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One thing great I'll say about Virgin Mobile where I live is the call quality coming through nice and loud and clear. Even without speakerphone callers come through loud and they never have an issue hearing me such as saying I sound far away or soft etc. On speakerphone, oh man, really loud. You need to slash the control to a low point otherwise everyone within 15 feet can hear your entire conversation.
This true in New York City. I've been a customer of Virgin Mobile USA for over 11 years, with only 2 drop calls during that entire time. It's a bit of a mystery why Virgin's not popular in NYC - Their signal strength (where I am I should say) is on par with Verizon Wireless. Download speeds for data are not good on my specific device which is locked to Virgin, so I've designated it as my loud, mainly-voice device. Sad, because it has unlimited data for only $35 a month yet I've designated it as a voice device because it's nice and loud with very little chance of a drop call. I wish it were the opposite -- meaning limited data and unlimited voice! Man, that would be so perfect for me.
data speeds fyi: you should know this about Virgin Mobile USA before you commit. but voice clarity is superb, as I said before
Test Date: Jan 8, 2013 4:08:36 pm
Connection Type: EvdoA
Server: New York, NY
Download: 1057 kbps
Upload: 579 kbps
Ping: 142 ms
Virgin Mobile throttles @ 2.5 Gigs (3.5 if you pay $15/mo extra for the mobile hotspot.)
$35/mo for 300 minutes and "unlimited" 4G (subject to throttling.) If i run out of minutes, I'll just use Skype to make my calls.
I never seem to get more than 10 Mbps when using 4G (good enough for me) but the voice quality is great.
If you talk very little but need a lot of data, go with T-mobile's unlimited 4G 100 minute plan for $30/mo (i think they'll disable 4G when you exceed 5 Gigs a month but can continue to use 3G.)
Virgin data is really sloooow as other posters have mentioned. T-mobile 4G as ragnarkar said is the best one for lots of data, little voice use. You can only sign up for that plan online.
I am looking for a no contract mobile broadband carrier.
I would need to buy the aircard or stick or whatever it's called. Then prepay for the data usage, I think for x weeks or 1 month at a time.
Any comments on the best carrier. I checked T Mobile so far and it looks like 59 for the aircard devide and then repaid 35 or 50 for 1 month of data but a set limit of GB. I would only use a week or month here or there when traveling. that's why I am looking for prepaid/no contract.
Not sure what other carriers are out there for prepaid.
this isn't for data plan for a smartphone...it's the aircard device .
If you use Twitter, type #nocontract into the search box
The below is a relatively "high" (don't laugh) data download speed for Virgin Mobile
Test Date: Jan 20, 2013 1:16:48 pm
Connection Type: EvdoA
Server: New York City, NY
Download: 1677 kbps
Upload: 864 kbps
Ping: 156 ms
If you talk very little but need a lot of data, go with T-mobile's unlimited 4G 100 minute plan for $30/mo (i think they'll disable 4G when you exceed 5 Gigs a month but can continue to use 3G.)
I like that T-Mobile plan, but you need to be sure you're in a 4G area first. Most city and suburban areas are, but most rural areas are not.
To clarify, nothing gets disabled when you hit 5 GB. They just throttle your phone's access to the 4G network. T-Mobile's throttled speed is approximately 128 kbps, which they state as "2G speed," leading to confusion about what actually happens. Some people seem to believe it forces your phone to the crusty old EDGE network, but that's technically incorrect. The phone remains connected to the 4G network, which has faster pings and is far more reliable than the EDGE network.
One nice thing is if you get throttled, you can just refill the account and get your speed back. If you normally use 5 GB, but you need 10 GB one month, that'll be $60 for the month.
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yet I've designated it as a voice device because it's nice and loud with very little chance of a drop call. I wish it were the opposite -- meaning limited data and unlimited voice! Man, that would be so perfect for me.
