Virgin Mobile Mifi

[jherauf]

Has anyone ever used this service at the Fort? It works off of the Sprint network, so anyone use Sprint 3G service inside the Fort? I know that Disney offers for a fee, not interested.

Thanks

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

I used it on our last trip, and Donna is using it down there right now (and posting a trip report on her blog). I didn't have any problems with it. The only thing I don't like about it is that the time on the card expires after 30 days. I didn't even come close to using all the time on my $20 card. Next time I might just buy a $10 card even though it isn't as good of a deal.

 

[jherauf]

Thanks for the quick reply and vote of confidence.

 

[CDNCruiser]

We use it as well, works just great for us!

 

[ob1quixote]

Sounds like a cool idea, but I dislike their advertising. They say they have "no monthly bills", but the time you buy expires in 30 days.

Sounds like a month to me...at which point I will need to pay someone some money to stay connected and maintain service. "No Contract", no problem, but that is a monthly bill if I've ever seen one!

 

[medic9016]

Sounds like a cool idea, but I dislike their advertising. They say they have "no monthly bills", but the time you buy expires in 30 days.

Sounds like a month to me...at which point I will need to pay someone some money to stay connected and maintain service. "No Contract", no problem, but that is a monthly bill if I've ever seen one!

Not if you do not need it for a month.

 

[CDNCruiser]

Sounds like a cool idea, but I dislike their advertising. They say they have "no monthly bills", but the time you buy expires in 30 days.

Sounds like a month to me...at which point I will need to pay someone some money to stay connected and maintain service. "No Contract", no problem, but that is a monthly bill if I've ever seen one!

It's just perfect for us. We are Canadian and if we use our Canadian cell phones or any of the Canadian wireless companies USB modems to connect while we are in the USA we pay HUGE roaming fees. By HUGE I mean $3.00 to $5.00 per minute.

Virgin's BroadBand2Go is just what we need. We go to FW three to four times a year and we just top up the Virgin account on our way south. For us there really are no monthly fees.

We can have an internet connection for 30 days and pay what Disney charges for a single day!

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Sounds like a cool idea, but I dislike their advertising. They say they have "no monthly bills", but the time you buy expires in 30 days.

Sounds like a month to me...at which point I will need to pay someone some money to stay connected and maintain service. "No Contract", no problem, but that is a monthly bill if I've ever seen one!

I don't think of it as a monthly bill. To me, a monthly bill is something that I have to pay every month (the electric bill, the water bill, etc.). The Virgin mobile thing is something I pay as needed. When your minutes expire at the end of the month, they don't automatically charge you for an additional month since you don't have a contract with them. I just pay for the service when I need it. I won't need to use my Virgin mobile internet until October when I go to the Fort, so I'm not paying to use it right now.

 

[byerspc]

Virgin just introduced 40 for unlimited data on their mifi and walmart has it on sale for 120 this week so we are getting one for our trip. Glad I didn't get a 3G iPad now our wifi ones with the mifi will be great!

 

[emeraldmom]

We just got back Wed, we were there from the 11-24. We bought the Virgin Mobile USB modem for the trip. Not the Mifi, just the single one. You know, I'm not overly impressed. I also used it en-route, and at a couple of other places we stopped. It worked, sort of. There were some things I was simply unable to load, at all. There were quite a few times when it took several tries to get a web page to load.

I know it depends on what you're loading and all. Most of the time we were gone I was not able to get my Facebook games to load, but those do have a lot going on in them to load. But Hotmail doesn't have all that much going on, and I had problems a number of times getting it to load.

I think if you really *needed* it to be reliable, like it was for work or something, you might want to explore other options. If you're just using it for pleasure, email, whatever, and it isn't a big deal if you have to fuss with it a bit, then it's a good way to go.

 

[dtum]

Wow this is great! DH has a virgin mobile phone and has always had reception at the fort so I guess it means if his phone works we'd have mifi coverage. Just got back from a campground that had free wifi, but never did get connected and at some places when it's really crowded connection is spotty at best. Do you plug it into the wall like a home modem? I know it doesn't work with apple--true? Anyone know if it works with Linux? Getting a new laptop, but would be nice to use both at the same time. DS has a ipod touch..guess it wouldn't work with that? Thanks!

 

[medic9016]

Wow this is great! DH has a virgin mobile phone and has always had reception at the fort so I guess it means if his phone works we'd have mifi coverage. Just got back from a campground that had free wifi, but never did get connected and at some places when it's really crowded connection is spotty at best. Do you plug it into the wall like a home modem? I know it doesn't work with apple--true? Anyone know if it works with Linux? Getting a new laptop, but would be nice to use both at the same time. DS has a ipod touch..guess it wouldn't work with that? Thanks!

It will work with Apple, just like any other wifi.

 

[dtum]

So glad. May have to get this before our Oct. trip to DC. Cherry Hill RV Resort says it has Wifi, but maybe we'll get the Mifi to try it out and then we'll have it. I read that you only have to use it once every 12 months to keep the account open so that is perfect for the couple times a year we go camping. Thanks all for bringing this topic up.

 

[dtum]

DH was wondering if it would work while driving or did it have to be plugged into a power source. DS could check his e-mail while we were on the road.

 

[byerspc]

I believe it is supposed to last 4 hours on battery but I think it is micro USB so charging in car should work too

 

[medic9016]

DH was wondering if it would work while driving or did it have to be plugged into a power source. DS could check his e-mail while we were on the road.

Yes it will work while driving. It uses the sprint network. You will find places that sprint service in not that great.

 

[dtum]

DH has virgin mobile and so far his phone has always worked. It even worked when my Verizon wouldn't at Epcot. I think too many people were on Verizon and I couldn't get a signal, but he got right on.