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Looking for best unlimited mobile broadband plan

post #1 of 11
Thread Starter 
As the title says, I am trying to find the best solution for mobile broadband with unlimited access i.e. no maximum upload/download.

The service will be for my father, who is traveling across America for a year (retirement must be nice) and he is getting sick of finding WiFi hotspots that are slow and sometimes hard to find, especially when traveling around the Arizona desert.

He originally signed up with his cell carrier, Sprint, but they only offer unlimited access in areas with 4G, and he will be traveling through a lot of areas that are limited to 3G. Thank goodness he checked his usage, as that is how he found out there was a limit. As he spoke to a rep from Sprint, they informed that he was easily headed towards an overage bill of $1000. Needless to say, he canceled the service immediately.

Now he is looking for a way to just get mobile internet that is a flat monthly rate. Price is more important than overall speed. Anyone have any suggestions?
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post #2 of 11
I have sprint, and to my knowledge, they are one of the last ones who offered unlimited which i have but i know they no longer offer... ive been with them for 4 years though... mobile broadband is expensive- a recomendation is to use a blackberry tethered, i think verizon offers that option for 29 more on a data plan with blackberrys droids etc.
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post #3 of 11
Sprint's $60 plan should be unlimited....
Sprint's 4G $70 plan should be unlimited....
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post #4 of 11
Not sure which is faster...using a mobile phone tethering or those USB sticks. T-Mobile offers unlimited via phone, but not those USB sticks.
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post #5 of 11
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckieHo View Post
Sprint's $60 plan should be unlimited....
Sprint's 4G $70 plan should be unlimited....
As far as I can see, Sprint offers 3G/4G for $60/month. The 4G is unlimited, but the 3G is limited to 5GB/month.

I did find that Virgin Mobile offers unlimited for $40/month. Apparently, this was launched recently. http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband/

I will look into tethering...
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post #6 of 11
I remember the good old days of cell phones when data plans didn't exsist, and all you had to was change your gateway & dns settings of your phone to pass through your IP to unlock tethering..

Then again, I remember when I would never need to pay $49 a month for unlimited talk nationwide for a clunky "cell phone"

Don't go with Verizons, it sucks balls.. Horrably slow, I used it when I was in a Jam, felt like V.92
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post #7 of 11
I guess it would be more beneficial if we knew where in the US he would be visiting. Different providers have better service over others depending on the area.

I know T-Mobile has over 50+ cities with their "4G" speed and Sprint has the same or less in similar cities. AT&T has the "fastest" 3G network but Verizon has more "coverage" lol...
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post #8 of 11
Thread Starter 
Everywhere. No limits as to where he is going. He has no set plan. He is just touring at will.
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post #9 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by spaceballsrules View Post
Everywhere. No limits as to where he is going. He has no set plan. He is just touring at will.
Eh here is my opinion on your best options then (best to worst):
Verizon (probably more consistent service, but more money)
T-Mobile (unlimited mobile data, established higher speeds 3.5G/HSPA+, faster speeds in non-rural areas)
Sprint (price competitively, not the best coverage, moderate-fast speed)
AT&T ("good" coverage, but tiered data plans, poor call quality, fast 3G speed)
MetroPCS & US Cellular (cheap plans, unlimited everything, poor coverage)
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post #10 of 11
I pay 39.95/mo for unlimited web on my blackberry through Verizon. I've been with them for almost 7 years btw. I think they have unlimited web services starting @ 29.95/mo.

And I can tell you from personal experience, I have hardly experienced any web outages and rarely a dropped call.
   
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