Cheap Internet?

[TGMT²]

I have been on the hunt for a inexpensive internet alternative that I can use on the road and at home.

I came across something today and was hoping for some insight from knowledgeable members who are familiar with 3G Pre-paid flashed modems.

It almost seems to good to be true, for unlimited 3G Verizon with no throttling for $100. per year.

There are several on eBay for all carriers ranging from $100-$200

(eBay LINK) http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Months-Fre...item1e776e4651

[danshan]

Looks awesome I want one.

[yotano211]

I wonder how fast is the download speeds and if you say no throttling, I might look into this. But will the IP address' change?

[madmuppet303]

Wow, If this is true it would be awesome. I've been using the Verizon 4G dongle that costs about $75 a month.

[stevebills]

I suppose with 4G out now that 3G will become cheap as chips

[unkown5454]

I use this box and it works fine. But, knowing about dongles a fair bit, there is a lot of confusion going on in their description and very little of what they are saying makes sense. Someone is going to have to be a guinea because I suspect this is not all what it appears to be.

[Futuremogul888]

This is suspicious for two reasons:

1) Verizon would never knowingly created a plan this cheap for such a sought out service even if it is only on 3G. We are talking less then $10 a month for unlimited mobile broadband on a nationwide network. That beats out the smaller MVNOs and startups like freedompop.

2) There is nothing to corroborate this on Verizon's website or any trustworthy source.

That being said, I think this device will work even with the low cost plan. What I think is going on is that the devices are flashed to make Verizon think that they are smartphones (or possibly any phone for that matter) and all you are paying for is an unlimited 3G data add on for 10 months (@ $10 a month) with two months having been prepaid by the seller.

[incniu]

I think I will try it... as long as the device will give different IPs at all times.


The seller is legit; looking at good feedback from Dec-09-12

[danshan]

Some one here knows for sure the changing ip process and if it works well. Just need someone to shout in.

[unkown5454]

I just said in my previous post, I use it. IPs do change, but keep in mind, I'm not hooking this up to some sketchy service being offered through some random EB seller flashing the software on these devices.

They claim 3G only, where the normal box operates on 3G and LTE. As far as this person's feedback goes, every single buyer has commented about simply receiving it and work right when they purchased it, not 3 months, 6 months or 12 months down the road. And there are 3 neutral/neg feedbacks claiming the device did not work.

Originally Posted by Futuremogul888

That being said, I think this device will work even with the low cost plan. What I think is going on is that the devices are flashed to make Verizon think that they are smartphones (or possibly any phone for that matter) and all you are paying for is an unlimited 3G data add on for 10 months (@ $10 a month) with two months having been prepaid by the seller.

The device still has an IMEI and ESN that must be used to contact the network, so it's not some mysterious device unknown to Verizon. Something is still not right with this at all. Verizon's cheapest prepaid MiFi plan is $15/week...not $100 for an entire year and nor has it ever been that cheap since the first MiFi ever existed on their network.

[incniu]

There are tons of loopholes with many tele companies. T mobile even has free data program, if you know how to get it. Someone gets data from kindle 3G. I agree this is a special add-on and thus legit. But no one will know if it will stop one day.

[TGMT²]

Originally Posted by unkown5454

And there are 3 neutral/neg feedbacks claiming the device did not work.

Actually to be fair, the feedback was given to flash a pre-existing MiFi unit remotely.

Originally Posted by unkown5454

Something is still not right with this at all.

And that's why we are having this discussion. But I was hoping for someone knowledgeable regarding these flashed devices. So far, we have what seems to be a lot of speculation.

[unkown5454]

Ok, so then you can spend $150 and try it out?

All of my knowledge about MiFi comes from me spending my own time and money to test devices from every carrier available to me. You can do the same thing and then report back to us. Those customers most likely have no idea what running stea.lth EB/PP/AZ accounts is all about. So, that feedback means nothing except that they got a device flashed.

[Futuremogul888]

Originally Posted by unkown5454

The device still has an IMEI and ESN that must be used to contact the network, so it's not some mysterious device unknown to Verizon. Something is still not right with this at all. Verizon's cheapest prepaid MiFi plan is $15/week...not $100 for an entire year and nor has it ever been that cheap since the first MiFi ever existed on their network.

I'm not talking about a software flash. I'm talking about a network flash. So these devices may have been unknown to Verizon originally because they were branded for sprint (Sprint has the same model). Maybe this guy has access to the back end and was able to have the ESN loaded in the system as a phone and he has them on a strictly 3G data plan for $10.00 a month. Other then that, I can't think of a way these devices would be working.

Regardless this setup is definitely shady and not officially endorsed by Verizon. Anyone who buys one would be subject to termination at any time.

[GreenBean]

Issues is we have knowledge of the industry, good knowledge too.

Sadly we are lacking practical reports to allow an informed choice to be made on this unit.

Old saying, all that glitters is not gold.

Google may show more info and indeed another subscriber.

Let's see