Millenicom is having a special January promotion. Sign up for their Advanced Plan, 20gb, and get a free Novatel U760 device.
That saves basically $100.00 in your initial costs, and as Howard said in his recent daily blog article, this plan runs your usage thru Verizon.
I've been looking for an on the road internet solution, and this sounds like the winner to me unless there's just something I'm not seeing here. Our usage would be WAY less than 20gb, so no problem there. No contract, and a month to month payment, so when we're not on the road it just goes dormant. We would use it maybe, 6mos. per year, if that.
Am I missing something here? Or does it sound good?
(P.S. I'm in no way affiliated with Millenicom)
Gypsy Turtle 2 said
10:20 PM Jan 9, 2011
No, you are not missing anything. The free device promo is an excellent deal too.
We have that plan and are extremely happy with it so far. (Even if we had to pay for the U760) We get the very same service/network as we would with Verizon for a much lower price. Like you, 20 GB is more than we'll use, but it's nice to have just in case
You really have nothing to lose because it's month to month. If you decide it's not for you at a later time, you've really lost nothing but the activation fee. BTW, when they charge $59.99 that's really $59.99. No additional fees or taxes. Refreshing
bobojay said
09:58 AM Jan 10, 2011
So I assume you pay for this month to month with a credit card or something like that, keep it one month ahead, and if you don't keep your account "charged" it automatically goes into limbo say. Then to turn it back on you either call someone or restart it online by "recharging" your account?
Is this kinda sorta how it works?
Gypsy Turtle 2 said
01:34 PM Jan 10, 2011
When you sign up, they will ask for your credit card number. About 4-5 days before the end of the month, you will get an email from them telling you that your account will be charged $59.99 on the first of the coming month (for that months service). They will also tell you that if you want to change your service, suspend it or cancel it, you should call before the first to avoid being charged another month. Just like clockwork, the charge will happen on the first-even if it's a holiday
It's pretty straight forward and we've had no issues at all.
bobojay said
04:15 PM Jan 10, 2011
Thanks for the info. We had something like this set up with a MiFi 2200 hot spot device. It was through a reseller like Millenicom. Monthly charges were from Verizon, all correspondence was through the reseller.
The reseller went belly up and now it's either a 2 yr. contract through Verizon, or nothing. So it's going on E-bay as soon as I can verify that the ESN on the MiFi is clear.
Again thanks for verifying what I thought was correct.
kb0zke said
08:38 PM Jan 11, 2011
I've heard that the range on this type of setup isn't very great, ~20' or so. That isn't an issue in an rv, but is in the S&B. I understand that there are various repeaters/amplifiers that can extend that range.
Right now we're still a few years out from FT, but are looking for ways to reduce expenses AND stuff in anticipation of that FT goal. We're currently paying just under $80/month for landline phone and dsl service. We each have a Verizon cell phone, so we could just make the switch and not miss any calls. We usually have both computers (laptop and desktop) going at once in the evening, and only the laptop going during the day.
The questions are:
1. Is this a reasonable plan?
2. How likely is Millenicom going to be around?
3. Anything else that we ought to consider?
janni said
08:02 AM Jan 12, 2011
So am I right in assuming that if you take this free Novatel device that it works only on the Sprint network?
Gypsy Turtle 2 said
09:01 AM Jan 12, 2011
No, it works on the Verizon network and gives you 20 GB a month.
bobojay said
08:22 PM Jan 12, 2011
Gypsy Turtle 2 wrote:
No, it works on the Verizon network and gives you 20 GB a month.
The Advance Plan w/20gb is what he's referring to here....
Gypsy Turtle 2 said
06:22 AM Jan 13, 2011
Correct. The Advanced Plan with 20 GB is Verizon. The Unlimited Plan is Sprint.
bjoyce said
10:05 AM Jan 13, 2011
kb0zke asked how likely Millenicom is going to be around. The answer is "who knows" but with a free aircard this month you will not be out much extra money if they close down in the future and will have had use of their plan in the meantime.
J Riechman said
09:27 PM Jan 13, 2011
I have the unlimited plan and we love it. I changed just before we left home after Christmas but so far we have no problems. We have been watching videos and movies with no problems.
Sherry said
10:15 AM Jan 14, 2011
Boy watching movies and videos with the umlimited plan on the road sounds great. But where are you when you are doing that?
We had sprint and were traveling down the east coast in state parks from September through November and had way too many places where there was no sprint signal or it was so weak as to be useless. We were seldom THAT far out in the boonies I thought. It was way too irritating.
