Anyone for prepaid wireless broadband?
April 7, 2008/
Cricket. But for the most part, mobile data isn’t readily available on a prepaid basis. And forget mobile broadband cards for your laptop. Once again, we have Cricket here and few others. Thankfully, another player is entering the game. No, it’s not a prepaid carrier. Rather, it’s Slingshot Communications, and they’re planning a prepaid mobile broadband rollout in June.
“Rather than paying upwards of $75 a month for ‘unlimited’ wireless Internet access, Slingshot enables you to cut your costs and doesn’t require a long-term contract,” said David Vindici, chairman and CEO of Slingshot, in a statement. “You’re free to access the Internet wirelessly and on your terms.”I can’t find specific pricing and availability right now. It’s an interesting concept, for sure. However, I’m a bit wary of what the rates will be. If ends up at the per-minute ratio of postpaid cellular to the per-minute rate of prepaid, well, then we might be onto something for the occasional mobile Internet user. Like me, who travels by train about once a week. I wouldn’t pony up for Verizon’s deal, but a pay as you go system would fit well. Definitely more coverage on this as we get closer to the June 1 rollout date.]]>
Posted in Mobile Data
well it’s out and i just got one the other day and it works great.
i ordered it online at http://www.getyourslingshot.com
it’s basically the sprint system, but prepaid.
Definitely a good point. I’ve actually added specific details on this topic on my site to help customers find and compare such offers.
http://www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com/prepaid-wireless-broadband-plans.html
Slingshot is a racket! I have one of their modems and it only worked for five months. Now it will not connect at all. I call their tech support, only to be greeted by either a busy signal, a continuously ringing phone or a recording telling me to call back later. Emails to their tech support are never responded to. Now I can’t even buy a replacement modem on their site!
It’s not just yours. It’s down all over the country. Something massive must’ve happened.
I even tried calling their corporate office and got the endless ringing phone.
Called manager at Pilot where we purchased the slingshot and was told that Sprint/Slingshot is experiencing technical issues which could take 30 days to resolve. The manager stated that she doesn’t believe they are going out of business at this time, just having major problems.
maybe its time for a class action lawsuit_email me -these people can’t sell a product and then leave us hanging
Called slingshot last week, they told me they are having problems. Sprint kicked them of the network and they say they are working on it but it still isn’t helping their reputation.
Talked to slingshot again, said they filed a lawsuit against Sprint for dropping the service. Don’t look for Slingshot to be back any time soon.
@6 Curtis, agreed. what is your email address? also, send note to FCC. consumers caught between two telecoms should not be happening.where is the fcc? i liked slingshot a great deal. good service and good product, but they asked and took my last payment knowing that they had a problem. one day after payment sent my service was cut off. can you spell f-r-a-u-d. and what about sprint? i happen to have my blackberry with sprint. good service with sprint but i’ll be dropping them. sprint has chosen to leave all of slingshot’s customers dangling in the wind. who wants to do business with that type of corporation?
GOVERNMENT REFORM OF TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES
We are tired of corporate America asking us to make a commitment to their companies when they have no loyalty to, us, their customers. As American consumers we go to cell phone companies for service, not for equipment. Branding another manufacturer’s equipment is just another way for them to bind us into contractual agreements and, to charge us additional monies to use the full features of the equipment, as designed by the original cell phone manufacturer, in an “a la carte” manner.
We need better consumer protection against leveraging our credit rating and worthiness, if, we should become un-employed during the duration of such a commitment.
Therefore, we are asking for legislation that allows us to:
• Purchase our own equipment directly from cell phone manufacturers or without making two year commitments or any.
• Allow us to switch telecommunication service providers without penalty or credit sacrifice.
• Make it easy for us to move our existing telephone numbers to whichever company we choose.
• Advertise which telecommunication companies provide the best coverage in our area, on a specified website.
• Prevent cell phone companies from “piece mealing” services by features that were part of the original cell phone design by the manufacturer.
• Stop cell phone providers from adding additional charges to our bills utilizing abstract names and means.
• Giving us a clear cut way to report cell phone providers who fleece their customers, for immediate remedy, and, for better consumer credit protection.
• Prevent telecommunication companies from designing specialized plans, specific, to certain cell phone manufacturers to abstract more monthly service fees.
Contact your congress member. Keep this circulating.
With mobile broadband, you no longer have to worry about staying connected to your business as you travel whether for personal or business related reasons. It is reliable and has great speeds so you don’t have to worry about connectivity.