Virgin Mobile $40 Prepaid Unlimited Launches And it appears to truly be unlimited Virgin Mobile's new prepaid broadband pricing has arrived, after a launch planned for earlier this week suffered from a few technical hiccups. The new pricing is now available on the Sprint-owned company's website: users can choose either a ten day, $10 plan with a 100 MB cap, or a $40, one month plan with unlimited usage. Unlike previous industry difficulties with the term unlimited, this one seems to truly be, the website informing users that "Virgin Mobile does not restrict your speeds based on data usage caps."
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 | | sweet way to set some standards | |
|  DoRight
join:2007-07-20
East Petersburg, PA | Duh.. lol It's a 100 MB for $10.. | |
|  | axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC | Re: Duh.. lol Ironically, you're getting something close to 100GB per $10 with Comcast or FiOS  | |
|
amungusPremium
join:2004-11-26
America Reviews:
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| uses Sprint's network From the same place as quoted above:
*Virgin Mobile customers have access to the Sprint® 3G network reaching more than 262 million people.
»www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-b···2go.html
Interesting. Wonder if they'd have a problem with using this for lots of Netflix streaming?
If it's all gravy, I'm going to have my dad cancel his air card w/Sprint and get this. Surely the even after a pro-rated ETF, this is more sensible since it's not capped and is $20/mo. cheaper than Sprint's plan.
One of these, Netflix, OTA TV, and my folks ought to be doing much better 
In fact, this seems like a good deal for anyone who can't get a wired internet connection but does have 3g coverage.
I still don't understand why they can do this cheaper, and without limits, while Sprint maintains their 5GB limit, even though they both use the same towers... | |
| |  TimePremium
join:2003-07-05
 ·Cox HSI
| Re: uses Sprint's network Yeah, this confuses me as well.
Perhaps they're planning to drop caps on the Sprint 3G network all together once their 4G is more widespread?
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"If it can't be done with brains, it can't be done with hours" - Clarence "Kelly" Johnson | |
| | | | | Re: uses Sprint's network I hope so. Not that I ever come close, but it's the principal of the matter. If I need to use 20gb any particular month, I don't want to pay out the ass, and Sprint is doing that FINALLY. | |
|
| | | I first wondered if it only applies to phones and not data cards. Just checked and it does apply to data card and Mifi device. That is one helluva deal, but there might be one catch. Does Virgin roam data? Sprint will roam 2G on other CDMA carriers including VZW and also roams 3G in old Alltel areas.
»www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-b···2go.html | |
| | | | | Re: uses Sprint's network said by xenophon:I first wondered if it only applies to phones and not data cards. Just checked and it does apply to data card and Mifi device. That is one helluva deal, but there might be one catch. Does Virgin roam data? Sprint will roam 2G on other CDMA carriers including VZW and also roams 3G in old Alltel areas. » www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-b···2go.html No, Virgin Mobile has zero roaming. Sprint native network only. | |
| | | | Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
| Re: uses Sprint's network again; there is no solild proof of this. Just a bunch of people on here claiming that. I have used VM USA and it has roamed. My mom has used a phone from them and drove from Texas to Ohio with out any issues. even in TN where Sprint doesn't have much coverage at all. Guess what it does? Roams!
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www.twopugsbrand.com Kosher, Vegan, and Organic Certified Dog and Cat treats/foods and other products! www.etsy.com/shop/snakx4u/ Organic, Kosher, Gluten Free, Vegan Human Baked Goods | |
| | | | | | | Re: uses Sprint's network I've never seen a Virgin Mobile phone roam, ever. I've carried both a Sprint contract phone, and a Virgin Mobile phone before on their PayLo plan for the reason of testing, as for me, at some point it would be cheaper to go prepaid, but I need data on my phone, which severely limits my options. So I'll go with, it might roam, but I have never personally seen it roam in my area. I have also seen Sprint's coverage maps be significantly wrong in what is roaming/not roaming. | |
| | | | |  SabreDi relung hatiku bernyanyi bidadari
join:2005-05-17 | Per personal experience, the only Virgin Mobile phone I have used does not, in fact, roam on anything else.
