Prepaid Wireless Broadband from Cricket $1.33 / day for (mostly) unlimited broadband Sunday Sep 14 2008 12:41 EDT Cricket isn’t the right cell phone carrier for everyone but it suits the needs of a niche group of people who want a prepaid contract-free cell phone. (Incidentally, that niche group is comprised of over 3 million customers, a number which the company wants to double within the next two years.) These customers are typically low-income customers who do not have in-home broadband services. That can change now that Cricket is offering a flat-rate $40 prepaid wireless broadband plan which allows subscribers to connect their PC to the company’s EVDO Rev A network for broadband access that has no usage caps. There are some limitations on the service – you can’t make VoIP calls or run a server – but for people who benefit from prepaid broadband access those limitations could be worth it. Cricket subscribers in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and several Texas cities can access the new plan now and all other Cricket cities should have the service by year’s end. |
 neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA |
neufuse
Member
2008-Sep-14 12:53 pm
good ideaI wish you could get pre-paid broadband anywhere... as long as you can connect it to a PC and use it for that day it would be great!... there are always places where you need a temporary internet connection and something like this would work great if it was all over | |
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1 recommendation |
Mike20008
Anon
2008-Sep-14 12:59 pm
Re: good ideaThe article states there are no usage caps, but there is a 5g usage cap in place. It says on the bottom of their terms and services. Once you get 5g it will just cut of service for you untill the next month starts again. | |
| | |  FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ
4 edits
1 recommendation |
FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:06 pm
It is NOT unlimitedsaid by Mike20008 :
The article states there are no usage caps, but there is a 5g usage cap in place. It says on the bottom of their terms and services. Once you get 5g it will just cut of service for you untill the next month starts again.
Boy did that idiot reporter Sascha Segan at PCMag get it wrong. I wonder if they pay her to get it that wrong. Here is the link to their Acceptable Use Policy for so called unlimited broadband(hah!!!): » www.mycricket.com/broadb ··· ableuse/Cricket Broadband service MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited.
We reserve the right to protect our network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, and to deny or terminate service, without notice; to anyone we believe is using the Cricket Broadband service in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels. Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to limit throughput or immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice. Let's see: 5 GB max no slingbox use no p2p no video streaming no audio streaming no online game access Doesn't sound like an unlimited plan to me. But given cell tower bandwidth limitations, did anyone really think otherwise. | |
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Re: It is NOT unlimited  I wonder if I would be disenfranchised from accessing Cricket Broadband if I frequently access webpages that unexpectedly begin to stream video and audio? Would that be and excuse to prohibit me or any other customer from accessing Crickets network? | |
| | | |  Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA |
to FFH5
The dope will get hammered in the article's comments section for sure. | |
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|  r81984Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX |
to neufuse
I would use this for traveling, but it seems to only be in big cities.
I have never had a problem finding a free or cheap access point in a big city. | |
| | | FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ
1 recommendation |
FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:08 pm
Re: good ideasaid by r81984:I would use this for traveling, but it seems to only be in big cities. Coverage map attached: 
The yellow symbols are the broadband internet locations. The green ones are cellphone voice only.
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Re: good ideaTK, I think you have hit on the reason that Cricket is not ready for prime time.
Their coverage is pretty ragged, no big cities like Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, New York, etc. In Texas, their coverage appears to be along the I-35 corridor roughly between Waco and San Antonio, and probably not continuous.
From observing their launch here, and their commercials, it appears that they are interested in the casual user (tweens, teens, young adults) who are primarily interested texting and chatting.
Prior to retirement, I could never have used them for business due to their anemic coverage, and even now if I travel more than a few miles from home, I would have no coverage, except roaming. | |
| | | | | nitzan
Premium Member
join:2008-02-27 |
nitzan
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:49 pm
Re: good ideasaid by Austinloop:From observing their launch here, and their commercials, it appears that they are interested in the casual user (tweens, teens, young adults) who are primarily interested texting and chatting. Sounds to me like they're appealing to the wrong crowd, with the wrong service. Basically they're trying to get a bunch of teens (read: youtube, music downloads, file sharing, etc.) while banning most of what their target crowd is interested in. Have you looked at a "young adult"'s internet usage lately? it starts from myspace, goes through youtube, and ends in itunes. Take those away and you'll get zero interest from them. Texting and IM are not attractive since people who want it can already do those from their cell phone. What they should do is lose the bans, advertise the caps clearly, and target business travelers (read: actually have $$ unlike teens, need to work on the go, use less bandwidth in general). | |
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Re: good ideaIf you talk to anyone who has sufferred their service, you'll find that they aren't targeting ANYONE. Their call quality is absolutely horrible and completely unreliable. I think they could easily offer completely "unlimited" data service, and still come out ahead, with as often as the network would drop the connection. | |
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to Austinloop
There going to be launching Philly and Bmore in the next few months.. | |
| | | | | mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX |
to Austinloop
They are not in DFW because they have a non-compete agreement with Metro PCS. That's also why Metro PCS is not in Houston. There are rumors about them merging.
