More details on Virgin Mobile's broadband card

By on May 26, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Exclusive May 26, 2009

We’re not sure how many readers out there are sitting on the edges of their seats waiting for more info on Virgin Mobile’s upcoming broadband card we scooped last week. If there is even one however, we would be remiss if we ignored him or her. Consider this unconfirmed for the time being, but a tipster whose intel has panned out in the past just hit us with the missing puzzle piece from our scoop — prepaid pricing. Virgin Mobile is all about prepaid after all, so we were pretty curious to find out how attractive its prepaid pricing structure would be. Answer: meh. It looks like VM will offer $20 prepaid cards alongside its broadband offering and each card will be good for 250MB of data. We’re not yet sure if additional denominations will be available. 250MB for $20 might not seem like a great deal but it’s actually not terrible — users looking for a mobile broadband solution for light use while traveling every few months for example, will definitely save hundreds of dollars or more by avoiding a monthly subscription fee.

So to recap what we have so far: $149.99 for the card / Postpaid options: 5GB of data per month for $40 or 1GB of data per month for an unknown fee / Prepaid option: $20 per 250MB prepaid card.

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  • attguy

    I wonder how fast it will be…

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Ponte Vedra Beach United States

  • tmc

    would have done this if it had been available right now… meanwhile, I wait for sprint’s warehouse to “fulfill” my order, with (a) no way to cancel the order and (b) no eta on the shipment of said order. Grrrrr

  • mingkee

    virgin mobile=sprint in states

  • 4th

    I’ll go for the $40 option. virgin mobile uses sprint’s so it should be fast enough.

  • Roger A

    Is Virgin Mobile offering the “Postpaid” plan as “No Contract” like its Pay Monthly plans, or will it be on Helio’s side similar to their Hybrid service, and lock people into a contract if they want the 1GB or 5GB option. And Virgin f’ed up…should have been USB modems if they REALLY wanted to actually make any money, not “data cards” WHO THE HELL HAS PCMCIA SLOTS!??!

  • kel

    how would you know its PCMCIA slots?? – i believe its USB,cant wait til this comes out- definatly try it out – i wont use internet on the go that much so 250mb suits me.

  • Nick F

    so basically they are doing what cricket launched last year? if it is anything like that you can expect around 800k down. but crickets modem is only like 59.99 after mail in, iirc

  • Greg.

    Doesn’t Cricket=Sprint network as well?

  • miguel

    Definitely waiting on this. Will basically only use it on weekends…..

  • thetruth

    Okay, here is the truth.

    It is a USB modem, not PCMCIA.

    The cards last for 30 days after activation, whether used or not.

    There is no 5GB option.

    1GB is $60. Once either 30 days is up or you use the 1GB, you can buy /activate another card. You cannot activate multiple cards concurrently.

    Before you think, “no way,” remember, this is prepaid/no contract stuff. Most no contract phones are way more expensive than postpaid phones, up to $.25 per minute, so it translates well.

    This card is for the people that need the access for a brief amount of time and don’t want a contract. This is not for your everyday surfing/downloading.

  • Andrew

    Cricket has their own network which is why availability is fairly limited.

  • andrew

    the key difference besides nation wide coverage is that cricket doesn’t offer a prepaid option–only contract-free post paid.

  • Andrew

    Does anyone know if this the modem will come with Mac-friendly software?

  • Mikey

    I’ve been looking for something like this for awhile now… the price seems a bit steep but we’ll see. I think part of my buying decision depends on how fast the network is.

  • http://twitter.com/iansltx Ian

    I use Sprint as my main phone line and use data on a regular basis via wireless tethering and on the phone itself. I can get in excess of 1500 kbps down and 600 kbps up at times. Usual rates are closer to 1.2/400 in my area. Broadband cards are even better if I remember correctly.

    This would need Mac drivers for me to get it (says the guy with two laptops and a Windows Mobile phone) but a heckuva lot better than $60 for the same amount. Plus it’s prepaid, so no crazy overages. So the $150 comes out in the wa(r)sh after eight months. Not too shabby; I spent $130 on an AT&T aircard awhile back when GoPhone had a loophole for unlimited Data at $20. Mmm, those were the days, though I couldn’t get 3G at home. Used it elsewhere though.

    If I control my usage I can keep below 5GB in a month, but not while using the connection as my primary. Heck, if I had to I’d keep it under 250MB, but it’d be web browsing only, not even YouTube. But if people want me to work on the road, I can expense a 250MB plan used for their work, right? :)

    Also FWIW Verizon has contract-free available on all their postpaid plans now, and their 3G network is now the nation’s most extensive with the purchase of Alltel. Alltel is back on EvDO Rev. 0 in many areas last I checked, but it’s still not a shabby network. Then again, it’s $60/month for 5GB with 10ΒΆ per MB overage, and you have to bring your own modem or pay them ridiculous prices for theirs. eBay is your friend here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Verizon-Wireless-UM175-broadband-USB-modem_W0QQitemZ110397665238QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_Phones?hash=item19b436afd6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

    Hmm, that was a good deal. Ah well, I like Sprint more than Verizon anyway.

    My big questions: is 5GB for $40 really true? Can you stack 5GB packs? What model is the underlying modem (wireless router compatibility?) Does the modem have an antenna port?

    I live in a semi-rural area that has good Sprint coverage but this would be a great way to get people currently on dialup onto some sort of broadband without huge installation charges and crazy fair access policies. Just hook up a $70 24 dbi antenna with some cable in between that and the modem and you’re good to go with a signal that’s faster than sat internet anyway, albeit capped at a lower GB allotment.

  • http://www.nowmobilebroadband.co.uk/ Tina

    Wow, where have I been? I thought I knew about all the latest stuff, I guess not.

  • Mikey

    More details here: http://www.twice.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6605089&articleid=CA6664157

    Looks like the pricing will be steeper (as suspected)

    $10 – 10 days (100MB)
    $25 – 30 days (250MB)
    $40 – 30 days (600MB)
    $60 – 30 days (1GB)

    -M

  • Mikey

    The price was too rich for my blood. I ended up buying a used USB720 on ebay and using Verizon’s day pass system. Details here: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=12714383

  • M H

    I live on a farm which does not have a land line, etc. I am amazed that I was connected to the internet in one night — a matter of 15 minutes– I have a great ASUS laptop and everything is speedy!

    I expect I will only use $20 a month –the portability and no contract was what pushed me over the edge. Wow! The $150 with the $20 service agreement from Best Buy was not that much to pay and I can take this on vacation on the lake …

  • hershel

    Another huge opportunity to take advantage of is Virgin Mobile’s 10$ for 120min plan. I am saving alot of money you all should call your local representative and find out more, it’ss be worth your time.

  • June

    When will Mac be supported? Once that’s a go, so am I…..

  • http://Nuevomobile.net Richard Ortega

    Hello all just see this post want to show you all an answer to your needs. It’s new it’s call Nuevo Mobile. There is only one plan at the time it $69.99 Unlimited. Were looking for you the average user. Check out our web page nuevomobile.net. Its on a nation wide CDMA 3g network. USB data card and mac welcome. Email for info.

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