In addition, last time I checked (last week), VM's website lists no roaming coverage and doesn't mention roaming. | |
| | | | | | Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
| Re: uses Sprint's network Sprint's website doesn't list roaming either. it says free roaming though. that's it...doesn't say what roaming is. There for nobody truely knows nothing. Back in the day (and still does) Alltel does charge roaming rates if you go out of your "home local" area and do not have a nationwide plan.
But as far as personal experience; my VM phones have roamed and do.
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www.twopugsbrand.com Kosher, Vegan, and Organic Certified Dog and Cat treats/foods and other products! www.etsy.com/shop/snakx4u/ Organic, Kosher, Gluten Free, Vegan Human Baked Goods | |
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| | | | | | Just look at virgin mobiles coverage compared to sprint and its obvious there is no roaming.
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2010 Ford Fusion Sport | |
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| | | | | | | | | | Re: uses Sprint's network that is also About.com  | |
|
|  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
join:2002-03-03
USA
kudos:4 | said by amungus:I still don't understand why they can do this cheaper, and without limits, while Sprint maintains their 5GB limit, even though they both use the same towers... It is std marketing technique to 2 different classes of customers.
Virgin is marketing to customers who may be temporarily in the US; may be illegal immigrants(devices can be bought with PayPal and top-off cards for smartphones can be bought with cash) ; and who are satisfied with an extremely limited choice of devices(2 for Broadband2Go; and 4 for smartphone plans) and don't want a permanent relationship with a provider. They won't for the most part be real heavy users.
Sprint is marketing to long term customers(post-paid plans) with a choice of a wide variety of devices and theoretically a higher level of customer support. That support costs more to provide. | |
| | | Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
| Re: uses Sprint's network well there is a new one. VM is marketing to illegals? QUICK! Call DHS and the State of AZ! They need to make arrests at the Sprint Stores!
this is just to get people to sign up with Sprint period! VM doesn't just market to one set of customers and Sprint to another. When it all comes down; you're a Sprint Customer on a differnet brand of their's. Sprint uses prepaid to off set the non-pay debt of post-paid customers and the risk of having them on their network.
Sprint knows PrePaid is the way to go to get those $$$.
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www.twopugsbrand.com Kosher, Vegan, and Organic Certified Dog and Cat treats/foods and other products! www.etsy.com/shop/snakx4u/ Organic, Kosher, Gluten Free, Vegan Human Baked Goods | |
| | | Reviews:
·Comcast
| Virgin *also* markets to those that may not want a contract (or especially not a contract with VZW), but want CDMA *and* a better phone selection than VZW prepaid (that is one thing I'll admit; VM has a better selection of prepaid phones than VZW). Lastly, Sprint actually owns VMUSA (it is now basically Sprint's porepaid brand). VZW has *zero* prepaid smartphones (naturally, that means no Android, either) and no prepaid broadband pllans, either. So, if you want a smartphone prepaid, it's basically VM or nobody. | |
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| |
Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
join:2002-03-03
USA
kudos:4
1 edit |  This plan is a data only plan;better deal on smartphone plan
But Virgin Mobile also has a $40 smartphone plan that besides unlimited web browsing; texts; email also includes 1200 mins of voice. »www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-pho···lans.jsp | |
| | glinc
join:2009-04-07
New York, NY | Re: This plan is a data only plan;better deal on smartphone plan Good luck using VoIP with 3G latency. | |
| | | Reviews:
 ·AT&T Wireless Br..
| Re: This plan is a data only plan;better deal on smartphone plan I can actually play Call of Duty 4 or World at War online, and talk on Teamspeak 3 set to it's highest quality codec at 13KB/s and my ping in COD stays below 100 (fluctuates by about 10) and quality in the Teamspeak voice is perfect with barely any ping jitter as well. So yea, VOIP is very possible. | |
| | | | | | Re: This plan is a data only plan;better deal on smartphone plan I've done Juniper VoIP over a Sprint #G data card. Was sometimes choppy but doable. OK for personal conversations but not business meetings. Over Sprint 4G, works perfectly. | |
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| |  MajestikWorld TravelerPremium
join:2001-05-11
Tulsa, OK
1 edit | said by glinc:Good luck using VoIP with 3G latency. I've used Skype with video with no problems for over 3 years with my sprint data card....mostly to Brazil and Switzerland at the time.