Couldn't imagine what it would be like out west. So we did a 2 year contract (our only choice) with Verizon. Sure wish we hadn't done it before this discussion started. 20G is a lot more than verizon is offering their contract customers for that price. I'd jump on this if I could.
bobojay said
05:34 PM Jan 14, 2011
After doing some more checking, and from info posted here, I don't think the Millenicom option is going to work for us either. We would be turning it on & off more than 3 times per yr. and it would be off more than 3 mos. at a time sometimes, especially over the winter months.
Oh well, back to square one again.....
Paul and Jo said
05:44 PM Jan 14, 2011
bobojay wrote:After doing some more checking, and from info posted here, I don't think the Millenicom option is going to work for us either. We would be turning it on & off more than 3 times per yr. and it would be off more than 3 mos. at a time sometimes, especially over the winter months. Oh well, back to square one again.....
I just wish that Verizon had an unlimited plan. With the two of us we use a LOT of GB and we've shut their maximum plan down for a few months (and stored the aircard) while we are workamping in CA and we have free WiFi available to us.
Paul
BigD said
10:50 PM Jan 20, 2011
Me and my wife decided to go with Millenicom after seeing their january promotion. Verizon was the only signal in our neck of the woods so our choices were limited. After Verizon contract was up, we said no more.
Millenicom has been fantastic for us. NO contract, so surprise fees, no hassles whatsoever. Just great broadband internet with 20 gigs and 60 bucks/month. I ordered the service through their website and two days later the modem (which was free) was in the mailbox. I truely don't see how this can be beat. I coupled the usb760 with a Zoom 4501 router (50 bucks - 100 bucks less than cradlepoint) and our whole house is connected. Highly recommend this service. Hopefully, all stays well...
Mmalenski said
03:08 PM Jan 23, 2011
For unlimited plan that wil use either 3 or 4 g ..depending on your area.. But look at "clear" it's a wireless router ...
bobojay said
08:56 PM Jan 23, 2011
Mmalenski wrote:
For unlimited plan that wil use either 3 or 4 g ..depending on your area.. But look at "clear" it's a wireless router ...
?????? "clear"
bjoyce said
10:15 AM Jan 24, 2011
Clear is Clearwire and Sprint 4G, only available in limited areas. You can get 3G/4G modems where the 4G is unlimited and the 3G has a 5GB/month limit, but I don't think those have the built-in wireless router. Coverage is at http://www.clear.com/coverage and you will see it is not really for RVers, just people who live where there is coverage.
J Riechman said
02:58 PM Jan 24, 2011
I love the unlimited Milleanicom service but I have not been able to connect thru my cradlepoint router. I have called cradlepoint and the store and both tell it is plug and play but that does not work. I have followed their instructions to the T. Nothing.
-- Edited by J Riechman on Monday 24th of January 2011 03:03:40 PM
Mmalenski said
03:11 PM Jan 24, 2011
Limited area is true for Clear but that's for the 4G if your not in a 4G area then it switches to 3G and it for folks on the move.. Currently 4G is only in big cities.
Mmalenski said
03:59 PM Jan 24, 2011
It looks like both clear and millennium offer pretty much the Same produc. It's to see we can be trveling around and still stay connected like you never left home.
bobojay said
05:42 PM Jan 24, 2011
bobojay wrote:
Mmalenski wrote:
For unlimited plan that wil use either 3 or 4 g ..depending on your area.. But look at "clear" it's a wireless router ...
?????? "clear"
OK, I know about Clear Communications. Soon to be owned by Sprint, just to keep it afloat. Pretty much uses Sprint's network coverage blanket.
jb said
02:54 PM Jan 28, 2011
I signed up for the January promotion and bought the cradlepoint 500 from 3G. Hooked it up last night and everything worked. I think I am good to go.
janni said
03:58 PM Jan 28, 2011
After a very painful(cost wise) experience a couple years ago I decided to try again. Received in mail today and works very well so far. Will be needing a router for second laptop also. Thumbs up from me!
kb0zke said
03:13 PM Feb 1, 2011
We signed up, too, and also ordered a router from 3g Store. The Millenicom device showed up in today's mail. The router is coming Fed-Ex, and I hope they aren't out today. I got into town to get the mail this morning, but have NO plans to go out for the next few days. I don't mind the snow, but the idiots who are driving in the ditch or sideways scare me.
kb0zke said
05:04 PM Feb 2, 2011
We tried playing with the new Millenicom setup today, since we are snowed in. It seemed awfully slow, so I called tech support. They had a specialist call me back, and after much playing around she had about decided that there was a problem with Verizon's tower. I pulled out my Verizon cellphone to check signal strength, and as I watched both parts jumped. A quick check on the Millenicom device showed it also had a stronger signal. All of a sudden everything was working properly. We were about ready to send it back, but we'll wait for the router to get here and try that before we completely decide. Looks like it would be useful for traveling, though.
bobojay said
11:01 PM Feb 2, 2011
You may need to invest, as I was, in a Wilson antenna setup for that little usb stick.
