Walmart Prepaid Mifi

[Gary RV Roamer]

Walmart is now offering the prepaid Mifi (hotspot) service from Internet-on-the-Go. It's not cheap on a per MB basis, but for those who only occasionally need portable internet access it eliminates the monthly service fee that the big carries charge.

You have to buy the mifi device upfront for $120 and then you buy data (megabytes) as you need them.  It's $10 for 100 Megabytes, or $45 for 1 Gigabyte, and a 450 MB "refill" is an extra $20. The data you buy doesn't ever expire as long as you use the service at least once a year.

See Internet-on-the-Go or read the USA Today article.

[gwcowgill]

It appears to be a good backup for those who use a specific provider other than Sprint. I use ATT and have problems in some areas so it may be a viable option. I was thinking of taking one of my phones off ATT and getting Verizon but this might just work as I tether now with my blackberry. I am interested on some of the computer geeks thoughts on this.

[Ned]

My personal opinion is it's way overpriced.

[SeilerBird]

My personal opinion is it's way overpriced.

+1

[skyking4ar2]

+2 with Ned and Tom - but it is a niche market, and you need to do the math over the course of a year's use.

I carry both AT&T and Verizon MiFi's but that's the cost of having a requirement to be connected wherever I go. I don't think it's too expensive, considering almost everything I do or need to do is over the Internet, but for casual use, that might be an expense that does not have to be incurred.

I can tell you, though, except for some very unusual exceptions in the past two years of full timing, I have always had an Internet connection. I usually get AT&T or Verizon equally well in the areas I travel (south and west).

[Gary RV Roamer]

Overpriced?  It would be expensive for me to use, but not for someone who does the occasional weekend or a two week RV vacation. Also great if you mostly go places that have wifi but once in awhile go elsewhere and need to bring your own internet service.  Buyers should look at their data costs on an annual basis to determine what sort of plan works best for them.

[Dar]

It appears to be a good backup for those who use a specific provider other than Sprint.

Why do you say other than Sprint? Is there something we should know because we have Sprint and it is all to common to be w/o service through them.

[Ned]

It's overpriced in the sense that the carriers can sell data for $10/GB including the subsidization of the device cost so how can you justify $45/GB and still make the user buy the device?  To me, that borders on extortion.

[Ned]

The 3G Store sells the same device for $90 and has no-contract data plans for half the price.  See here for more information.  So, yes, it's way overpriced.

[John From Detroit]

I agree, sounds a bit high on price, I get more data for less with Virgin Mobile, (And I use it too) and if I'm reading the web right, even more if I jump to T-Mobile.

I got to do some more research on that,, I may jump.

[Larry N.]

The 3G Store sells the same device for $90 and has no-contract data plans for half the price.  See here for more information.  So, yes, it's way overpriced.

Looks interesting, but I see no coverage map. Though there's a page that purports to link you to maps for several carriers, including Datajack -- they just go to another shopping page. Perhaps they'll fix that some day.

[Ned]

I can see the maps, but they're just the various carrier maps embedded in a 3GStore page.  The Walmart device and service is DataJack rebranded.

[Larry N.]

Well, I tried Int. Expl. and can see the maps, but they didn't show up on Firefox 3.6.13. Looks as if Datajack is missing coverage over a large percentage of the west. Thanks for the info.

[Gary RV Roamer]

It's overpriced in the sense that the carriers can sell data for $10/GB including the subsidization of the device cost

But the carrier is still getting a substantial monthly fee in addition to that $10/GB. Any PAYG plan has to amortize the cost of the phone number and infrastructure costs, which go on and on even if the device in not in use.

The 3G Store sells the same device for $90 and has no-contract data plans for half the price.

The Datajack plan that 3G store sells is NOT the same - you pay by the month rather than strictly by the MG/GB. If you need to use even one byte in any month, so have to activate the service for the entire month and pay a minimum of $9.99 (200 MB). If you don't use all that month's data allotment, you lose it at the end of the month.  That may work better for some people, while the Walmart/on-the-Go plan may work better for others.

It seems to me the big issue for prospective buyers of either plan is coverage. Datajack is somewhat limited (see coverage map from 3gstore) and without evidence to the cotrary I'm guessing the Walmart version is the same.
 

[echobot]

I purchased the TruConnect Mifi and pay $4.99 a month plus 4 cents per MB. Can't beat it for part time use. We use it everytime we go camping.

Ed