No problems.
Also played Eve Online as well.
I've already used Skype on my Virgin Mobile data card a few times already.
--
The adventure continues...Sanctuary.... | |
|
| | | said by Romney2012:This $40 Broadband2go plan is for data only using either a MiFi or a USB device for a PC. Though I guess you could do voice using VOIP. But Virgin Mobile also has a $40 smartphone plan that besides unlimited web browsing; texts; email also includes 1200 mins of voice. » www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-pho···lans.jsp heck they have a $25 a month with 300 mins plus unlimited. i am going to check for a phone i can tether. not bad for the times i travel. | |
|
| | who cares about unlimited 3g? virgin mobile is a bunch of idiots
i had to get transferred 3 times before they told me what the download/upload speed on their network is...and then the guy had the nerve to say that i will get super high speed internet in my coverage area and when i asked what is that speed...he's like ...oh between 400 and 800kbps dl and 300 to 400 kbps upload
my dusty dialup modem will do better than that...well not really but it's a good cheap shot at virgin mobile aint it
argh
might as well wait for clear another month or so here in nyc...
oh well | |
| |  Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | Re: who cares about unlimited 3g? said by vlad1000:super high speed internet in my coverage area and when i asked what is that speed...he's like ...oh between 400 and 800kbps dl and 300 to 400 kbps upload Can't call it "Broadband" since the minimum is a 4x1 now. | |
| | |
1 edit | Re: who cares about unlimited 3g? It's all some people can get.  | |
| | | | | | Re: who cares about unlimited 3g? well that sucks...but i am not one of those people...so there:)
i will never buy into slow mo wireless broadband even if it's cheap | |
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| | maubs
join:2010-02-26
Farmington, IL | My home 'broadband' DSL is 650 kbps. This might be a better option for me, and it's mobile. | |
| | | |  io chicoPremium
join:2003-12-30
Magalia, CA | Re: who cares about unlimited 3g? I'm getting 550kbps on my 'broadband', I pay for the 6MB Plan. This might be a good option. My Sprint phone's data gets 1MB down. I could only assume Virgin Mobile would get the same? | |
| | | | |  Frankis chillingPremium
join:2000-11-03
somewhere
2 edits | Re: who cares about unlimited 3g? said by io chico:I'm getting 550kbps on my 'broadband', I pay for the 6MB Plan. This might be a good option. My Sprint phone's data gets 1MB down. I could only assume Virgin Mobile would get the same? you're confusing kilobits with kilobytes.
here's an example:
384 kbps = 48 KB/ps
1 mbps = 125 KB/ps
6 mbps = 725 KB/ps
abbreviation for kilobytes = KB = capitalized letters
abbreviation for kilobits = kb = uncapitalized letters
kilobits and megabits is what isps advertise speeds in
kilobytes and megabytes is the speed you see on your browser most of the time.
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At first I thought everyone on the highway was drunk but then I realized I was driving in Florida  | |
|
| | | | says who? That is only a "guideline" to what the standard should be. but in that case. ATT doesn't offer broadband at all. the FCC can't set those limits only their "guidelines". | |
|
| | | Vlad,
I'd love to see a "dusty dialup modem" that could come close to 400-800 kbps or even 300-400 kpbs... They just DON'T exist (not over normal analog PSTN lines).
Remember, the old modems are labeled as 56kpbs (56kpbs 300+kpbs), though usually only connect at 53k or less, and throughput is often less than 40.
So even worse case (based on the numbers that the "idiot" as you called him gave you), the Virgin Mobile connection is still OVER 8 TIMES FASTER than your "dusty dialup modem".
Before calling someone an "idiot" you might want to check your facts...
Also note that I've seen reviews and YouTube clips which have shown getting around 1000kps (that's 1Mbps) down and 500kps up with the MiFi on Virgin. That's close to the speed of standard DSL (1.5 Mbps down / 256k up in most cases).
