jw713

I did a lot of searching and there are tons of topics on this but none that really address US options (at least that I could find). I tried to be as descriptive in my subject so others can find this in the future.

I'm looking for mobile broadband options for some trips this year. I'm familiar with 3 different options for pay-as-you-go...Virgin, Verizon & T-Mobile. For my needs, according to my research, T-Mobile seems like it will be the best option. Not only are prices about the best, but you also get free unlimited T-Mobile hot spot access. So, I can use the hot spot access at the airport and other locations and not pull from my data cap.

I'm doing this kind of last minute so I'm considering buy a USB dongle off Craigslist. New they go for $150-$200 without a contract. On CL I found them ranging from $25-$100, depending on the model.

I'm mostly starting this as an informative post for people looking in the future but also to see if anyone else if using T-Mobile for their mobile broadband and how it has been. As far as where I'll be using it, over the next few months I'll be using it in Dallas, Atlantic City, DC, Seattle, LA, San Francisco & Chicago.

cblaisd

I have had the same need this summer, and went with Verizon.

I have successfully bought two Verizon refill cards from Craigslist for 50 cents on the dollar.

Depending on your coverage needs, you might also look at www.mycricket.com which has $40/month plan, free modem, and no contract.

jw713

Which modem did you get? If I can get Verizon refill cards at 50% off then that's definitely the better deal. I did some searching in the DFW area but didn't find anything on CL for refill cards...what do you search for on CL to find them?

Thanks for the tip on Cricket. I had heard of it but forget to check there. The coverage maps looked good but it said I couldn't sign-up based on my home zip code.

cblaisd

I have an embedded Gobi 2000 WWAN card in my netbook. You'll need to search something like allofcraigslist

Roger

May I add a question? I'm looking for a SIM deal for my laptop for short US visits, probably prepay.

I already have dongles with Three UK (contract), Orange Switzerland (prepay) and Vodafone South Africa (prepay). I also have unused prepay dongles from Three UK, T-Mobile UK and O2 UK. All have relevant SIMs.

Is there a useful prepay option I could benefit from in the US? Thanks for your advice.

jw713

I ended up going with T-Mobile, for now. Some stuff I found out...

- When I read 'pay-as-you-go' I was thinking I could pay for a month, then service would stop. Then I could not use it for a few months and then pay again to use it again. But that's not the way it works...basically it's a monthly charge that you can cancel anytime. She said I could also suspend it for up to 90 days at a time, so I think I'll just do that when I know I won't be using it.

- There's no refill cards like Verizon, so there's no way to get a discount on them...you just pay T-Mobile directly.

- The rate on the website says $39.99 for 5GB of data, but the rep let me know that's normally for people who also have T-Mobile phone service too (I have Sprint). She pulled some strings and got it for me at $39.99, which I thought was nice. Although, there was a $35 activation fee, which I wasn't expecting.

- I ended up buying a Webconnect stick from someone on Craigslist. It was $60, normally $200 without contract. So I was happy with that.

That's the info for now. I'll update this thread after I use it over the next couple months.

Roger

Useful info, thanks.Yes, that's what I'd be looking for.Different country, I know, but compare that with Orange Switzerland's Internet Anywhere which offers unlimited access for 5 CHF a day (about $4.75) up to 5GB a month (then slower), and it looks expensive for a short trip - our next trip is 6 days, for example.

But it's cheaper than the hotel, which seems to want $10 a day + tax.

transpac

I am a T-Mo PAYG voice customer currently. I see T-Mo has some newish "Mobile Broadband Passes":


$10 /week
(7 days) 100 MB data For e-mail, Web surfing, and more.

$30 /month
(30 days) 300 MB data For e-mail, Web surfing, photo sharing, and more.

$50 /month
(30 days) 1 GB data For e-mail, Web surfing, photo sharing, light video watching, and more

I also see they have a day-pass:

$1.49 Web DayPass: Unlimited 24-hour mobile web access for Pay As You Go (also available if you need more data than included in your monthly plan). Service available for 30 days on monthly plans and 90 days (one year for Gold Rewards status) after activation/refill on Pay As You Go plan.


Has anyone subscribed to these services recently?

Can I use an un-locked smartphone (HTC Desire HD - purchased in SE Asia) on T-mo's network? (GPRS/EDGE? 3G? WiFi?)

Thanks.

pdxer

i've used the $1.49 day pass and it works well. it's 24 hours from the time you activate it.

although it's unlimited, after about 30 meg, speeds are throttled, which for me is more than enough for a day but if you stream audio it probably won't.

you should be able to, but i have heard of some android devices having issues, although i think that is no longer the case.