSteve
Millenicom has a tech chat on their website where you can ask questions ahead of time.

I went over and asked them numerous questions.

If you already have a sprint 3G modem (can't be 4G or 3G/4G hybrid) you sign up and pay the $49 activation fee plus the monthly fee of $69.99 (which is still cheaper than my monthly bill from Hughesnet). If, within 24 hours of activation, you find that it does not work you can contact them to cancel the service for a full refund. If Sprint works for you already then you can be fairly certain Millenicom will work because it just brokers a deal with Sprint to use the 3G stuff.

criggs, I should have specified that I meant you should request a credit to your account IF they go ahead and violate your contract. But do be sure to let them know of your intentions in writing. You may want to send the letter certified return receipt so they can't claim they never got the letter. Have your lawyer friend confirm that you signed and sent the letter if they try to give you grief.

How do you check your usage btw? I know that Hughesnet has a thing to tell you the hourly usage although it has a problem because it miscalculates a lot.

The opera thing sounds cool. I wish I could stream music and such on Hughesnet, but it sucks too much for that. Hence my intention to get a new ISP asap.

reply to Jim_in_VA
I have a 2 month old Sprint MiFi 4G for sale...

reply to suceress

reply to Jim_in_VA
Jim_in_VA,
>Quite simple. You buy a Sierra 597,598 or a Novatel U727, 760 off of Ebay ...usually for less than $25. Ask the seller to guarantee a clean ESN.

Not that simple. This will never work. How do you get the modem flashed so it will work for Millenicom? I called a couple of cell phone stores around here and they all said they couldn't do that for a USB adapter. Some can flash a Sprint phone to work on Cricket but they don't know how to do a wireless adapter.
If a professional can't do it then I don't see how the average person at home is going to be able to do it!

Millenicom does the device activation on Sprint for you - you don't have to do a thing.
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... need help? »evdo-tips.com/

Well I emailed them to ask which devices work but they won't tell me. I don't know why it's such a big secret, they should post a list of suitable devices.
Also, even though they say there's no contract, to setup the service you have to give them a credit card that will automatically be billed $69.99 on the first of each month so if you don't like the service cause it's slow as Virgin Mobile and you can't use it then it would be nearly impossible to get them to stop billing you. You'd have to call the bank and have your credit card number changed to make the charges stop.

Any 3G only device originally issued by Sprint with a Clean ESN. Again you get Sprint data device network speeds not the same as a Virgin Mobile assigned device . They use different backhaul . That is how they kept Virgin Mobile cheaper.

reply to ArizonaSteve
I used Millenicom for several years and had no problems stopping the service. All I had to do was send one email to stop the billing on my CC account.
You will be on the regular Sprint or Verizon data networks, the same as if you were a direct customer.
Most of the problems I see posted on forums about Millenicom has to do with a local Sprint or Verizon tower. In other words if you are getting poor speeds on your local cell tower Millenicom can only report the problem to Sprint or Verizon. After the iPhone was available on the Sprint network my local tower was next to unusable for a data connection. On the other hand in different areas people report very fast speeds, the same applies to Verizon.

reply to ArizonaSteve
ArizonaSteve, which modem you choose depends on what router (if any) you plan to use.

The following Sprint compatible modems work with the Cradlepoint MBR1200 router (which comes highly recommended) but is rather pricey. I think it's about $150 on wireless n' wifi and usually retails over $200 or even $300 on some sites.

Franklin U300
Franklin CDU-680
Novatel MiFi 2200
Novatel U720
Novatel U727
Novatel U760
Sierra Wireless 595U
Sierra Wireless Compass 597U
Sierra Wireless Compass 598U
Sierra Wireless 250U
Franklin U301
Franklin CDU-550
ZTE TU-25
Sierra Wireless USB 598
Franklin U600

I recommend looking up reviews on the various modems to see which ones customers say perform the best and then looking for one online. I know the 3G store had some refurbished ones and stuff on clearance. I also recommend checking to make sure that the modem is Sprint enabled rather than Verizon enabled.

I asked about some of the modems on the 3G store and was informed they performed about the same but it was the size of the modems themselves that differs. (from what I understand, the Mifi is actually a router as well as a modem).

If you get the modem before signing up, you can even test your reception using the software found »shop2.sprint.com/en/software_dow···20.shtml

I completely understand your wariness with this. It can be hard to trust companies when you've been burned before (or know people who have been burned). I am trying to be cautious and make sure things will work before I cancel my current ISP. Although mine is so bad that even if the speeds are slower it will still be worth it to have better latency and not lose signal whenever a hummingbird expels waste.