So while I'll agree that the "super fast internet" comment was a bit overblown (as compared to some areas that you can get 50Mbps over a cable connection), it still is pretty darned good for mobile Internet - again comparable to low end DSL (and higher than some low end DSL offers).
Just ordered my MiFi today after seeing Virgin had fixed the website for the $40 unlimited / no contract price, so we'll see how things turn out in my area speedwise, but this pushed me over the edge versus other options, especially since I'll only need occassional usage.
Also plan on dropping my backup DSL connection in my home (use cable as my primary), as I could use the MiFi as backup. So overall, I won't be spending much more a month (and less in months where I don't use the MiFi at all). Win Win it would seem, though I'll reevaluate once I get the device and activate it.
BTW - WalMart.com has the best price I've seen for the MiFi (Virgin Mobile one). Its $119.00 with $1.99 shipping, or next day shipping for $5.99 (which I went for). Probably more expensive in stores though.
Oh, and BTW - keep in mind that Clear also (like Virgin) uses the Sprint network, though of course you'd also get 4G (in areas that support it) through Clear... In my area there is no 4G so this wasn't an advantage except when traveling to certain cities (not enough advantage for the price increase). Clear I believe also charges more for addition of 3G and also doesn't provide for roaming off the Sprint/Clear network without a per MB charge. | |
| | |  aaronwtPremium
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
 ·Verizon FiOS
1 edit | Re: who cares about unlimited 3g? I've been using the Virgin Mobile Broadband adapter for over a year now. I got the adapter the first week it was available.
I've certainly hit over 1mbs download speeds using the speed tests here, but the average speed is certainly lower.
But I've had no issues with it and it works great. It's perfect for web browsing, email and dowloads on the road. I also use it as a backup to my FiOS connection but the FiOS connection is up 99.999% of the time. | |
| | |  smithPremium
join:2000-07-13 | JustMe,
I ordered the MiFi from Walmart.com too. I hope this works better than the iSpot.
By the way: When I stopped by Best Buy to buy the top-up card, they told me that Best Buy would have price matched Walmart.com. | |
|
| | Re Funny.. I literally just paid for the $60 plan two days ago.. prob won't even be worth my time to see if I can get a refund lol | |
| | | | Re: Re no refunds on Prepaid services. | |
| | DampierPhillip M Dampier
join:2003-03-23
Rochester, NY | Don't call them -- write social@virginmobileusa.com, their social media CSRs and ask in e-mail. They'll escalate your request to see if you can transfer your plan. | |
|
| Reviews:
·Verizon Wireless..
·Comcast
| Excellent sweet this is a viable option for me... I have comcast at home... However I have 2 laptops and a mifi would be nice because I travel A LOT!!!! I'm acually going to probably buy one or a usb dongle... not sure yet... if I do the usb dongle ill share the connection off my wifi ad hoc style...
I like that I can cancel and theirs no fee or cap before they limit your connection... | |
| | | | Re: Excellent if you get the USB dongle you can get an actual EVDO router and use that. It accepts USB data cards; plus you're not limited to the amount od 8 devices. | |
| | | | | Re: Excellent Also, you can attach an external antenna to the USB dongle. The mifi will not accept a external antenna. | |
|
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·RoadRunner Cable
| Enjoy it while it lasts This offering will not stand.
True, Virgin Mobile may not restrict your speed based on data usage caps.
But when the "wireless data hogs" overwhelm the network, you'll be running at GPRS-like speeds, and paying $40 a month for the privilege.
We have enough trouble with 3G speeds in LA with the current 5GB caps and $40-80 plans.
Unlimited isn't useful or necessary for 3G. Just have reasonable bucket prices with non-punitive overage rates, i.e. $40/month is 10GB, overages are $2/GB at full speed, free throttled to 128kbps. | |
| | MajestikWorld TravelerPremium
join:2001-05-11
Tulsa, OK | Re: Enjoy it while it lasts said by elray:This offering will not stand. True, Virgin Mobile may not restrict your speed based on data usage caps. But when the "wireless data hogs" overwhelm the network, you'll be running at GPRS-like speeds, and paying $40 a month for the privilege. We have enough trouble with 3G speeds in LA with the current 5GB caps and $40-80 plans. Unlimited isn't useful or necessary for 3G. Just have reasonable bucket prices with non-punitive overage rates, i.e. $40/month is 10GB, overages are $2/GB at full speed, free throttled to 128kbps. Speeds will be fine here.
