By A new ultra affordable mobile hotspot service has been launched and it’s waiting for your eager little hands. I’m speaking of FreedomPop, the company that will sell you a 4G/3G OverdrivePro hotspot for $40 and offers you 500MB of 4G data (on Sprint’s airwaves) for free… for life. That’s right — you don’t pay anything but the cost of the device itself. There are a couple of small snags, though, so bear with me as I go over them:
- You’ll have to live in a qualifying location
- If you don’t have 4G, you don’t have data — the completely free plan doesn’t offer 3G access.
- There’s a $.02 per MB overage, something that can get pretty expensive if you’re not careful.
That last one is important to keep in mind. This will sorely limit your usage patterns if you’re not interested in paying overages. It’s good for doing small things like checking email, updating your social networks or visiting the occasional website, but you won’t get far trying to stream music or video, download tons of apps and games, and other data intensive operations. You have a couple of other options, but they’ll cost you (and they’re still quite affordable).
In the case of not having 4G, users can opt for the Pro 500MB plan. It’s the same as the basic plan, but you’ll be able to hop on 3G where 4G isn’t available. It’ll cost you $3.99 for that particular privilege. This carries the same overage charge of $.02 per MB that the Basic plan does.
And if the bandwidth is the issue, the Premium 2GB plan is what you’re looking for. You’ll get 3G and 4G access and a pretty decent pool of 2GB of data with an overage charge of $.015 — a fair deal considering the enlarged pool you get. That particular plan is only $20 per month.
To celebrate the launch, FreedomPop is giving 1GB of bonus data for every plan to start, as well as free 1-month trials for the aforementioned premium and pro plans. That’s a pretty sweet deal, so be sure to check it all out at their website.
Isn’t .015 less than .02? o.O
I’m sure it was a oversight,probably looked like 0.15 @ 1st glance………
Easy mistake anyone here is capable of making……
Yea I thought it said .15. Updating.
Yes its cheaper but the plan costs $20 after the first month where as 500 mb is free
1.5GB/month for a one time fee of $47 after shipping/tax…for life? Seems like a pretty good deal.
the extra 1GB is only the first month. Not every month.
Seems like a good deal but in sprints network do I have to say anymore maybe next year
Wait, 500MB for $4 a month or 2GB for $20? 2GB/500MB is 4.096. 4.096 x $4 is only $16.38. Or am I missing something? Seems the 2GB option is a rip off.
2gb=2048mb x .02 = $40.96 the 2gb deal is half the price
No its not. I could just get 4 500MB plans for less. Of course that would require buying 4 devices but it would be cheaper in the long run.
I took up an offer from them back in December to get the 4G USB Stick modem for free. It came with a month of the 2GB service.
-Problems from the start were: The offer included a $15 shipping fee for “Holiday Delivery”
promised by Christmas. They didn’t ship until the day after Christmas. When I complained and asked for a refund of the shipping fee, they just offered me 250mb of free data. I’m still trying to get a proper refund. Then, I canceled the 2GB plan to go back to the free service a WEEK before the end of the period, but they still billed me for the next months (January) 2GB. They promptly refunded and said it was a glitch in their billing system.
-Then, in Feb, they offered another free month trial of the 2GB trial so I took it. Again, I canceled it back to the 500Mb plan before the end of the trial, and they STILL BILLED ME again. This time, I had to argue with them for the refund.
The service itself works fine, when you are in a Sprint 4G coverage area. But, their customer service is TERRIBLE. Especially by email. They do not list a phone number for support. But, I was able to call the number that showed up on my credit card bill. They seemed surprised that I called them, but I now have that number saved. If you have any issues with them, look at your bill and call that number. It’s the only way to get any help. Even then, they are not very helpful on customer service aspects. I’ve yet to need technical support from them.
Can you give us that phone number please? would be a good one to hold on to.
888-743-8107 – that’s the number that is showing on my CC statement and that I was able to get someone on the phone at.
Wimax or lte?
WiMAX of course.
If the plan was 2GB per month free, I would take it. I hear people are getting really shitty service, and it drops connection from the Sprint towers all the time, unreliable connection.
I’m only using it for a backup connection. I’m saying on the free 500mb, but paying $3 a month for “Rollover” – they will bank up to 20Gb of unused data for future use. If not for that, I wouldn’t fool with it. Fortunately CLEAR is really popular around here and the signal and speed are good making the service pretty solid.
I don’t have WiMAX in San Diego, so I wouldn’t go over the limit even if I tried. lol.
It’s wimax
It works, but these people are scam artists. They consistently charged me for things I wasn’t using or had very specifically cancelled so I was forced to cancel my service. The “fully refundable” hotspot I bought turned out to be not refundable at all and they still email me and attempt to bill me sometimes.
Worst experience I’ve ever had with a business.
I got the home service from Freedompop and so far everything seems okay, they run off Clearwire’s wimax. For the home service I think it’s 1GB for free or you can pay 10-20 for 10GB depending on what speed you want, I pay 15 dollars for 10GB a month. The speed isn’t all that great though.
All of these are a ripoff if you are already paying for data on your phone. The fact that the cell providers are making you pay two or 3 times for the same data makes us a bunch of saps.
i thought the whole thing was free. lmfao. oh well.
It says if you live in a “qualifying area”. Once on the site, it only wants your email for the sake of spam. There are no “qualifying areas” listed, no coverage map, NOTHING. Beware, you get nothing for free.
companies using sprint sure like to give away the highly limited wimax
Once the one-month trial is over, will my FreedomPop account switch to the free plan or will I have to change the plan myself?
EDIT: Never mind, I checked on their website. I have to cancel the trial online or by calling customer service, or I will continue getting charged monthly.