Cricket offers EV-DO access for $40 per month... with no contract
We'll be honest -- we weren't all that jazzed about Cricket's unlimited video clip service at $5 per month, but this is something we can get into. The animalistic carrier has just launched an unlimited mobile broadband package in several Texas cities, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and St. Louis (all of its other cities will get gifted by year's end) which users can tap into for just $40 / month. Interestingly, the company is actually encouraging consumers to really take advantage of that "unlimited" bit, noting that it is aiming to put EV-DO (read: broadband) into the hands of lower-income (or budget-minded) citizens that can't afford to be strapped down by a contract. Of note, there are two big limitations: you can't use the service to make VoIP calls, and you can't run a server. Fair enough, Cricket![Via phonescoop]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael S @ Sep 13th 2008 1:38PM
This is the first thing from Cricket that actually makes me wish we had them in our area (Seattle). I wonder how well their data network performs though.
Dan @ Sep 13th 2008 2:31PM
I currently have their $45 a month unlimited plan with no contract and I love it. I'm in Tulsa, OK, BTW. Currently they have a 50GB/month cap, but I run torrents all the time and browse as if I had no limit and I've never gone over. Inside cricket's coverage area, I've had excellent reception. Plus the modem was only $120 before rebates. It's a hell of a deal, I don't know what's so different about this new plan, aside from the $5 decrease, and maybe removing the 50GB cap? Just don't go outside your calling area lol. Also you have to pay like $5 extra a month if you want to use it in a calling area other than your home region, but it works fine until I leave the state. We have a contract with t-mobile too, but this is just too sweet of a deal
Dan @ Sep 13th 2008 2:33PM
One other thing to note is that I also connect to EVDO and have ever since I got it (like 6 months), so that's not what makes this new plan any different
Cory @ Sep 13th 2008 3:10PM
Hahahaha. That is all.
D @ Sep 13th 2008 3:35PM
This isn't really news. This has been available in the Salt Lake area for a couple of months now.
MBN @ Sep 13th 2008 4:33PM
Are you talking about EVDO, or the publicly available data rate plan? I've never heard about the rate plan.
OShigeru @ Sep 13th 2008 8:28PM
Check out their contract as well. They give the government the right to tap any phone at any time. That's the catch to the no-contract deal.
Jamar @ Sep 15th 2008 9:28AM
Hold up a minute. Isn't the point of a "no-contract" deal that it has, um, no contract?
Chris B. @ Sep 13th 2008 8:38PM
This plan is available right now in Portland OR too. I'm a Mac user, but the USB modem works just fine.
N.Rosario @ Sep 13th 2008 11:33PM
too bad they suck ass in Rochester NY
aumana @ Sep 14th 2008 12:45AM
This is a real business internet killer for small businesses that don't use much bandwidth. It costs $60-70 to get broadband in commercial locations. I use Clearwire, which is similarly costly for a pcmcia card, but their radio antenna to ethernet is only $40. Their service doesn't have a signal in many locations, even where the service is active. Lucky me, it works for my office, but I'd switch for mobile service in a hot minute.
Brian @ Sep 14th 2008 2:40AM
Too bad their coverage is abysmal.
Cricket users roam constantly in Kansas City and it's surrounding suburbs.
Mog @ Sep 14th 2008 4:15AM
Cricket's coverage in Las Vegas isn't exactly perfect, either, but considering the 1700 MHz band they exclusively rely on just launched here, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
$40 isn't bad, but what's even better is, if you get also have Cricket phone service, it's $35. I'm a poor college student, so every little bit helps. Unlimited calling and texts + internet for the same price as the base iPhone plan? I'm there. :p
And the little USB modem is cute.
David Graham @ Sep 17th 2008 11:07PM
I just got mine yesterday if Colorado Springs. I have tried it on the north and south side of the town. It was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. It is completely unusable. I have traceroutes on my blog just to show you what I was seeing yesterday.
Today it is averaging 4 minutes per page load. 3.5 for google. I pings google and even though it appears one of the 17 hops to get to google was a backbone provider, my average time was 500 ms per hop, some over 1200ms. I have been getting 12mbps in short busts. It is slower than a 14400 modem. I emailed the network they are using level3, but I gave up after 7 minutes tryign to get into my email.
I am hoping they are better in other city's, but I plan to call and cancel this weekend. I have no idea how I can get back the 108 for the modem though.
If you want to see my trace routes go to http://wer2chosen.blogspot.com
Bryan @ Oct 7th 2008 2:54PM
I have Cricket internet in Las Vegas. I don't know how their coverage is because I only use it on my home computer, but I always get full signal strength. Speed is about 70 kb/s symmetric.
jenae @ Nov 8th 2008 2:00PM
Wow. Cricket sucks. FOR REAL. I did research, but unfortunately, I didn't see this page before signing up for their service. And I made the mistake of believing the part of their Web site that said it was compatible with Macs. Granted, I am online right now with cricket service, but though it is incredibly slow here in northern colorado springs, that is the least of my frustrations.
it all began when I tried doing the "easy install"...let's just say that hours later, I finally called customer service and found out that though the install disc said it worked on a mac, I would have to go download the software to install in on my mac because what was included on the disc wouldn't work after all. For pete sake, if I already had the ability to just go download the software off the internet, I wouldn't have signed up for cricket in the first place.
Now, I finally have it working...and tried to go set up my account online, and again after hours of trying to make things work and talking with clueless CSRs on the phone, they finally told me that they don't have the technology to allow mac users to have accounts and passwords online. Are you kidding me? Utterly ridiculous, especially when they want all business for my account handled online. Oh sure, they said they'd be happy to send me a bill in the mail, but I'd be charged $2 each month. I realize it's a measly $2, but it's the principle of the matter.
Unless they get their head in gear and start providing the actual service they claim to for macs, someone needs to step on this cricket.