BigD said
02:41 AM Feb 3, 2011
One BIG difference between Clear and Millenicom - Millenicom uses Verizons network.
kb0zke said
04:56 PM Feb 4, 2011
The router is stuck in Chicago.
We tried the mobile device in the laptop today while braving the roads. It worked fairly well. There was one spot where we seemed to have lost signal, but that won't be much of an issue when we're traveling. That one spot was near where we were going anyway, so DW just shut down and dug out the shopping list.
bobojay said
06:11 PM Feb 4, 2011
BigD wrote:
One BIG difference between Clear and Millenicom - Millenicom uses Verizons network.
Not all Millenicom plans use Verizon's network. The unlimited plans use Sprint's network.
Clear runs on SOME of Sprint's network.
BigD said
04:30 PM Feb 5, 2011
True. But if you live in an are that recieves Verizon (almost everywhere), you can opt for the usb760/20 gb Verizon plan.
kb0zke said
05:16 PM Feb 7, 2011
Our Cradlepoint router finally made it through the snow, and I got it set up with no difficulties. We're up and running on the Millenicom system now, and I don't really see any differences between it and the DSL. If that is the way it is most of the time our landline and DSL will soon be gone.
Thanks to all of you who brought this to our attention and answered our questions.
BigD said
12:41 PM Feb 9, 2011
We did the same thing. No more 50/month landline and internet. Its nice to finally cut ties with ATT...
BruceandTrisha said
06:35 AM Feb 10, 2011
We are HAPPY Campers! Got all set up with Millenicom - got the router - we have 20G per month now - compared to the 5G we had with Verizon MiFi -- for the same price and there's no two year contract. We got all the right information here to help us find a solution - thanks for such a great forum where fellow travelers share what they know!
Gypsy Turtle 2 said
08:39 AM Feb 10, 2011
So glad so many of you decided to give the Millenicom 20 GB plan a try. We have had them for about 8 months now and are extremely happy. It was one of the best decisions we made.
Now if Millenicom would also offer cut-rate cell phone service, that would really be great!
bjoyce said
09:42 AM Feb 10, 2011
Gypsy Turtle 2 wrote:
So glad so many of you decided to give the Millenicom 20 GB plan a try. We have had them for about 8 months now and are extremely happy. It was one of the best decisions we made.
Now if Millenicom would also offer cut-rate cell phone service, that would really be great!
There are alot of companies putting out cut rate cell phone service on a pre-paid basis. Just go to Wal-Mart and you will see multiple brands like Net-10, Tracfone and Virgin Mobile for cheap voice and text plans. MetroPCS has all you can use voice, data and text plans at $40 (taxes included) for a feature phone or $50 for a smartphone, with multiple Android and Blackberry models. You get a $5 discount for the second phone on the plan so two feature phones will run $75 a month for unlimited usage.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 10th of February 2011 09:43:53 AM
Right now we're still a few years out from FT, but are looking for ways to reduce expenses AND stuff in anticipation of that FT goal. We're currently paying just under $80/month for landline phone and dsl service. We each have a Verizon cell phone, so we could just make the switch and not miss any calls. We usually have both computers (laptop and desktop) going at once in the evening, and only the laptop going during the day.
The questions are:
1. Is this a reasonable plan?
2. How likely is Millenicom going to be around?
3. Anything else that we ought to consider?
The Advance Plan w/20gb is what he's referring to here....
We had sprint and were traveling down the east coast in state parks from September through November and had way too many places where there was no sprint signal or it was so weak as to be useless. We were seldom THAT far out in the boonies I thought. It was way too irritating.
Couldn't imagine what it would be like out west. So we did a 2 year contract (our only choice) with Verizon. Sure wish we hadn't done it before this discussion started. 20G is a lot more than verizon is offering their contract customers for that price. I'd jump on this if I could.
Paul
?????? "clear"
-- Edited by J Riechman on Monday 24th of January 2011 03:03:40 PM
We tried the mobile device in the laptop today while braving the roads. It worked fairly well. There was one spot where we seemed to have lost signal, but that won't be much of an issue when we're traveling. That one spot was near where we were going anyway, so DW just shut down and dug out the shopping list.
Not all Millenicom plans use Verizon's network. The unlimited plans use Sprint's network.
Clear runs on SOME of Sprint's network.
Thanks to all of you who brought this to our attention and answered our questions.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 10th of February 2011 09:43:53 AM