Verizon Wireless MiFi2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot

[horseshowmom]

This is for the people that I've seen on the boards who live in rural areas and wrestle with decent internet service.

We live in a rural area and don't have access to DSL internet. We dealt with dial-up for a few years and then switched to satellite (Wild Blue) a couple of years ago (and haven't been terribly pleased with the speed even though we have the more expensive package).

Recently, some friends at church told us about Verizon Wireless MiFi2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot. I was doubtful because we live in an area with a very bad cellular signal (we have a booster for our ATT cell phones), but they live in the same area.

I stopped by the Verizon Wireless store yesterday, and we are amazed already. The signal is excellent, and the internet is much faster than the satellite we already have.

Also, you can run up to 5 computers off the little box (approximately credit card sized just a little thicker), and you can take it with you anywhere you want to go (portable).

It does require a 2 year contract (it has a phone number), but you have 30 days to determine whether it will work for you. It costs $59.99 a month, and the hardware is $100 (then you can send in a $50 rebate).

 

[Whistle]

I have one as well . . . LOVE it!!!! I live in the country, and it works for us- perfect solution! Hope you enjoy yours!

 

[scribega]

I just got purchased one yesterday for work so I can run my laptop and my wifi ipad no matter where I am at.

I got it off the verizon web site. They did free device, free overnight shipping, free activation and 250mb for $39.99 per month. Pretty good deal.

 

[Tisha_PA]

Virgin mobile has the same thing but their's runs off of the Sprint network. The major difference is you get unlimited data for $40/month with no contract. YOu can also buy 100MB for 10 days if you plan to just use it for trips.

 

[lynn_s]

I have one and love it. My only options here is wild blue or verizon (no sprint coverage here - at least there wasn't when we moved in), and they were very rude to me on the phone when I called with questions about signing up when we first moved out here. So I tried the verizon and get great signal.

Watch out for the data cap though - its 5G/month. I haven't had any issues but I don't download much media.

 

[horseshowmom]

I just got purchased one yesterday for work so I can run my laptop and my wifi ipad no matter where I am at.

I got it off the verizon web site. They did free device, free overnight shipping, free activation and 250mb for $39.99 per month. Pretty good deal.

Great price! The 250mb would have probably done fine for us. We don't downloard much, but DH does run the computer at church during services so he downloads videos from time to time. We would probably still be under the limit though. I'll mention that to him.

I have one and love it. My only options here is wild blue or verizon (no sprint coverage here - at least there wasn't when we moved in), and they were very rude to me on the phone when I called with questions about signing up when we first moved out here. So I tried the verizon and get great signal.

Watch out for the data cap though - its 5G/month. I haven't had any issues but I don't download much media.

Thanks for reminding me what the cap is. I told DH last night that there was one, but I couldn't remember what the guy told me. Like you, I think we'll be fine.


I'm still amazed at how much better this is than our satellite - flabbergasted almost. It's a huge improvement for us. I hate that our daughter and her husband signed up with HughesNet this summer. This would be better for them as well.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

Just so folks know .. they are free right now in Verizon Wireless stores after the rebate.

If you take in your laptop, they will get it up and running for you.

 

[horseshowmom]

Just so folks know .. they are free right now in Verizon Wireless stores after the rebate.

If you take in your laptop, they will get it up and running for you.

Mine only had a $50 rebate (the device cost $100). Did this just start? I ask because I got this day before yesterday and would love to have the whole $100 back.

It's pretty easy to do yourself, but the guy in the store did tell me that if I had any problems to bring our laptops to him, and he would take care of it for us. I thought that was good customer service.

 

[Karenj2]

We just had Verizon come to our office, and the guy told me that the 4g MiFi will be coming out next year (and on a side note, that the iPhone should be coming out by the end of the second quarter of next year!!).

I'm debating between getting the MiFi and using it at work with my iTouch (since we're not allowed to access our WiFi with personal devices) and travel (for those places - like Disney - that charge for internet access) and possibly at home, if it ended up being cheaper than our current access, OR getting the iPhone (since I'd like to upgrade my phone as well) to do the same thing...

The plusses of the MiFi is that it can be used by more than just me, and it can be used with a laptop, but the downside is the cap on the connection - I don't know if I'd max it out or not.

The plusses of the iPhone is that I'd only have one device, and it's an iPhone(!) and it'd probably have unlimited data plans, but I don't know what the service would cost me.

ETA: Sorry to hijack your thread with a tangent, but I've been contemplating this for a while now...