I don't live in a big city like LA.
--
The adventure continues...Sanctuary.... | |
| | | | said by elray:This offering will not stand. True, Virgin Mobile may not restrict your speed based on data usage caps. But when the "wireless data hogs" overwhelm the network, you'll be running at GPRS-like speeds, and paying $40 a month for the privilege. We have enough trouble with 3G speeds in LA with the current 5GB caps and $40-80 plans. Unlimited isn't useful or necessary for 3G. Just have reasonable bucket prices with non-punitive overage rates, i.e. $40/month is 10GB, overages are $2/GB at full speed, free throttled to 128kbps. You realize the overall throughput is capped at under a megabit, right? How would a "datahog" (lovely that you keep repeating that myth ad nauseam, but I'll play along) impact the overall network when he can't even download at over a megabit per second? | |
| | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | Re: Enjoy it while it lasts said by sonicmerlin:said by elray:... when the "wireless data hogs" overwhelm the network, you'll be running at GPRS-like speeds, and paying $40 a month for the privilege. You realize the overall throughput is capped at under a megabit, right? How would a "datahog" (lovely that you keep repeating that myth ad nauseam, but I'll play along) impact the overall network when he can't even download at over a megabit per second? You apparently didn't notice the quotation marks.
The fact is that statistically, there are a small percentage of subscribers who use substantially more than everyone else. Call them what you will - "power users", if I was one of them, I'd just accept the label and expect to pay for the "whole hog" package.
We're talking about wireless, not cable, where tower placement, tower backhaul, and RF allocations are often very finite. Eventually, wired backhaul should not be an issue, but such upgrades take years, cost millions, and won't happen in all locations.
A cellphone conversation can be squished into 8 Khz. Please don't accuse me of using TW capped math, but your one megabit theoretical limit takes the bandwidth of some ~100 cellphones - and by the way, Sprint claims the upper bound is 3.1 Megabits, not 1 - though here in LA, we see a peak around 1.2 on Rev A, compared to VZW's 200kbps.
I'm not against ISPs selling almost-unlimited packages at any level, but I also believe we're best served when there is a value placed on finite resources. I don't want to pay excessive rates for 3G any more than you do, but I don't want a pricing policy that promotes all-you-can-eat abuse and results in a 70-90% performance hit.
If you made your argument against caps or throttling on a wired facility, I wouldn't disagree, so long as there still a low cost entry plan for those who don't need all that speed, i.e. you can have your 50M Fiber Optic for $50/month with a 500GB (1000?GB?) cap, but please, let granny buy the 1M Fios with the 2GB cap for $15-20. Don't make the "little" people (note, quotes, again) subsidize the heavy consumers. | |
| | | | | | Re: Enjoy it while it lasts It might last . . . BUT users will get sick of the slow speeds.......
300kbps on a "unlimited" plan isn't a deal ! | |
|
DampierPhillip M Dampier
join:2003-03-23
Rochester, NY | Review Up With Some Money Saving Tips We've been playing with Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go since the wee hours of this morning, and we like what we see -- especially after our complaints about an early "soft cap" of 400GB were heard and they dispensed with it earlier today.
Our review is up and online, and includes a strategy to score $20 off the Virgin Mobile USB modem from Radio Shack:
»stopthecap.com/2010/08/26/virgin···plained/
--
Phillip M. Dampier
Editor, Stop the Cap!
»stopthecap.com | |
| | Reviews:
·Sprint Mobile Br..
| Re: Review Up With Some Money Saving Tips Quick Note: Bought it today at Rat Shack, new bubble casing, went home plugged in 1st Laptop, was able to activate, set up monthly auto pay, and was surfing. I was a millenicom (sprint network) customer, which was an excellent provider, but with the economy slow, every dollar helps, $40.00 compared to $70.00, yea it helps, millenicom was great with canceling my service. Next is axeing my Sprint 99.00 everything account and use my boost blackberry for the same services for less, so instead of 170.00 per month for work related communications, down to $100.00 per month, prepay is good. Very easy move to Virgin BB. Same network, better price. Will update in 6 months.
