Review of Cricket BroadbandAll reviews of |
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The online order process was good and the install was easy. I received a Cal-Comp A600 USB modem. Everything works as advertised so far. I am still in the waiting period for the rebate, so I can't comment about the rebate yet. Followup comments:
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Canceled service after having bandwidth throttled over 5GB. This service just isn't worth having due to unreliability,crappy customer service,throttling and bandwidth caps. Followup comments:
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Anyway, after a few days of using it, It doesn't feel any different surfing the web and I wouldn't know the difference from a cable line, until I start downloiading. Download speeds vary from 50 to 80kb/s. It's stable though, and so it's a good solution for me right now. I also love that I can go anywhere with it. As I said, I got it to use short term while recooperating from a fire. This is not something I'd use long term, under any circumstances. For a few months while getting resettled though, it works great. Followup comments:
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READ THE TOS! Most of the complaints about latency, downloads, etc can be explained because the user didn't bother to read the part in the TOS where it says that Cricket is not to be used for Peer-to-peer, web cameras, video downloads, online gaming, etc. Why? because it quickly jams the system and slows it down for everyone if everyone starts doing those things. THIS is why Verison, Virgin Mobile, ATT, Sprint and all other carriers either have a cut off at 5GB or they charge you an enormous amount for overages. At least Cricket still allows you to stay connected, they just don't allow you to continue playing WoW or using your peer-to-peer to download stolen music at the expense of everyone else. EVERY carrier stops you at 5GB or gouges you for it. Mobile broadband was never meant to replace DSL, Cable or anything else that is hard-wired to your desktop. It was designed so that people who need to send and receive emails, send text files or an occasional Youtube video or funny email attachment could do so. No service offered by any provider anywhere is designed to do hard core gaming, webcams, P2P or anything like that. Some will do it at 3AM when the system is quiet. Don't expect it from anyone at 4PM. If you get lucky, great. Cricket didn't think out their marketing well. They are appealing to the very people who will complain most about their system. They are appealing to people with bad or no credit or people who can't afford to sign multi-year contracts because their employment is spotty. Business users don't have time to sit around playing online games, have too much to lose to get sued by RIAA for stealing songs on a P2P, or sit around endlessly downloading videos all day. They hit and run with mostly text files. Thats perfect for mobile broadband. Cricket is too often the last resort for kids whose time could be better spent on things other than the internet, or losers that don't care to fulfill their contract obligations and ruin their own credit ratings and then blame others. In this economy, God bless those hard working types that need this to search for jobs, send resumes, etc. Or the low-paid military family that tries to send out emails to keep in touch with their loved ones over seas. These are the people who most need this. And the bandwidth is being eaten by some knucklehead that wants to play online games all night. Cricket is no better or worse than any other provider although they could improve their customer service and should do so ASAP. The bottom line is, do the due diligence before buying the service and if you are not happy, move on. Followup comments:
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Anyway don't buy if you plan on doing any gaming, unless perhaps you only try to use it very early morning/late at night. Can't steam youtube videos without constantly needing to pause to buffer. Followup comments:
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For mobile broadband, it is outstanding! I can even watch my Slingbox in VERY good quality with zero dropouts. I can drive all over town listening to streaming audio. Web pages come up VERY fast, even graphic-intensive pages do quite well. So far, I am SOLD! The only bad part was walking into the Cricket dealer and having to deal with all the losers and misfits of society yelling and screaming about their phone being shut off "for no reason." Seriously, I don't mean to be a snob, but the clientele are a bunch a bottom-feeders at best. The showroom actually had an armed security guard. Can't say I have seen that at the AT&T store 2 minutes away up the street. I have an iPhone and have used AT&T for years. I guess I was surprised to see the HUGE difference in customer service (although the rep that served me was VERY nice) and the overall low-rent way they operate. I would suggest mail order to you from Cricket. No matter what, however... this Cricket USB Broadband Card is a keeper. I will do another update when I start visiting more places outside of my home areas of Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Followup comments:
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I ordered their cheapest package, which is $40.00 a month. Total out the door price was $143.00, with a $50 mail-in rebate. (Only after I got home and read the fine print did I learn that the rebate was only good after the service was active for 45 days. I mailed everything in that was requested and received a response that I was not eligible for the rebate since the information was received after the deadline. Go figure.) I was able to install it in the store and test it before leaving. It was fully functional when I left the store. I received a UTStarcom USB Modem. The best thing about it so far is the reliability of the network. It's always been available every time I've used it thus far. I've never lost a connection, either. The worst thing about Cricket Broadband is the mail-in rebate nightmare. Other than that, two thumbs up so far! Followup comments:
