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The Ovation Wireless Modem, used by Broadband2Go from Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile, a reseller of the Sprint network, will launch a new nationwide wireless internet service in late June, offering prepaid plans and a USB modem (the Novatel Ovation™ MC760) available for sale exclusively at Best Buy for an anticipated price of $149.99.
Broadband2Go will be marketed as a prepaid wireless mobile Internet service that is capable of supporting Sprint’s EVDO Rev. “A” network, and includes a built-in gauge that shows the amount of usage remaining.
Despite claims that Broadband2Go will provide “lightning fast” speed, it, like every other wireless data service, cannot compete with most wired providers on speed. It can, however, provide convenient mobility for those who have limited access needs that don’t justify a $60 a month data plan from one of the four big carriers with a two year contract commitment.
Broadband2Go requires no contract or service commitment. Want to walk away? Just don’t purchase another refill card.
The cost of convenience is expensive, however. The pricing for the service is very high, the usage limits low, and the expiration dates on refills short and annoying:
$10 buys you 100MB of access that expires 10 days after activation.
$20 buys you 250MB of access that expires 30 days after activation.
$40 buys you 600MB of access that expires 30 days after activation.
$60 buys you 1GB of access that expires 30 days after activation.
Use it or lose it. Once the refill expires, your usage ends with it.
Obviously with these limits and prices, confining oneself to web browsing and e-mail is a good idea. Watching two low resolution movies on the 1GB plan would cost you nearly $30 each.
Cricket provides a wireless data plan without a contract for $40 a month for up to 5GB of usage (they reserve the right to slow down your speed or terminate your account if you exceed that). Cricket doesn’t have the reach Sprint’s network has, but charges a lower price for the modem and service, proving to be a viable alternative in cities with Cricket network coverage.
Even with the comparably more generous usage allowance Cricket offers, wireless broadband service is best reserved for users who require mobility or those who only require basic access to web pages and e-mail.
Other stories of interest:
- Wireless Broadband: A Bountiful Garden of Consumer Choice, Pricing, & Plans… Not
- Wireless Data Plan Cap Relief? Sort Of
- Frontier Tells Customers “Not to Worry”; The Cap is a “Guideline”
- Rochester Business Journal Conducts Usage Cap Survey, Ends Tonight
- Opting Out of Frontier’s Usage Cap: Cancelling Your Contract
Terrible prices for such little amounts of data these days compared to what you can get with a 5GB plan, even if 5GB is too small these days.
Mr. Smith: 5 Gig is well just plain (fill in blank here) what is that a couple of youtube clips and a few news clips. For them to be even thinking of this is plain (fill in blank again) 5 Gig most should just turn off the computer. Their strength is you can never get two people to agree to anything the same goes with government and big business and they depend on that fact. . Am I, are you, is anyone else ready to cash out for awhile and cancel service till they fold on this? That’s what it is coming to and you’re really smart so you know it to. Somehow not to long ago I knew streaming everything would cause this problem. Problem is it seems no one is paying any attention to us or the problem.
I just thought with you comment I found a place for my $.0235355356 cents.
And wireless is still a joke. Gives somebody a place to look cool at Starbucks. Thats a joke as wireless will never match solid connections…. it can’t and never will.
Hey – I’d use this.
From time to time, I have to turn down a project because I can’t file my work to meet a deadline due to a lack of available on-site wifi. This doesn’t happen often enough to warrant subscribing to a data plan, and the $10 option would be enough for me to transfer what I need to. This would actually allow me to pick up new jobs, and pay for itself in only one or two assignments.
I agree that the Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go service is very expense; however, I really like the speed. I can run through 100 megabytes in under 24 hours without viewing any movie clips. I can see web sites much faster on Virgin Mobile than I can with Cricket.