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Thursday March 20, 2008
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After finding out about the $350/month AT&T wireless data plan, you might be looking for something a little cheaper. How about $35/month? I recently spoke to Cricket, a smaller wireless carrier that's selling truly unlimited wireless data for, yes, $35/month in some US cities. Forget $350 - that's even lower than the $60/month the big guys charge for under 5GB of traffic.
Cricket uses the EVDO Rev 0 system, which is slightly slower than the big guys - expect speeds of 500-700 kbps/sec. But on the other hand, according to Cricket, it's really, truly unlimited. There's no semi-secret 5-gigabyte cap.
"We expect our customers will be heavy, heavy data users, and we've never thought limits were a good idea," said Cricket senior manager for corporate communications Greg Lund.
Want to use it to replace a DSL line? Go for it. Want to game or download all night? Sure. Just hang up every once in a while, and don't try to run a Web server - the one relevant term in Cricket's terms of service prohibits using the network "continuously, with or without breaks, so as to create the functional equivalent of a telephone line dedicated to continuous use."
That's okay, you should turn your PC off sometimes anyway.
Cricket uses the Kyocera Wireless KPC650 PC Card to plug into laptops for high-speed Internet. That's our favorite EVDO Rev 0 card. They'll be introducing a USB modem soon that will plug into desktops as well, Lund said.
The big bummer here is Cricket's very limited coverage area. Their data service is only in five areas: Nashville; Spokane; the Central Valley of California; Santa Fe/Albuquerque, NM; and Portland, OR. Tulsa, OK is coming soon, Lund said, followed by more markets. Sadly, New York is not on their list of future markets, so we here at Gearlog won't be able to taste the cheap unlimited data.
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March 21, 2008 11:36 AM
Here you go! Just what we were talking about yesterday...let me do a little more research and check coverage. I'll let you know...;-) GD
March 21, 2008 11:38 AM
Wireless for LESS! Do the research and let Ceci know if it will work for us! ;-) GD
March 22, 2008 7:40 PM
Cricket is all over Rochester, NY.
March 24, 2008 3:52 PM
Just followed up on this story. The service is available in my area (greater Portland, OR) but is, and according to the phone rep always has been, $40 per month.
March 24, 2008 5:09 PM
Two notes.
First of all, Cricket has phone service in many other cities, but only has the high speed data service in the cities I listed. But more are coming.
Second, the $35 rate is if you also have a Cricket phone line. Without a phone, it's $40.
March 26, 2008 12:39 PM
Your 5GB cap story was inaccurate. It is a computer notation only and will change in June once there is a better 3G deployment by AT&T
March 27, 2008 1:31 PM
Yeah but when is Rochester NY scheduled to recieve this service. We still have 1x here and all the other major carriers are offering it as we speak.