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I fully expected the newest carrier in town to have dead spots all over, but good coverage where my kids would be, as I could just roughly determine, by Cricket's rather poorly detailed coverage map. I was however greatly surprised to find Cricket's coverage being quite good, and after dozens of voice calls, and easily 500 minutes of usage, I had yet to have even a single call drop or fail to connect. Cricket is a No-Contract carrier, so I can start and stop service my services at will, and only eat the activation fee to go back if I suspend my service for a while(So They Tell Me, I Haven't Tested That Claim Yet). (I also have voice service with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, 2 incumbents that have been offering digital cell service here more than 10 years, and I seldom have dropped a call with either of them recently as well) Philadelphia is one of Cricket's "Tri-Band" markets, which means it is operating exclusively in the relatively new 1700MHz/2100MHz "AWS Band", so coverage capabilities should be in range with the existing 1900MHz PCS carriers, when their network is fully deployed. Cricket is running full EV-DO Rev.A for their broadband service here, I am using the Cal-Comp "A600" USB "Stick" modem, and I have been getting download speeds between 380-800kbps, and upload speeds of roughly 300-600kbps, and that seems pretty consistent, regardless of time of day, or signal strength trending between 2-4 bars. I can compare it to my old T-Mobile Sony-Ericsson GC89 GPRS/EDGE card, that gets about 150kbps down, and 45kbps up. I was looking for a mobile broadband solution for my laptop, that was a bit faster, and I didn't want to be tied to a dedicated WiFi Hotspot all the time. T-Mobile, who would have been my first choice for 3G mobile broadband, has launched their 3G service in the Philly Metro area, but they have yet to reach the Suburbs where I live, so I wasn't going to tie myself to a 2-year contract with a provider that was charging $25 more per month than Cricket is(Cricket discounts their Broadband an extra $5/mo for having a voice line with them), and for $60/mo w/ contract vs $35/mo wo/ contract, the T-Mobile UMTS 3G USB modem would only still fall back to the existing EDGE network speeds. Cricket is also running a hybrid, Cell Tower, DAS(Distributed Antenna System) network in my area as well, which probably is the biggest contributor to their decent voice and data coverage. They still use a fair number of conventional Cell towers, but they are combined with an array of fiber fed Micro-Cellular RF "Nodes" that they attach to the top of utility poles. The DAS Node portion of their network is installed and operated by NEXTG networks, and they merely provide the Pole-Top Nodes, and a fiber backhaul network to a Cricket "Base Station Hotel", where everything connects back to Cricket's conventional cellular network. The handoffs between towers and DAS Nodes has been seamless for voice and data services, and it allows them to install coverage where you would never be able to obtain zoning to build a conventional cell tower, which is probably why a brand new company in the Philadelphia market, has pretty decent coverage from the start. They do have some weak spots, and my continued testing of their voice and data network will undoubtedly turn up some conventional "dead zones", but as of yet, I haven't really found any thus yet. OF course, this is still Wireless 3G Broadband, where the speeds do vary a bit, and the latency is much more obvious than Wired Broadband. I am already spoiled by my 20/5 Verizon Fios connection a home, and am used to respectful WiFi speeds at places like Starbucks, or the Public Library, but beyond my initial T-Mobile EDGE connection, that was always slow but usable, Cricket thus far is providing decent wireless broadband coverage, at about 5x better download speeds, and 10x faster upload speeds, than I had before, and it only works out to be about $10-$15/mo more than what I was paying for T-Mobile 2.5G EDGE. Cricket calls their service "Unlimited" but it still has a reported 5GB "cap", but instead of charging overages of $0.45/MB by going over that cap, they simply throttle or discontinue your service until the beginning of the next monthly billing cycle. I have gathered that 5GB "Cap" tidbit from other Cricket reviews that I have already read here on DSLR, and by reading the fine print of Cricket's TOS agreement, but I have not yet had a chance to try and test it yet. Maybe I'll wait until the last few days of the next billing cycle, and try to transfer my own .MP3 collection from my Fios connected desktop, to my Cricket connected laptop, via a P2P or VPN tunnel, and wait and see what happens. Unfortunately, Cricket Broadband has nowhere near the National 2.5G or 3G coverage as other providers, and their possibility of Broadband roaming looks to be pretty much out of the question. But if you need to be mobile, in a single metro/suburban area, it seems to be working out to be a pretty decent contender to other carriers that DO have National roaming capabilities, but also want to tie you to a 2-year contract, and at a significantly higher cost per month Followup comments:
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When you try and call tech support to discuss the issue, they know very little about the server side of their business and they will refuse to let you talk to the network administrator about connection/firewall problems. Using Whois and attempting to email the network or technical administrator will NOT get you a reply on network issues. Also to note.. Fox.com (the tv network), Cricket internet will not allow you to watch full episodes. This is again another Cricket network issue. Try to get help from these people and you will find better help from the family pet.. BOTTOM LINE- Network works with most web sites, but a few major ones it will not. I would rank Cricket as the bottom of all internet providers. Dumped their service as of the writing of this review. UPDATE- I finally did get a response to emails to the network/technical administrators as mentioned above. I am discussing the problems with them about their network but have not informed them that I have already fired their company as my ISP. I figured I would at least try and help other Cricket users in my area but will only converse with Cricket until my DSL equipment arrives. Followup comments:
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Cricket Broadband
Xenia,Greene,OH
$40 per month (12 month contract)
"Preferable to satellite, Easy to install, Shareable to home network"
"Slower than cable or DSL"
"Works as advertised."
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about 1 days
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Texas Cricket broadband having problems