Millenicom Accounts Acquired by Verizon

[John Hilley]

I don't expect Santa to make an early appearance on 11/2, so I already made my choice and transferred my Mifi Hotspot purchased from Millenicom to my existing V account (with new SIM).

It sounds like you were able to use your existing Millenicom HotSpot with Verizonwireless by getting a new SIM. A friend took his HotSpot into a Verizonwireless store and they said they couldn't put his existing HotSpot on Verizonwireless, that he would have to purchase a new device. Were you able to put your HotSpot on Verizonwireless?

[John Hilley]

I work for a rural phone company. We are a Verizonwireless MVNO. This is so we can offer cellular and wireless data to our FTTH customers. We have never been allowed to resell 4G data, only 3G. Verizonwireless sells us a bulk amount of bandwidth which we resell. Verizonwireless doesn't have any billing or customer support to worry about and add overhead, so they make money on the wholesale sale. I don't think Straight Talk will be folding. I suspect Millenicom couldn't afford to keep going with Verizonwireless financially.

[cptgregger]

I have a "pay-as-you-go" T-Mobile Mifi and I do not advise it. Here are the Pros and Cons of such a device/ account.

Pro:

- Relatively competitive pricing. I pay $25/ mo for 5GB. But that amount goes up to $50 starting Jan 1. I plan to cancel the service at that time

- You can tether up to 10 devices. It's basically a mobile/ wireless hotspot. Works great in that regard between mine and my DWs devices and the kids.

Cons:

- The service is spotty and unreliable. You can pretty much forget about it anywhere out West unless on near a major artery like interestate, etc.

- T-Mobile staff know very little about the device and service. Their billing is pretty messed up and it's hard to get anyone to help. I deal with that by paying early and paying ahead.

- The LTE speeds are pretty slow. 4G even slower, Edge pretty much pointless to even try.

- They plan to double the date usage costs in Jan.

- The device costs $189 if you want to pay the cash rate. Otherwise you have to sign a contract. I travel a lot overseas for months at a time so I like pay/ go schemes because it allows me to turn everything off when I'm gone.

I found AT&T service for my Ipad much faster, despite both displaying LTE. ATT is $30/ mo for same data amount but won't allow you to tether without some huge fee (not sure if that has changed).

IMO, T-Mobile's internet network is a joke. If they're slow, admit it. But they advertise LTE speeds and it's more like 3G/ 4G. I hear Verizon is quick.

[theroc]

I agree with cptgregger. Stay away from both T-Mobile and Sprint if you are on the move. There's a reason why most RVers and OTR truckers use Verizon hotspots (I have also heard that the vast majority of Millenicom's now former customers are RVers and truckers), as they have not only the best coverage in rural areas but have the largest LTE footprint ...or at least out here in the west.

A friend had me take his T-Mobile USB stick on a trip and I had nothing but problems with connections and coverage. I was quite surprised at the number of places T-Mobile had no coverage but my Verizon hotspot had strong coverage.

I had similar experiences with Sprint as I had a cell phone with them for a number of years and they too have very poor coverage in rural areas where Verizon had strong coverage.

I now use a smartphone with Straight Talk that uses AT&T and the Verizon Hotspot so I have coverage just about everywhere I go with one or the other. Again, there's a reason why RVers and truckers use Verizon ...with AT&T a close second.

My Hotspot using Verizon 4G LTE is extremely fast. I have no complaints about connection problems, speed, or coverage. There's no question that a Verizon Mifi is the way to go but now that Millencom is out of business, it's going to be painful to have to deal with Verizon directly ...price-wise and customer service -wise.

[Jim2]

Yes, after activating my old Millenicom MiFi with a new SIM card there was no problem adding it to my existing Verizonwireless account.
Although even if you need to get a new device, you can get one free or very cheap, if you're willing to agree to a 2yr commitment.

Originally Posted by John Hilley

It sounds like you were able to use your existing Millenicom HotSpot with Verizonwireless by getting a new SIM. A friend took his HotSpot into a Verizonwireless store and they said they couldn't put his existing HotSpot on Verizonwireless, that he would have to purchase a new device. Were you able to put your HotSpot on Verizonwireless?

[Davdeb1]

I just went with VERIZON today. I got the new 6620 jetpack. The cost $49
Monthly I went with 12 GB $70 plus $20 for access. It will be plus tax and fees of course.
$90 per month, similar to millenicom, just less data. We use about 6-10 per month so we should be fine.
If you want to more just go to the VERIZON wireless site.

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

I just went with VERIZON today. I got the new 6620 jetpack. The cost $49
Monthly I went with 12 GB $70 plus $20 for access. It will be plus tax and fees of course.
$90 per month, similar to millenicom, just less data. We use about 6-10 per month so we should be fine.
If you want to more just go to the VERIZON wireless site.

I was looking last night Dave. I have Annie on 2 GB plan with Verizon now. And I'm on 6 GB plan with ATT and a soon to be dead Millenicom 20 GB.

I'm trying to figure a happy medium between Verizon and ATT that will price out better than previous situation and more data. It looks like ATT has the advantage data / $ and that's not what I was hoping for. I really wanted the high side to tip to Verizon.

More pencil pushing to come... bad timing for sure. Trying to pack up and go full time and thought I had the wireless wired for sound... lol.

[LDMcK]

Originally Posted by Jim2

Yes, after activating my old Millenicom MiFi with a new SIM card there was no problem adding it to my existing Verizonwireless account.
Although even if you need to get a new device, you can get one free or very cheap, if you're willing to agree to a 2yr commitment.

Jim, how did you get the new sim card?

[lllkrob]

This may answer a few questions and create a few new ones:

Millenicom Update: Still Waiting For Options – RV Mobile Internet Resource Center

[WheelingIt]

I'm late getting into this discussion, but I've been following all the developments closely. Since the takeover of Millenicom's customers there's been no communication from Verizon and in fact they don't really seem to know about us...at least not yet. So we have no info on transition or plans or anything.

In light of this I've done like many others and signed up to one of the double data deals that are being offered at both Verizon and AT&T through the end of this month. I went with Verizon and was able to register my old Millenicom MiFi with them (they just sent me a new SIM, which was free)

We took the 40GB plan, plus one phone (which we bought on eBay) plus the MiFi...total $185 ($150 for data + $15 for phone + $20 for MiFi)

[WheelingIt]

By the way since I bought my own devices we did not need to sign a contract. So, we are month to month with Verizon.

[BethLL]

One good thing about Verizon's data packages is you can adjust your data needs up during the month (not down). We vary on how much data we use, anywhere between 6 and 20 GB. I usually set my data amount at 6 and as the month progresses I can up the amount without any additional fees. You have to remember to adjust your next months data down again or you will be charged for whatever your last month's data need was. I've upped my data as many as three times during a month when campground wifi was unavailable. JME

[WheelingIt]

Originally Posted by John Hilley

It sounds like you were able to use your existing Millenicom HotSpot with Verizonwireless by getting a new SIM. A friend took his HotSpot into a Verizonwireless store and they said they couldn't put his existing HotSpot on Verizonwireless, that he would have to purchase a new device. Were you able to put your HotSpot on Verizonwireless?

That's what we did. I just gave Verizon the IMEI number on our old Millenicom MiFi and they sent me a new SIM. The SIM was free. We added it to a "More Everything" plan.

[Jim2]

Originally Posted by LDMcK

Jim, how did you get the new sim card?

They offered to overnite mail it to me, but since I was about to hit the road headed south, I drove to a nearby V store and got the SIM there.