Slingshot from Pilot. Any opinions-experiences?

So is there any reasonably priced, pre paid wi fi service with a wide band width service out here? I like pre paid so that I don't have to keep up with a monthly bill. Thx

 

ok, i'm not here to knock you all down. so don't take it as such. but here is the reality of things. there's ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to be buying an aircard when yor phone works just as good and costs much less to use. that slingshot aircard was NO better then the aircards you all are forced to be buying now. looks like that slingshot deal was a scam. and your all out the money for buying that product in the first place. someone posted that it worked off your qualcomm and it works all over the world. IT DOES NOT. it works off cell signal. read the websight. and yes its still up and running. if you all upgrade your phones. for those of you still running your 3 year old phones. yoour speeds will be just as comparable. and if you do your research and compare available features to pricing plans. you will find the service and the price that works for you. all aircards come with a 5 gigabyte limit. and they all cost 60 bucks a month. if your watching youtube your using the same megabytes you were using with that slingshot. since most phones have gps now. internet is pretty much required to make that gps work. internet on your phone is much cheaper then internet for an aircard. i dooooooooo use sprint. always have and always will for the simple fact MY PHONE DOES NOT HAVE A LIMIT AS TO HOW MUCH INTERNET I USE. unlike the aircards. or any other aircard for that matter. and YES YOU PAY PER MAGABYTE WITH ALL CARRIERS when you exceed your limit. sprints new pricing plan INCLUDES internet as my phone as gps. SPRINT ALSO DOESN'T CRIPPLE THERE GPS which means i can use any 3rd party software i want. unlike some other carriers who will remain nameless. and all new phones have gps, and they all use usb cables. which means your phone will be charging while it's plugged in.


STOP PAYING EXTRA MONEY FOR AIRCARDS AND INTERNET. USE YOUR CELL PHONE FOR HEAVENS SAKE. IF YOU HAVE SIGNAL TO MAKE YOUR AIRCARD WORK. THEN YOU'LL HAVE SIGNAL TO MAKE YOUR PHONE WORK. THEY USE THE SAME SIGNAL. AND THEY HAVE THE EXACT SAME SPEEDS.

don't throw your money away for an aircard becuase that's all your doing.


and for the record. there are only 4 carriers, you all know who they are. just becuase you see some service or co mpany being sold out there. doesn't mean they are there own services. THEY ARE NOT. they are using one of the 4 carriers to provide there own services. that's the monopoly of things. there are 50 companies providing some sort of service. but they ALL RUN WITH ONE OF THEM 4 CARRIERS.

and for the record. sprint and verizon are the same CDMA service. ATT and tmobile are the same EDGE service. CDMA has always been and will always forever be the faster service over EDGE. the phones all probably work just as fast as other phones. but when it comes to your laptop. verizon and sprint will always pull down faster. but just so you know, not all phones are created equally either. i have a 3 year old phone on one network that runs circles around a brand new phone with 3g on that other network.


google earth also works great on a blackberry. and a laptop. free mapping and traffic and 411 software. and on laptop you also get real time weather conditions and temps.

 

Hi, I'm the old slingshot cheerleader...I'm like this though...if my phone or internet bill is ever over $150...I just won't pay it...I don't like being suckered into high bills...I just won't pay it and will cancel...like 1000's of others...it's better for these companies to shut your service off at a pre determined peak point...than to think they can get a $500.00 bill out of you...expecially during these hard times...

 

This is true. I don't care who you are with. If you tether to your phone, you better let your carrier know and get the appropriate plan for it. I have AT&T's unlimited data plan on my phone. It's for use with my phone, not my computer. You hook up your computer and start pumping 3-5 gigabytes through it per month, you are going to raise a flag. When they look into it, they can see what kind data you have been downloading. You will get nailed eventually if you use this method for your every day internet. If you are just using it once a week to do internet banking, you are probably going to be ok.

 

It's bad advice to tell people to tether their cell phones because some cell carriers will shut off your account if they find you doing it without setting up a tethering plan.

 

well, i can't personally speak for other carriers, but i have done the research before leaping. i have had sprint going on 10 years now. and i've never been whacked. always had phone as a modem, but i've always had internet on the phone. BUT, i have just checked on sprint.com. and the plan has defenitly changed since i upgraded to blackberry 4 months ago. it no longer says tethering included. SUP WITH THAT???? you can download the software from sprint but can't use as a modem.

i've still been using my phone so i guess i wait and cc about the extra charges.

 

Agree with the thought that you should not tether without the appropriate plan. Think it's a OK if you buy a block of prepaid data (like my AT&T Tilt gophone) for occasional light tethering like I did on an Amtrak train from CT to DC recently (100 Mb for $20; with due respect please remember not everybody has a need for gigabytes of wireless data), but trying to sneak gigabytes of data through on a postpaid plan will likely result in problems when the carrier eventually finds out.
There is such a thing as true unlimited cellular data plans in the US, but they are relatively rare. Off the top of my head:
1) Millenicom Sprint (not the Verizon version) has a new month to month credit card plan for $69.95 that is unlimited (instead of the $59.95/5 gb plan).
2) Sprint offers 3G/4G hybrid modems that are 5 gb limits on 3g but unlimited on 4g (currently Baltimore, MD and Portland, OR I believe). I would caution this likely has a fair usage clause in the contract someplace. Sprint is discounted through SERO referral codes or association plans (such as credit unions, etc.)
3) A multi-level marketing company called Buzzirk/Zero1 mobile will be marketing a VOIP handset for about $80/month with unlimited VOIP and data using roaming agreements on US GSM carriers(likely AT&T or T-Mobile as the primary roaming partner). This one sounds a bit overhyped and questionable on technical grounds, so I would be rather cautious if they make it to market (like go only month to month in case they fold...although I don't wish that on any company).
On a closing note on Slingshot, I tried entering my Slingshot modem ESN on their webpage recently, and it now comes up with an expired GoDaddy SSL certificate warning...often seen on websites that aren't going to be around for very much longer. I doubt Slingshot will be making a comeback anytime soon. Given their lack of customer service when Sprint shut them off, I really wouldn't want to do business with them again.

 

Scratch Buzzirk/Zero1 off the list of future unlimited data sellers. They were exposed as a likely scam yesterday by IDG News Service. Excellent article with careful research backing it. I was right to be skeptical of their claims...

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/072009-zer01s-mobile-offer-may-be.html

Headline excerpt:

"Zer01's mobile offer may be too good to be true
As the company enlists sales agents in a multilevel marketing effort, its service remains elusive
By Nancy Gohring , IDG News Service , 07/20/2009"

The first two offers I listed are quite legitimate though. The Millenicom/Sprint new offer has been confirmed on DSLreports.com as genuine, and the direct Sprint offer for the 3g/4g modem with unlimited 4g service is also the real McCoy. For the heavy wireless data users, I think the situation will improve in the next couple of years as Sprint rolls out 4G/wimax into new markets and other carriers roll out LTE ultra high speed wireless (interesting that both AT&T and Verizon will be using this new common data standard).