My brother-in-law owns several Cricket stores in Texas and he is doing VERY well. He used to resell all other cell phone services (Verizon, Cingular/AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) but he's never done as well as when he started selling Cricket exclusively. You underestimate the power of NO CREDIT CHECKS, no contracts, etc. They only target people who require that and only stay in that metro area. | |
| | | | | | fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
Re: good ideasaid by mobbo:You underestimate the power of NO CREDIT CHECKS, no contracts, etc. They only target people who require that and only stay in that metro area. So in other words, you're talking about the group of people who make up most of those that have bad, poor, or not credit, generally don't pay their bills, or have much money to spend. In other words, the most un-reliable consumer base in the entire spectrum of consumers. Yes, that group spends money, but they often have to spend more than others because of their poor credit status. While Cricket may be a less expensive form of cellular, this group also is hit hard/er by other areas as well, and will often put cricket to the side.. such as higher credit card fees (pre-paid or not) car loans for crap cars at 26% interest for 10 year old cars that break down.. etc. I surely do not under-estimate power of that group of people. | |
| | | | | | | mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX |
mobbo
Member
2008-Sep-15 3:17 pm
Re: good ideaYup... except the part where you say "the most un-reliable consumer base in the entire spectrum of consumers". If that were true, there would be no Cricket and my brother-in-law would be broke. | |
| | | | | | | | fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
Re: good ideaI dis-agree with you. There are two kinds of customers... quality customers, and volume customers.
What your customer is seeing is volume, not quality. the big 3 have quality customers as they are locked into contracts so churn is less. In the pre-paid world, you can't tract a consumer so all you can go by is the number of volume. Is he doing good there? yes.. he is. However, eventually, that customer base gets picked over and the numbers will decline.
The one thing that can be said for Cricket, and even MetroPCS, is that they can't be defaulted on. They just can't count on their customer base from month to month is all. There is much higher short term risk with this business model for this industry. | |
| | | | | | | | | mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX |
mobbo
Member
2008-Sep-15 3:26 pm
Re: good ideaThat's why Cricket (not sure about MetroPCS) has a "built in" safety net for dealers. When he was dealing T-Mobile, for example, if a customer defaulted on their contract, he was responsible for paying back the activation fee.
With Cricket, they do not have that risk, plus there is another line of revenue when customers choose to pay their bills in-store. The dealer gets a few bucks when they pay in store.
Also, a cell phone is becoming a necessity these days (preaching to the choir here). If it is such, and the only company offering no contract, no activation fee, no termination fee, etc. is Cricket or MetroPCS, then you'll always have a market is certain neighborhoods. It may not be the same people that are customers month-to-month, but I disagree that you'll run out of people to market to. Don't you just love America? | |
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| | | |  bentand Inga
Premium Member
join:2004-10-04
Loveland, CO |
to Austinloop
When I roam with Cricket, I roam on Verizon and I get 100 roaming mins, 500 mins of LD, and slowboat data included per month for $65. For the hand full of times I travel every year, that's perfect. For road warriors, maybe not. Here on the Front Range their coverage is quite good without ever roaming, I've used them for close to 8 years and have yet to have a major problem. | |
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| | |  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK |
KrK to FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:55 pm
to FFH5
Wonder if that coverage around Galveston bay is operational right now.... Why do I suspect not.  | |
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evac_galveston
Anon
2008-Sep-14 4:04 pm
Re: good ideathat's not something that i find funny.... | |
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Re: good ideasaid by evac_galveston :
that's not something that i find funny....
I think he's trying to make a point at the weathers expense.  | |
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| | |  Toropop
join:2001-11-11
Vancouver, WA
1 edit |
to FFH5
Uh... that's not what the yellow symbols mean. According to Cricket's site, the yellow symbols are not an indicator for broadband internet locations. They indicate their extended coverage area where subscribers need to use a tri-band phone for voice service. The site states that anywhere that is shaded dark and light green is where you can receive broadband, which is the same footprint as Sprint (since they have a roaming agreement with them for broadband). | |
| | | | | FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ |
FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 9:30 pm
Re: good ideasaid by Toropop:Uh... that's not what the yellow symbols mean. According to Cricket's site, the yellow symbols are not an indicator for broadband internet locations. They indicate their extended coverage area where subscribers need to use a tri-band phone for voice service. The site states that anywhere that is shaded dark and light green is where you can receive broadband, which is the same footprint as Sprint (since they have a roaming agreement with them for broadband). Then why are the yellow symbols an exact match for the cities they say they have already launched broadband svc? Cricket subscribers in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and several Texas cities can access the new plan now and all other Cricket cities should have the service by years end. | |
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Dustin K
Anon
2008-Sep-16 3:05 am
Re:BAD IDEA!Just to let you know your wrong lol. And the article is very wrong. All mest up you could say. I live in salt lake city, ut Green area... I've had the broadband service since day 1 when it first came out. I have 3 lines of service with cricket. Let me tell you guys one thing, The service suck ass, but its cheap and does the trick.
