On the left is our older Verizon Jetpack 6412 air card. We have had it for 15 months now, cost us $20 per month plus “usage”, and we are averaging 16 gigs per month unless we find wireless, which is another $130. If we go up to 18 gigs, it is another $10….if we go down to 14 gigs it goes down $10. At the Condo we are here so little that we don’t have cable tv or Internet connection outside of our air card so we will hit 16 gig, perhaps 18 or 20 in a month. On the right is our new Millenicom air card (by Verizon). It cost us a one time fee of $164.98, and then it is $69.99 per month for 20 gigs per month. There is no sliding scale. Keep it to under 20 gigs and you are fine. Go over, and they will send you a warning and if way over, they will cut you off for the rest of the month…do that enough and they will end your service, which they can do because THERE IS NO CONTRACT! Yes, you heard right, no contract.
The other difference is that this new air card is a Pantech MHS291, which is newer, and will allow up to ten devices to connect to it, while the older Jetpack only allows five devices. Not that this matters because we have two computers, and occasionally the Kindle or Sony Reader (but we normally wait for free wireless for those.) Yes, you tech gurus have guessed right…we have no smart phones. Kinda strange for a high tech person that I am to not have the latest and greatest....but for now, I am just fine with a flip phone, which lasts longer, does the job, and is harder to break...and I am hard on cell phones.
Speaking of cell service….have you seen these cell towers that look like trees….
…or Palm Trees….
…or Saguaro Cactus….
…and even water towers?
Let us know how you like the service. I keep mulling over switching to Millenicom. At first I figured that they would change things after enough people signed up because it seemed too good to be true but they've kept in pretty much the same. I've been satisfied with AT&T but it would be nice to have 20 gigs to play with. :-)
ReplyDeleteOur first year out we had AT&T aircard. In October of 2012 we changed to Verizon aircard because of the five device connection. This Millenicom is going to be the same at Verizon since that is who they get the service through. Technomadia has written a few posts about Millenicom, that is who I heard about them from...if you have not seen their posts, it is well worth the read.
DeleteTechomadia's posts are very informative. They're one of the reasons that I've consider switching. AT&T was lagging way behind Verizon but they've done so much catching up in the last year that we almost always have fast internet. They've also improved their customer service tremendously but that 20 gig is so tempting!
DeleteI've seen lots of people switching to Millenicom. Hope Verizon doesn't catch on and change their policy of allowing Meillenicom to use their towers. Now if there was just a card that would work anywhere and with any network like in every other westernized nation in Europe and even Africa. I guess that requires that the government run it or subsidize it since private industry always charges more for anything it does. I'd sure like to be able to use the AT&T towers in the Everglades and Texas without having to have two cards, a verizon for the rest of the country and an AT&T for the places they own.
ReplyDeleteYes, it can be frustrating. When I was in Arkansas I was on the Arkansas Broadband Council, a number of Telcom people on it too....they were, let's say, very secretive, sometimes we asked them important questions which they could only give vague answers to. It is a cut-throat business, that is for sure. But as long as the relationship between Millenicom and Verizon is a money maker for Verizon then I think this relationship will hold up.
DeleteI love when they cleverly disguise the cell towers. I've never seen the water tower!
ReplyDeleteIn 2012 on our California visit my dad pointed out one of the Pine Tree cell phone towers. Later that year I saw one in the Redwood area of the Northern California Coast area which looked more like a small Redwood tree. Here in Florida I have seen a couple of Palm Tree cell towers. All of the images I showed were from Google Images.
DeleteThe Frankenpines give me the willies. I haven't seen a "saguaro" yet, but I "look forward" to that, too. Just the same, I love me some fast Internet.
ReplyDeleteMy Millenicom Jetpack looks like your old one. I had a cycling on-and-off issue, but they fixed in on their end somehow.
Hey Rox, nice hearing from you. You really need to read Technomedia's post for today, they talk about the air card you have and the new one...and the advantages of having the new one. Even if you don't want to spring the bucks for the new one, you should know what it can do. --Dave
DeleteThank you for telling us about this! When I am able to travel in USA, I'll be sure to consider this! Blessings... Lynn
ReplyDeleteI have had this since February and love it. I was not happy about the price increase in May from 69 to 89, but it is still more convenient and cost less considering the alternatives.
ReplyDelete