Unlimited 3G broadband for a laptop for just $40/month with no contracts - that caught my attention!
I currently have a $60 data plan with AT&T, which I use only from time to time mostly when traveling. I've got to have something like that for business purposes, as I can't always rely on Wi-Fi or Internet at hotels. It's been very dependable for me except for very few occasions and in some cases it was a real saver. However, paying $60/month for something that I use only several times a year is too expensive, so I started looking for alternatives, and I think I may have found one with Virgin Mobile.
So, I went ahead and purchased the Ovation MC760 USB device ($49.99). Virgin Mobile also offers a MiFi option ($149.99) for those interested - no use for me.
The USB device is small: no much bigger than a flash drive. No problem carrying it with me all the time, and it also doubles as a MicroSD card reader/flash drive.
The installation was simple and straightforward. It's all plug-and-play: no need for Internet connection (other than the one provided by this device itself) and no Installation CD to read.
During the activation you can provide a credit card, or you can buy pre-paid (Top-Up) cards at a local store and use them instead. Currently you have two options: you can buy 100 MB of traffic for 10 days ($10) or you can buy one month of unlimited Internet service ($40). And the best thing (for me anyway) is that I can buy it when I need it: no contracts! For example, if I am staying at a hotel with a very expensive (or very unreliable) Internet, I can buy the service right then and activate it within minutes.
The only catch I've noticed so far, is that the bandwidth is not as good as on AT&T, and from what I've read on the Internet, it's about 1/2 of what Sprint offers on its own data plans (Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network). But I am currently measuring 1-1.2 Mbps down and .3-.4 Mbps up, which is ok for my purposes: I often get less than that on hotel Wi-Fi connections.
Anyway, I am going to try this Broadband2Go service for a couple of weeks and if it proves to be reliable enough, I am going to drop the AT&T data plan.
I currently have a $60 data plan with AT&T, which I use only from time to time mostly when traveling. I've got to have something like that for business purposes, as I can't always rely on Wi-Fi or Internet at hotels. It's been very dependable for me except for very few occasions and in some cases it was a real saver. However, paying $60/month for something that I use only several times a year is too expensive, so I started looking for alternatives, and I think I may have found one with Virgin Mobile.
So, I went ahead and purchased the Ovation MC760 USB device ($49.99). Virgin Mobile also offers a MiFi option ($149.99) for those interested - no use for me.
The USB device is small: no much bigger than a flash drive. No problem carrying it with me all the time, and it also doubles as a MicroSD card reader/flash drive.
The installation was simple and straightforward. It's all plug-and-play: no need for Internet connection (other than the one provided by this device itself) and no Installation CD to read.
During the activation you can provide a credit card, or you can buy pre-paid (Top-Up) cards at a local store and use them instead. Currently you have two options: you can buy 100 MB of traffic for 10 days ($10) or you can buy one month of unlimited Internet service ($40). And the best thing (for me anyway) is that I can buy it when I need it: no contracts! For example, if I am staying at a hotel with a very expensive (or very unreliable) Internet, I can buy the service right then and activate it within minutes.
The only catch I've noticed so far, is that the bandwidth is not as good as on AT&T, and from what I've read on the Internet, it's about 1/2 of what Sprint offers on its own data plans (Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network). But I am currently measuring 1-1.2 Mbps down and .3-.4 Mbps up, which is ok for my purposes: I often get less than that on hotel Wi-Fi connections.
Anyway, I am going to try this Broadband2Go service for a couple of weeks and if it proves to be reliable enough, I am going to drop the AT&T data plan.