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SNeumann, Northern Jersey,Cablevision 30/5, Millenicom Mobile Broadband, MagicJack X 4 Boost Mobile Unlimited
www.neumannit.us
www.heatwaveradio.us
www.heatwaveradiopacific.us
www.theradioroom.us
Computer Field Tech/Telcom | |
| | | Reviews:
·Charter
·Virgin Mobile Br..
·Millenicom
 ·HughesNet Satell..
 ·ooma
| Re: Review Up With Some Money Saving Tips So, you're telling us that youre getting the same speeds on the Virgin Mobile plan as you were on Millenicom's Sprint plan?
said by sneumann55:Quick Note: Bought it today at Rat Shack, new bubble casing, went home plugged in 1st Laptop, was able to activate, set up monthly auto pay, and was surfing. I was a millenicom (sprint network) customer, which was an excellent provider, but with the economy slow, every dollar helps, $40.00 compared to $70.00, yea it helps, millenicom was great with canceling my service. Next is axeing my Sprint 99.00 everything account and use my boost blackberry for the same services for less, so instead of 170.00 per month for work related communications, down to $100.00 per month, prepay is good. Very easy move to Virgin BB. Same network, better price. Will update in 6 months. | |
| | | |  DarkWingPremium
join:2005-08-27
Columbia, SC | Re: Review Up With Some Money Saving Tips I don't know about him but I get the same speeds. I don't get the best signal but the speeds is directly comparable to the Sprint service.
said by compuguybna:So, you're telling us that youre getting the same speeds on the Virgin Mobile plan as you were on Millenicom's Sprint plan? said by sneumann55:Quick Note: Bought it today at Rat Shack, new bubble casing, went home plugged in 1st Laptop, was able to activate, set up monthly auto pay, and was surfing. I was a millenicom (sprint network) customer, which was an excellent provider, but with the economy slow, every dollar helps, $40.00 compared to $70.00, yea it helps, millenicom was great with canceling my service. Next is axeing my Sprint 99.00 everything account and use my boost blackberry for the same services for less, so instead of 170.00 per month for work related communications, down to $100.00 per month, prepay is good. Very easy move to Virgin BB. Same network, better price. Will update in 6 months. | |
| | | | Reviews:
·Sprint Mobile Br..
| Yes, i did several side by side comparisons, as i have the millenicom until Aug 31, and yes in my area the speed are the same. I may be wrong but i do believe the millenicom and Virgin mobile use the same network, (sprint) i have a Franklin cdu -680 with millenicom, and the mc 760 with virgin. So, i feel comfortable is saying i made a good choice. even if there was a difference, i really use it for checking emails and getting service orders and listen to internet radio while on the road. Its lower pre paid a trend? time will tell, but it works for me.
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SNeumann, North Jersey,DSL Extreme 20/20 FIOS (Verizon),Cablevision 30/5, Virgin Mobile BB, MagicJack VOip X 4, Boost Black Berry Unlimited
Telcom Field Tech
www.neumannit.us
| |
|
| | You guys are missing the point With Sprints roll-out of it's 4G network, they are just monetizing their existing network as most every new phone in high density areas will be moving to their 4G network.
True power users will most likely move ASAP to Sprints 4G networks also, opening up even more room on Sprint 3G network.
Another thing, until a network is saturated, it's not making as much money as it can and at this price point, people will be willing to put up with a saturated network allowing Sprint to make the most from their existing network.
| |
| | Reviews:
·Charter
·Virgin Mobile Br..
·Millenicom
·HughesNet Satell..
·ooma
| Thumbs Down!!! So slow it wont matter if its unlimited! From what I can tell, VM and Sprint do use the same towers to connect. (same if you have a Millenicom Sprint plan).
