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61 of 69 found the following review helpful:
 Device/service NOT ready for primetime!!! Worse than ever now.Nov 22, 2010
By skip
Note: This is a history of events. The bottom of this review has latest update.
I've taken over this device from someone who claimed it was really slow when he used it in home in manhattan. I'm using it now in queens and when the speed is descent, it is somewhat better than when I was using the novatel mc760 usb wifi modem. For streaming videos, expect to wait for it to cache b4 any playback and wait, and playback, etc. Tested speed vs at&t iphone service (tethered) and at&t on iphone runs about 4-5x faster than this.
Biggest problem w/ this mifi is that it always drops my connection, often multiple times w/in the hour - I really hate this part. I then have to restart modem via browser or take out battery and put it back in, or turn it off/on - usually in about 2-3 minute. OK speed for me, but super annoying disconnections. I can see this being a huge problem while doing large downloads. I rarely experienced disconnections w/ my mc760 using same virgin $40 unlimited option. At the very least, why can't this stupid device just reconnect to ISP automatically when it disconnects?!!
best speed using speedtest.net: I have seen this go just over 2Mbps, but speeds are sporatic at best.
worst speed for almost all day 12/1/10: between .08Mbps to about .26Mbps, most of the time less than .2Mbps - we're talking Kbps here. This is horrific speeds compared to line broadbands and even the at&t iphone service. Don't expect to stream any videos at this pathetic speed. It is so slow all day, it is painful.
I should have tested the speed of my novatel mc760 and give this mifi a rest for a month.
update 11/22/10
i'd give this zero stars if i could. this crap disconnects so many times w/in the hour it's unusable. Called Virgin and they say it's a problem w/ the battery. Since this was bought at walmart, looks like i'll have to make a trip to get a battery replacement. I hope that's will fix this annoying problem.
update 11/23/10
walmart informs hardware replacement must be done w/in 15 days of purchase so i called virgin again. virgin rep today has no idea of faulty battery issues. had me go thru setup/restart device (which i've already done b4). still has disconnection issues. called virgin again and this rep wanted me to go thru setup/restart device (deja vu). she has no record of any of my previous calls. she finally admits that there is a problem w/ their mifi servers outage which causes disconnections. it must be having outages multiple times per hour. between poor phone signals and poor english from tech support, we were talking in circles. i made sure the rep logged my call so that it doesn't become a new case every time. I'm not sure where the problem is exactly, but the reps seem to be covering up a much bigger problem w/ this device/service.
update 12/10/10
well after enough service calls and complaining they finally agreed to send me a replacement. Got the replacement device. It does feel like it disconnects a lot less now although there are times when it would disconnect at least 5 time (maybe more) in the hour. It would have probably disconnected more times in that period but since it doesn't reconnect w/ isp automatically, you wouldn't know that it disconnected unless u were using internet service. i wonder if choosing the log option caused it to disconnect more. i did that the other day, and it started disconnecting like crazy. so i removed logging. however, it still disconnected about 2 more times so not sure.
on 12/9 the device had an outage for 2 hrs and cust svc couldn't be reached. connects to isp, but no internet service. i guess they had a major outage and everyone was calling. i've also been checking my speed daily. The speeds are acceptable these days, avg between .3 and .8 Mbps. Sometimes it could be over 1 Mbps, but the speeds change so quickly between tests just 10 seconds apart.
speed test update 12/13 - tested in manhattan building and got about .5Mbps download speed after several tests. ironically, the upload speed was almost as high as the download. Compared on same machine w/ time warner cable isp and got about 9.3 - 9.8Mbps download. That's almost 20 times the bandwidth! w/ 9Mbps, it is easy to share the bandwidth. At .5Mbps, u barely have enough bandwidth for one machine, let alone share it.
Pros:Can support multiple wifi devices.
Acceptable speeds during "good" days. Great when it works.
small enough to fit anywhere.
access via admin page is reliable.
pc connect to device easily and pc never lost connection w/ device.
very portable and flexible.
access via pc wifi is preferred over usb wifi modem - takes less pc memory and quicker connection times.
good for on the move or if you don't have permanent address.
Cons:Frequent disconnections to isp and won't auto reconnect to isp. Worse than dial-up in this case.
Can only reconnect to isp by restarting device, or turn off/on, or reinserting battery.
takes about 2 minutes to restart device each time.
Customer service lack knowledge and "conceal" bigger problems.
