Mobile Broadband 5GB (5,120 MB) questions regarding month-to-month payment plan

[jowe]

I'm going to be on the road for an internship from mid-June until early August. I need mobile broadband. My service provider currently is AT&T, but even if I bring my own equipment with them, I'd still have to sign at least a 1-year contract. Another option is to tether my phone, but my phone isn't 3G (and I'm not due for an upgrade).

I had since given up until recently I discovered that Verizon offers month-to-month plans! I've found a few aircards available on my local Craigslist (probably going to go with a V620). However, I have a few questions:

1. What other fees could I be paying, other than an activation fee, if I bring my own card to the service? Remember, I am NOT a current customer.

2. Why is called the 5GB (5,120 MB) plan? what does the (5, 120 MB) stand for? 

3. Will by access be any slower with an older card like the V620?

4. Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks for all of your help!

[rkordet]

I don't have all your answers, but I can tell you what I am doing and it might help

I have a little LG phone and was going to upgrade to one of the Smartphones, but didn't want to get into another 2 year contract since my wife and I are retired and have a good plan and are now off the 2 year contract.

So, I bought the MiFi 2200 Mobile Broadband device to try out.

I bought it outright, meaning not a 1 or 2 year contract price.   The payments are monthly as far as the service.

I am on the 59.95/month unlimited broadband svc.

I can now use it month to month as I need it, and can CANCEL the service if I am not using it for, say the next 2 months as an example, then reactivating it when I want to use it again.  

This way I keep my old phone with the good rate/month and also have broadband when i want it.

Also, up to 5 devices (laptops, pda's (iPod Touch), pc's etc) can use it at a time. 

So far I have had this MiFi 2200 device for about a week, and it's one of the coolest devices I've seen for a long time !   You literally carry broadband around with you in your pocket !  

And so far, it works terrific !

I have had no problem whatsoever using it wherever I am with my iPod Touch.

Hope this helps  

[equinoxsolstice]

I bought a MiFi 2200 unit "outright" from Best Buy, supposed to offer a month to month (vs year contract) but only options in initial sign up is day pass and yearly subscription.  I remember one of the reps at Verizon telling me that AFTER you sign up for a day pass you can do a month to month.  Is that correct?  Again, it doesn't offer it initially, just the day pass and annual subscription.

[RoniTalk]

I dont have all the answers either but hope this helps:

1. you shouldn't be charged any addtl fees, but your service will be taxed..so your average bill will prob be b/t $65-$70 a month.

2. megabytes stand for the amount of data you use while you are connected to the internet, ex. playing online games and watching youtube might be 1000 megabytes as opposed to checking one little email which might 40 megabytes. so if you go over the 5120 mb then you will be billed overages just like if you go over your minutes on a cell phone plan.

3. if you use an older card,it'll probably connect to the old technology which is slow. if you use a newer card,then you'll have the latest network technology and it will move faster.

4. if you are travelling, then you probably want to make sure it will work in those areas before you buy one.

[Jagger-VzW]

Important:   5GB or 5120 MB plan is what you can use as data transfer for your monthly allowance.  If you go over and this depends entirely on your usage, but is not necessarily hard to do... you would incur $0.05 per MB or $51.20 per Gigabyte that you go over.  If you are unfamiliar with data transfer or what watching a YouTube video etc...  I suggest taking an active role and researching this as I would want you to come into this with your eyes wide open.

[jowe]

Thanks everyone for your help.

 @JAGGER-VZW

Yes, I am well aware of the limits imposed by all mobile broadband providers. I've been using a program (Netmeter) to track my bandwidth usage (up and down) ove the past few months. It's going to be hard, but I'm pretty sure I can keep it under 5GB.

@rkordet

I would love the MiFi! I saw it in person and I was stunned!! It's so tiny! However, I can't do a 1-year contract, nor afford to buy it outright.

--

I bought an aircard - the V620 - from a company that was selling them because they had no use for them anymore. I talked to someone at a Verizon store beforehand, and made sure I could do what I wanted to do.

Also, for some reason I kept seeing (5,120) as two different numbers... like 5, 120. I didn't realize it was 5,120, as in five thousand one-hundred twenty. Haha. I feel silly!

Going to activate my card in a few days. Thanks for the help!