Also I download movies, watch utube and play games, they never disconnect my service. Also i've Download more then 5GB of data in one month. How i know this is cause the program they give you tells you how much you used. They do slow you service down, and it laggs on games like no other some times. But hey you get what you pay for. 35 dollars a month is what i pay for i get a 5 dollar diccount for muiple lines of service.
The yellow means tri band phones, and it sucks i went to vegas and my cricket phone would not even work. | |
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| |  ReVeLaTeD
Premium Member
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA |
to r81984
said by r81984:I would use this for traveling, but it seems to only be in big cities. I have never had a problem finding a free or cheap access point in a big city. I'd be all over this myself, but they don't offer coverage anywhere I end up. I'd been looking for a provider that will give me (a) free mobile broadband access card and (b) prepaid or non-contract INEXPENSIVE mobile wireless internet at higher-than-EDGE speeds. I thought this was it but...oh well. | |
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acidbuzz
Anon
2008-Sep-14 1:00 pm
Good price but...Like everyone else out there, They have a 5GB per month cap. | |
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why why whywhy can't the sprints verizons and atts of the world do the same?
such a simple plan yet the big 3 can't do it. | |
| | FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ
2 edits |
FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:11 pm
Re: why why whysaid by flyingjoey:why can't the sprints verizons and atts of the world do the same? such a simple plan yet the big 3 can't do it. Their broadband plan is no better than the big 3. Their unlimited plan isn't unlimited - read the AUP posted above. » It is NOT unlimited | |
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to flyingjoey
said by flyingjoey:why can't the sprints verizons and atts of the world do the same? such a simple plan yet the big 3 can't do it. Sprint does it...sort of. It's called Millenicom. Half again the cost but better coverage. | |
| | | GLX
join:2000-01-18
Hoboken, NJ |
GLX
Member
2008-Sep-14 1:19 pm
Re: why why whysaid by iansltx_ :said by flyingjoey:why can't the sprints verizons and atts of the world do the same? such a simple plan yet the big 3 can't do it. Sprint does it...sort of. It's called Millenicom. Half again the cost but better coverage. Certainly not half the cost - in fact, $10/more a month. Millenicom are crooks. Stay far, far away from them. | |
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MiltMan
Anon
2008-Sep-15 3:31 am
Re: why why whywhy do you say that Millenicom are crooks?
I've been with them for just over 6 months and for the first 3 everything was beyond awesome! The last 3 months have been extremely up and down, but I have every reason to believe that the tower near my apartment is the problem - not Millenicom (for example, I don't have issues when I connect from other areas in the city).
I was with Verizon before switching to Millenicom and they really were crooks, or at least false advertising deceptors - i.e. they called their plan 'unlimited' but it was actually limited to 5 gb a month. If you passed the 5gb mark they cut your connection with no warning. | |
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nitzan
Premium Member
join:2008-02-27
1 recommendation |
nitzan
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:19 pm
Why do companies insist on working AGAINST the customer?I really don't get it. Banning P2P traffic is one thing - but banning VoIP and legal downloads is a whole different thing.
Instead of false advertising "unlimited" plans which are in fact very limited - companies need to stand up and clearly state what their caps are. If they cannot offer a real unlimited-like product don't advertise it as such. If you put a 5 GB cap (read: very low) on your service - you need to pony up and advertise it as a 5 GB/month plan - not "unlimited"!
Personally although I would love to have prepaid wireless for my laptop (I travel a lot) - I will not buy due to these issues. I do hope the marketplace shows them that users are not as stupid as they'd like them to be. | |
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•••• |  nightdesignsGone missing, back soon
Premium Member
join:2002-05-31
AZ |
Dang, not quite the offer as I thought...Since it was pre-paid, I thought it was a $1.33/day used, only on the days used, like pre-paid minutes.
Now that would be a deal! | |
| |  TCub
Premium Member
join:2008-09-03
Olmsted Falls, OH |
TCub
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:30 pm
Re: Dang, not quite the offer as I thought...said by nightdesigns:Since it was pre-paid, I thought it was a $1.33/day used, only on the days used, like pre-paid minutes. Now that would be a deal! Yes, that minus all the restrictions of course like no online gaming, P2P, streaming music, etc... | |
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KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J
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KrK
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 1:52 pm
As a last resort.....If for example you can't get DSL, Cable, but can get Cricket, well, it beats dial up... but the TOS is oppressive. Apparently they will act against anyone who seeks to "harm" their profits by actually using the service.