HOWEVER....There is just something to weird about this Virgin Mobile device. I think its crippled in some way.
First, the HA(home address) is always Walnut Creek, CA......it appears to route all traffic thru that server. A regular sprint device changes. (this is very similar to DATAJACK when they were routing all traffic thru RACKSPACE.com instead of directly thru T-Mobile.). this increase latency and pings time. Averages about 255ms ping. (Sprint directly averages around ~80-90ms).
Signal is not the same with the VM modem and the same modem in a Sprint Version (U760/MC760)....
when I had a Sprint modem, I had 4 bars of EVDO, with the VM modem I only have 2. i'm in the same location with both.
I was within 500 feet of the tower, and only got 2 EVDO bars.
Speed at the tower only achieved 480kbps. (and i live only 4 miles from the tower)
When requesting a .webpage, there is a high amount of lag before the page displays...Often the page doesn't refresh all the way, or leaves out graphics.
SPEED is horrible. Highest I ever got off this device was about 300kbps(4 miles from the tower). On the same tower on a SPRINT device, I've reached around 1.1mbps.
could it be that VM modems are on the lower priority of a tower? At some points, pages just simply timed out after waiting.... (REALLY REALLY bad on banking pages).
This modem does NOT have all the diag screens that the regular U760 Novatel modem has. Hard to tell the RSSI and signal strength. No way I could tell to set it to factory defaults either.
Modem frequently goes into 1XRTT often (sprint's didn't).
Other's have said their VM modem is identical in performance to their Sprint (MC) modem........Geographiccal location could have alot to do with that, but then again, why would a SPRINT U760 work better than the VM MC760, almost identical devices, yet VERY DIFFERENT in performance, and connecting to the same tower.
This is a single T-1 tower here, so I understand tower congestion at times, but I have NEVER connected more than 300kbps on this same tower (while connecting @
1mbps on the SPRINT U760).
I just think the VM modems use bandwidth at the lower end of the pole (cell phones first, Sprint devices next, and what ever bandwidth is left, the VM devices get it).
Sigining up was a pain in the A**, you can onlu activate the device IF ITS IN THE PC. Until you're activated, youre connected at 1XRTT (Slow slow slow). It timed out several times during the activation process (including my credit card 8 times for $40.....because I kept entering my # in, and saying BUY plan, but it never added it to my account. Finally, I after I got the device ACTIVATED, I just went to another pc, and keyed in my credit card #, and it worked.
Tech support is generally about a 40 minute wait. Even when I called the BROADBAND2TO #, they told me I was in the wrong dept, and just trasferred me back to the main queue. (was I pissed or what)?...Called back the next day, waited around 27 mins, but could hardly understand the rep.
My bottom line opinion. NOT WORTH THE HASSLE.
I knew there was going to be something weird about this
setup. Bad marketing for Sprint to offer the same modem under the VM name, then cripple it. Would have made since for SPRINT to launch the campaign with their regular modem(and this descent speeds and signals).
Speeds are NOT the same as a regular Sprint device.
Tech support has LONG wait times, and doesn't understand problems with their own device.
Unlimited really doesn't mean anything to me if I can'tdo what I need to do online without it timing out or disconnecting . . . . Unlimited at 300kbps might be their marketing ploy, but that just doesn't get it.
Returned the device to radio shack (only paid $59 after sale and instant rebate).
Called VM third time and had them to refund my $40
since I only used it about 30 mins @ 300kpbs. | |
| | | Reviews:
·Sprint Mobile Br..
| Re: Thumbs Down!!! So slow it wont matter if its unlimited! I stand my statement. i am outside NYC, and its been rock solid as the sprint modem with millinecom, and maybe its a location issue? we are in the middle of many towers,next trip to NC along 80/78/81/26 i will see if the coverage is about the same, will update in a few weeks | |
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| | Don't buy unless you have 3g. non 3g speed is terribly slow. 16 KB per second | |
| | | | Re: Don't buy unless you have 3g. that would be GPRS/EDGE on GSM networks. (AT&T/T-Mobile)
and 1XRTT on CDMA networks (verizon/sprint)
Yes, VERY slow | |
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