FreedomPop for home

I've been using a phone or a mobile hotspot for my computer's internet connection from late 2006.  It started with a Samsung A900--Lex Luthor's phone in Smallville.  It was a lousy phone but the 3G connection was reliable, and the speed was better than my 3 Mbps DSL connection.

Lately, I've been using a Novatel Wireless MiFi device with Verizon.  Service was really good at my last location, but just acceptable here.  I gave up on Sprint around March of this year when the Sierra Wireless (now Netgear) device wouldn't connect for 6 hours.

Earlier this month, I was coming close to my full monthly allotment of 10 GB on the 10th day into my billing period.  Uggggh.  I'm currently about 4 GB ($40) over it.  I haven't noticed anyone else using it, but DirecTV seemed to be using a lot, even though I wasn't streaming anything.  I've been working on creating videos lately, but there wasn't that much I was uploading.  In any case, paying loads for extra use, and not knowing how it was happening was difficult.

I looked for FreedomPop after seeing an article about it.  Freedom Hub Burst is a home product similar to a mobile hotspot but without the mobile part.  It needs an AC electrical outlet.  They've been using ClearWire/Clear connections for quite a while.  The only problem with this is that I have some spotty service with Sprint at home.  Both ends of my apartment have LTE but my living room and part of my bedroom are a transition zone between 3G and LTE, so I end up with 1xRTT on my phone too often.

At $21.99 for 10 GB per month, it seemed reasonable, compared to $10 per 1 GB for an overage on Verizon.  Normally, FreedomPop hasn't been charging for the service, but this home service is a bit different, and I'm okay with it.  Like buying a phone with prepaid service, I needed to buy a device.  They supposedly included an extra USB-attached mobile modem but it wasn't included in the box.

Setup

Receiving the package on Christmas Eve seemed gift-y.  Opening the package and not finding useful instructions didn't.  Actually, there was a little pamphlet that fell between the cracks, and I found it afterwards.  It would have helped a lot but I already had a connection, read the instructions, and managed to find the page to get everything set.  Looking at the pamphlet, it neglects to tell you the default password for the connection to the device itself, so how do you connect without a current connection?

Connecting

It has been simple enough to get online, once I set everything.  Speed is reasonable, though not extremely fast, nearly 5 Mbps.  Perhaps, the LTE will improve as Sprint/Clear finish their deployment in this area.  Response time seems minimal and it feels like a good connection.  Unlike my phone, I can leave the device near a window on the edge of the apartment where the connection is better.

Having an extra 10 GB for about the same as 2 GB overage isn't bad.  I can connect the TV and Blu-Ray player to it and they can update firmware to their CPU's content, even when I'm not home.  I'm thinking that I shouldn't connect my DirecTV receiver, as it will take advantage of the connection in big ways.  Now, my mobile hotspot can once again be mobile, and I can even update those extra iPhone apps without having to look for a WiFi connection elsewhere.

Update 2015.01.13: Saturday, I received a WiMAX/3G modem, like the one Sprint discontinued quite a while ago.  I couldn't download the connection manager software from FreedomPop, so I downloaded it from Sprint.

It connected but then told me that there was no free 4G service available and that 3G service wasn't free.  I only have one question--why send me this unusable piece of technology, to clear the warehouse?

Update 2015.03.27: The other day, the company offered me an upgrade for the useless WiMAX modem.  For $29.99, I could get a Franklin brand LTE modem.  It sounded great, but then, they wanted me to take a premium 2 GB data package for $21.99 per month.  It's not horrible, when you consider AT&T and Verizon and I could cancel later.

However, they're counting on someone missing that, and I missed the data rollover option that they slipped into the WiMAX modem package, and they've been charging me $3.99 + tax until I checked practically every option on the web site.

Sprint + T-Mobile = ?

If this was being rumored 6 months later and the majority of the U.S.A. will have had LTE available through Sprint, I would be more open to this.

If both companies were working toward VoLTE (Voice over LTE) in the near future, I'd be more positive about it.

I know that Deutsche Telekom wants to sell their stake in T-Mobile U.S.A. but if the combined company will be fighting a plan to move all customers to GSM or CDMA technologies, forget it.  GSM is older than CDMA, and much less secure, regardless of being deployed in many countries.  CDMA can do concurrent voice and data, but Sprint doesn't seem to be able to deploy the technology consistently, so it's not useful.