Still, as I said, it beats dial up... if no other broadband is available. | |
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free wifithis is an answer for virtually free wifi via linksys. still, if the number of voip over wifi devices multiplies exponentially, there may be some momentum amongst the cell phone carriers to lower the cost of service... trying to compete with free or voip service prices. | |
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Vigil
Anon
2008-Sep-14 3:39 pm
Never a problemI never have a problem getting internet access on the road. If I cant find an open wireless network near by, I can always tether my Verizon phone to get access. I have the Vcast option on and I have used this for as long as I want and have never gotten a letter from Verizon. Sometimes at a hotel I connect with my phone for hours and download movie torrents to watch and no problems at all. | |
|  David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL |
David
Premium Member
2008-Sep-14 5:59 pm
My thought on the 5gb cap isI am wondering if they are leasing the signaling network from one of the big carriers? That would make sense of the caps then, because you would not want your lease rates to skyrocket. | |
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Have you try it ?I see a lot of talking but what I didn't see was the walking. I mean how many of you who just post here on this topic actually try it. | |
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lol cricketti tried them on evdo, its a joke, cingular is actualy better, so dont waste ur time unless u wanna waste money on the evdo modem (witch u pay for) $150 or so now, and unless ur right under a tower and get like 400k it's mostly dalup speeds. | |
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Re: lol crickettsaid by wispalord:i tried them on evdo, its a joke, cingular is actualy better, so dont waste ur time unless u wanna waste money on the evdo modem (witch u pay for) $150 or so now, and unless ur right under a tower and get like 400k it's mostly dalup speeds. Cingular doesn't exist anymore. At&t bought them out. Its interesting though watching a smaller company try and compete with the big boys. There coverage area is really small though. I doubt my area would ever be on there map. I'll continue to pay my $60 a month for my Verizon EVDO. Sucks but its this or satellite. At least signed up before they started charging overages. So far I've went as high as 7.2GB in one month and have not been throttled. | |
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Sounds Like a Deal (if one can get it)I went to a few conventions where there are a lot of 20 something attendees and have to deal with them hogging the hotel net. In addition when I do an occasional Ebay G-sale, auction, estate sale run, I can use this to check Ebay before jumping on the deal. I can use prepaid broadband because I only use it infrequently.
PS. would make a great back up at home. | |
|  SimbaSevenI Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT |
Hey.. There's always Alltel..You can always get Alltel's Unlimited Plan. I went through it and it's truly Unlimited and they don't give a crap what you do with it.
I've asked 3 different stores and they say the same. | |
|  DefianceComputer Elite
Premium Member
join:2002-09-11
Minocqua, WI
Ubiquiti AmpliFi Alien
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Defiance
Premium Member
2008-Sep-15 1:48 am
lol"Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to limit throughput or immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice."
I guess I should presume if Cricket cashes my check for services that are stealing my money lol. | |
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You guys are missing the boat.I have a Verizon phone and service for personal use, which I like very much (except for the 9-month-left contract).
I have a Cricket phone for work, giving me unlimited calls/texts and a phone number I can ditch when I want. As long as you can understand and cope with the limitations of the coverage area, I think it's an excellent service.
I've considered purchasing wireless broadband for simple, easy Internet connectivity on multiple computers I work on (drivers, etc). It'd also be kinda fun to get unfettered internet access at work sometimes, too.
I already have internet access at home for the heavy lifting. This Cricket service (I daresay) is aimed at the 'email and IM' crowd. Someone wishing to download the Library of Congress is likely to be smart enough to use the right tool for the job. | |
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majin
Anon
2008-Sep-24 4:14 pm
Re: You guys are missing the boat.i get approx 800k down link and 520k upload that is sustained not burst speed. it is roughly equivalent to your most basic dsl package available. if your market has rev. A then your upload speeds would be a little higher than the rev. 0 markets, second i have played online games this weekend, warcraft3,ffxi,wow, etc.... no lag whatsoever....
During the day you will get internet congestion but who doesn't, around the evening it get way better..... and those Stats above me are way better then connecting at 28000kps modem using a hardline...thats only like 2.91kb/s down/or upload.... and even with those conenctions i could still play those games above as well......
I guess it's different for some people in different area's..... | |
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I wonder if I would be disenfranchised from accessing Cricket Broadband if I frequently access webpages that unexpectedly begin to stream video and audio? Would that be and excuse to prohibit me or any other customer from accessing Crickets network?
