Anybody use Sprint 4G Internet?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

I'm trying to cut costs (to have more money for debt repayment), and I'm thinking of dropping Comcast (boo hiss!).

I can easily do without cable TV. Most of what I like is on Netflix or Hulu, and for must-see broadcast TV, I have a small handheld digital set (battery-operated for power outages) that receives local channels just fine.

So far, the most attractive-looking alternative is Spring 4G Internet with a desktop modem and their cheapest calling plan (I'd drop my landline, which is Vonage phone plus fax connected to Comcast and transfer the number to a cell phone. My current cell is a T-mobile prepay)

Clear (sold through Radio Shack) appears to be another alternative, but the user reviews are not good.

Anyway, after the initial outlay, I'd save about $30 a month.

Any opinions? Is Sprint 4G reliable? How is the customer service?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Nobody on this whole board?

:shrug:

[krispos42]

2. Hi Lydia,

Hope you guys are keeping warm over there!

I used the Sprint wireless internet for my only ISP for two years, 2007 to 2009. It was $60 a month with all the taxes and unlimited bandwidth. I don't know if it was 3G or 4G. It was pretty fast... I routinely did filesharing and iTunes through it, as well as being a DU moderator and all my regular internet surfing.

It was extremely reliable and easy to set up. I had the USB modem, so I could just plug it into my laptop or desktop as needed to get wireless internet anywhere in the country.

In fact, I still have the wireless USB modem. If you want I'll sell it to you. It cost me $100 to buy it, although sometimes they have a rebate program or something at the Sprint store.


PM me if you're interested.




Another thing to consider... if you buy a 4G phone with an unlimited data plan, you might be able to plug your phone into your computer and use your phone as a 4G modem. That might be the cheapest all-around option for you. I just don't know if you can use the phone while it's doing internet stuff.

:shrug:

-Krispos

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Thanks, krispos

I'm been looking at the Sprint website, and it seems that their HTC Evo can be used as a mobile hotspot, but I'd have to consult with a Sprint store first. I'm interested in something that can provide a signal for a Roku as well as a computer, and the website is not clear on whether this is possible.

I'm not much of a phone talker in general (I prefer face-to-face or e-mail), so if messages went to voicemail, I'd be OK with that.

Yes, that definitely bears looking into. If the HTC EVo can be used as a mobile hot spot that can support extra devices, then I could go with Sprint's Everything plan for $69.99 a month, which is what I'm paying for cable and TV alone without phone service.

[krispos42]

4. Roku?

*uses teh Google*


Ah, I see. Well, if the Evo can be a Wi-Fi hot spot, then the Roku shouldn't have any problem either.


If you need that modem, just let me know. You still have my cell number?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Yes, but I think I'll go with 4G if I can

Thanks for the info, though.

[krispos42]

9. It's a Novatel Wireless "Ovation", model U720.

Your Sprint guy can tell you if it's 3G or 4G. It was pretty fast, though. IIRC, I would get data transfer rates in excess of 80 kilobytes per second on downloads. Sometimes over 100.

[Xithras]

8. Does Sprint still charge an extra fee for using it as a hotspot?

There used to be an extra $30 monthly charge to activate and use the mobile hotspot feature on the Evo, which is why my friend uses PDANet to accomplish the same thing. The only downside to PDANet is that it requires a physical USB connection between the phone and computer, which can be a downer if you want to share it with multiple devices or via wifi.

Then again, if you're running Windows, you could always turn on Internet Connection Sharing on the computer with the connection, which SHOULD allow you to share the PDANet connection with everything else on your network. I've never seen anyone try it though, so YMMV.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Yes, I saw that on the website, but

it's still cheaper than Comcast plus Vonage plus T-Mobile cell phone.

[Xithras]

5. Make sure you can actually get 4G service in your home.

A friend of mine tethers his Evo to his laptop using PDANet, and has the Sprint 4G "Unlimited" plan. He learned the hard way, however, that unlimited doesn't always mean unlimited.

4G service isn't available everywhere, so Sprint phones are capable of falling back to 3G when a faster network isn't available. When you're using 3G, you not only have to deal with the slower connection, but Sprint also still applies it's 5Gb monthly data cap. 5 gigabytes really isn't a lot of data if you watch a lot of online video or use Torrents.

As it turned out, his house is located in a coverage "hole" because of the terrain. Most of the city has 4G service, and his office has 4G service, but his house only gets 3G. He also learned that 4G service is apparently more susceptible to electrical interference and blockage from certain types of structures.

Before investing the money, I'd simply suggest that you find a friend who is already using the service, and invite them over to dinner or something. While there, casually ask them to test their 4G signal quality ;)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Good point!

[kentauros]

10. He tethers a Mitsubishi Evo to his laptop?!

:P

[dembotoz]

13. location, location, location

there are holes in coverage that do not show up on the maps.

if you live in one you will long for dial up.

[Xithras]

14. Exactly.

In my friends case, he's apparently shadowed from the nearest tower by a slight roll in the terrain. His signal comes from another tower slightly further away, but can't achieve 4G because of distance and some large buildings between his house and that tower. He gets a 3 bar 3G connection in most of his house.

According to Sprint, his neighborhood has 4G coverage. Go a block in either direction and it does. He's in a 4G shadow though, and Sprint won't even tell him IF it will be fixed, much less WHEN.

He still loves his 4G EVO and constantly bags on my Tmo service, but he has to use his cable-modem connected wifi to do anything interesting with it at home. That works great for him, but I'd really want to test the service in my home before shifting everything onto it, just to make sure the same thing didn't happen.

[WolverineDG]

12. My cousin has Clear & she loves it

I guess it depends on where you live.

dg

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. Today I had some free time, so while I was out Christmas shopping, I

stopped in at all the cell phone stores that were downtown to ask about 4G.

Interesting results.

The TMobile guy said, "Hey, no problem. We don't have a router, but you can use our topline smart phones to connect up to 7 wireless devices to the Internet." However, he had never actually done this.

The Apple guy said that the iPhone could not serve as a wireless router, although it could tether one computer to the Internet .

However, both the Verizon and Sprint guys said that even 4G was currently not adequate for a heavy Internet user. They said that while there was no limit on 4G data, in fact, the speeds slowed way down after 5GB per month. They recommended using the 4G network only when away from home.

Clear gets a majority of bad reviews no matter where I look.

Between my constant use of the Internet as a reference library for translation and my love of streaming movies and other content with the Roku, I guess I'm stuck with Comcast.