Why Dish Network isn't buying T-Mobile U.S.A. is a good question.  They tried to buy ClearWire while Sprint was trying to buy it.

The only reason I can fathom that Sprint has to buy T-Mobile is from the executive view--post paid subscribers.  The combined company would have fewer subscribers than AT&T or Verizon but come fairly close.  However, as executives don't think often, they would be missing the pain of making people switch--something that should be a very strong memory from the 2006 merger with Nextel and their incompatible network, which was just decommissioned this June.

Given all the crap of the last 7 years where Sprint went from a data powerhouse to a powerhouse of shortages, why would anyone want to chance repeating that?

As a long time Sprint subscriber, I don't want to repeat the mess because VoLTE is too far away, and I'm not switching to GSM, and I'm sure that T-Mobile subscribers aren't switching to CDMA, and T-Mobile already has the MetroPCS conversion underway.

Leave things alone until 2016, Sprint and T-Mobile, and I'm okay with it, but right now, no thanks.

Update 2014.01.03: I've heard very little about this since the initial rumors.  Softbank/Son Masayoshi is interested in expanding in the U.S.A.  Having two brands and their customers would certainly be a sizable presence.  Making the rest of it work would be difficult.  I'd hate to see Dish Network buy T-Mobile, though.  AT&T/SBC seem to be putting pressure on T-Mobile with a new incentive plan.  Those who left AT&T/SBC for T-Mobile probably won't return unless prices are reduced and contracts are ended, though.  AT&T/SBC seem like the perfect 1950s type of company.  They do everything but innovate--confuse, intimidate, complain.

Sprint and its wireless service

I just saw where Sprint added and enhanced LTE data access in a number of markets:

--		Baraboo, Wis.						--		Kokomo, Ind.
	--		Beaver Dam, Wis.						--		Laredo, Texas
	--		Brownsville/Harlingen, Texas						--		Lebanon, Pa.
	--		Bronx/Brooklyn, N.Y.						--		Morgan City, La.
	--		Columbus, Miss.						--		Nacogdoches, Texas
	--		Daytona Beach, Fla.						--		Nashville, Tenn.
	--		Durham, N.C.						--		Oakland, Calif.
	--		Dyersburg, Tenn.						--		Ocala, Fla.
	--		Faribault/Northfield, Minn.						--		Palm Coast, Fla.
	--		Fayetteville, N.C.						--		Philadelphia
	--		Fitchburg/Leominster, Mass.						--		Ponca City, Okla.
	--		Flint, Mich.						--		Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda, Fla.
	--		Fort Lauderdale/Pompano						--		Portland, Ore.
			Beach/Deerfield Beach, Fla.						--		Rocky Mount, N.C.
	--		Grand Rapids, Mich.						--		Saginaw, Mich.
	--		Greenville, N.C.						--		Salinas, Calif.
	--		Greenwood, Miss.						--		Springfield, Mass.
	--		Holland, Mich.						--		Tulsa, Okla.
	--		Homosassa Springs, Fla.						--		Tupelo, Miss.
	--		Jackson, Tenn.						--		Wausau, Wis.
	--		Jacksonville, Fla.						--		Wilson, N.C.

I hope it works well.  I actually tried the LTE service on the edges of Philadelphia back in June, as I have their Tri-Fi mobile hotspot.  I finally had to turn off LTE access because it wasn't yet stable enough and WiMAX was at around 10 Mbps and I didn't need anything slower.

I'm interested to know why they picked Homasassa Springs, FL or Kokomo, IN.  I'm sure some of the other locations would be interesting, also but then, their previous choices seemed odd, as well.  I suspect the whole industry is looking for easier places to start, to diagnose before they really get the complex and difficult areas ready.

Meanwhile, they've disabled iDEN, which is a good thing, as they have two bands for LTE and one band for WiMAX at the moment.  As WiMAX fades away next year, they'll have 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and 2.5 GHz for LTE.  That will give them both building penetration and reach.  My Tri-Fi mobile hotspot uses 1.9 GHz for LTE and 2.5 GHz for WiMAX, so it will definitely be outdated once they've finished.

It's amazing how things have changed since 2006.  Sprint was the 3G data leader then but handling Nextel became a huge problem that has only been resolved a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, there weren't a bunch of smart phones back then.  Only HandSpring/Palm's Treo line really worked well and there were no substantial subsidies, so only the determined would buy a smart phone then.

Now, the lines are clogged because everyone seems to need a smart phone.  Sprint has way too many MVNOs on their network, as well.  A few people have gone to other carriers but the exodus has apparently not been massive and they were reporting quite a few smart phone users in the recent, closed quarter.

Eighty-six percent of quarterly Sprint platform postpaid handset sales were smartphones, including approximately 1.4 million iPhones® sold during the quarter. Forty-one percent of iPhone sales were to new customers.

Unfortunately, I don't see them expanding the network at a similar pace.  Of course, had they been using the money from contracts to expand the network as they went along, they would have been in such bad shape.  Of course, a lot of the money went to Nextel problems.  I wonder how much more, if any, the Nextel customers would have complained if Nextel went out of business on its own, without Sprint to keep it going.  I suspect that would have been better for Sprint and Sprint customers.

Of course, the 78% buyout of Sprint by SoftBank should help the acceleration of network improvements and buying ClearWire should help that company focus their attention toward the network and not selling their services.

I'm still trying to decide whether to remain with Sprint.  I started with them in September of 2000 and it's only been the last 5 years that I've had doubts, but especially since they started handling Apple's iPhone, as the data usage has ballooned but not the hardware capacity to handle all the extra data requests.

Their customer service people seem willing to help but their technical staff seem unwilling.  As I find it difficult to use a network that churns away just to retrieve e-mail, they try to avoid acknowledging the problem using any method possible.

They even offered me a device which connected to a wired internet connection.  When I asked how it was going to correct their connection, they sounded upset.  So, I asked if they were going to provide the wired internet connection, and of course, they declined.

I haven't talked to any of the technical people recently but they ought to offer me the fancy US$59.95 cradle with the extra antennae and 5 dB gain improvement.  That would not have helped me way back when because I was tethering with my phone, not having the mobile hotspot device.

I hope the extra money will cause them to flourish again.

Update: I've been on the road recently in August, mostly across I-40 west of Memphis, Tennessee, and at Barstow, up to San Jose, California.  I have yet to see any evidence of LTE working, even in San Jose 95131.  My first six hours there, WiMAX was working quite well, and then, it was 0-1 bars the rest of the time, even after they closed the ticket.  3G worked, but it was overloaded.  Since my Tri-Fi device does 1900 MHz LTE, that should have shown up, if they've really pushed it out.

I haven't found anywhere things were great but WiMAX was fine in Flagstaff, Arizona and Amarillo, Texas.  Other places, like Barstow didn't even have WiMAX and will probably be a while to get LTE.

Update 2013.09.28: I was in Muncie, Indiana and I had a chance to check their LTE service not far from Ball State University.  AT&T added LTE service there last year and Sprint added LTE service earlier this year.  Maybe, it's the mobile hotspot device or the 1900 MHz frequency, but I was about 150 feet from a main road and just barely inside a building, but neither the download or upload speed exceeded 4 Mbps.  That's not good.  In July 2012, when I tried Verizon's LTE over a mobile hotspot, I didn't think it was very good at just over 5.5 Mbps because I was getting roughly 3 Mbps from Sprint's 3G network at the time.  I can't imagine that every student in Muncie switched to have LTE, but it certainly seemed overloaded.  It wasn't even that bad in Indianapolis when it was only 30% covered.  A couple of weeks later, I was in downtown Indianapolis waiting for an event and I wanted to download something large.  Their LTE was at 0.75 Mbps on the test I ran.  After notifying Sprintcare, they told me that two towers were having issues, putting stress on the tower I was using.

Update 2013.10.29: Sprint entered 42 new markets, I believe, in just about every state.  They picked some odd locations, again.  I thought it was great that they chose Fort Smith, Arkansas, as I'd been there in August.  I thought it was odd that they added LTE in Odessa, but not Midland, Texas as they had covered both towns with WiMAX in the early stages.  They also mentioned that they enhanced coverage in Queensborough, New York City, NY, which is a great thing but it's not helping me.