Has only 2 lights - difficult to figure out what's happening.
Terrible when it acts up - make you want to throw it out the window.
Can be a pain when device is shared my multiple devices due to frequent disconnections and subpar bandwidth.
low reliablity and bandwith - don't use for work (vpn) or business.
can lose work. if connection is broken, it will auto redirect you to the admin page on browser and whatever you were typing before (in fb or email, etc.) will be lost. plan to do your editing in notepad or something.
device can get really hot.
unfortunately, i don't have much option since i don't have permanent address and will need this no contract device. much better than nothing. this mifi needs a real upgrade, maybe in the bios to prevent disconnection and auto reconnect to isp. if they can achieve this, then it will rock.
update 12/21/10
have to say that lately (about a week) the mifi has steadily been improving and the past 2 days, i didn't even have a lost connection after i turned it on in the morning!! I did lose connection once late last night bc of payment expiration. That did give me a bit of problem though bc it showed my device wasn't activated, but wouldn't let me activate it and get onto virgin site to make a payment either. I gave up after a few tries and retired for the night. This morning, it had no problem activating and I was allowed to make a payment. So far, so good. Also in the past week, i noticed that when i did get disconnected, it no longer redirected my to the admin page (that used to cause me to lose my work on a page that i was editing). Maybe it's a seasonal change, moon position, earth rotation thing, etc, but I really suspect that the earlier problems w/ the mifi is really stemming from the isp, which they are continually (and silently) addressing. Maybe tech development support is reading our problem threads? In any case, I am happy that things are certainly improving. Even the speed has been a lot steadier and usable compared to my early experiences. Let's see how this device/service holds up in coming weeks and months - fingers crossed. I have to give it an extra star now, and more stars later if service/bandwidth proves to be stable and reliable.
update 12/22/10
oops spoke too soon, this thing still acted up a number of times today and 3 times yesterday. It also redirected my page when I was on facebook and made me lose all my typing. Back to 1 star. still can't recommend them.
update 12/30/10
back to the dumps again, actually worst ever. disconnected me way so many times that i lost count, often just a minute after reconnecting. for 3 days now, it was running at dialup speeds again, between .1 - .2 Mbps, sometimes under .1Mbps - absolutely ridiculous and so unreliable! it often makes my session hang just by being so slow. called tech support 4 times and then they switched me to a different channel, then to a shared channel and back to one channel. still same crap speed, and disconnects like crazy. i spend so much time w/ this turtle net and w/ tech support, and trying to get work done, waiting for pages to load. i think once the service expires, i'll go back to my usb mc760. on my last call to tech support, they tell me they have engineers working on this now and it's slow bc of heavy usage thru the holidays. i don't buy it esp. when it is constantly slow day and night. i asked for credit for this lousy service and they credited me $10. if this keeps up, i'm going to keep asking for more credit back until i owe nothing for the month. everyone should start asking for credit now so that they'll realize that it'll cost them money if they don't get their act together.
verdict: mifi/isp still NOT ready for primetime!!!
58 of 67 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent value.Oct 28, 2010
By S. Power
Everywhere that we have used our Virgin Mobile Mifi, it has worked great. $40 a month unlimited internet with no contract, and the ability to only pay for it the months you use it, is the best deal out there. I highly recommend this device.
One note that you might not be aware of. None of the Mifi 2200's (for any carrier) can be used while they are connected to a computer's USB. The data connection to the computer shuts the Wifi off. There are three solutions. 1) If you use the Mifi on battery this isn't an issue (obviously) 2) If you use the Mifi plugged into a wall or car charger, with no data connection to a computer, this isn't an issue. 3) If you buy a "Power-Only", no data, USB cable, or modify your USB cable to remove the data connection, you can power it off your computer and still use the Wifi.
/// Update after 1 year. ///
We've had this for over a year now, so I wanted to provide an update. It continues to work very well, and is a great deal. We use it about every other month. That ability alone, to only pay for it when you want to use it, is a huge cost savings.
The service is very good. We rarely have any problem getting a connection or having service at a reasonable speed. The contract carriers may be a little faster, or a lot faster in some cases, but for budget conscious users the trade-off is worth the savings.
I really like being able to share the connection with multiple devices. My wife and I both have Kindles and often travel with multiple computer devices. The MiFi allows us to use everything without having to worry about getting each device onto the hotel's network. It even works in the car, which for the passengers is useful on long trips.
I have nothing but positive things to say about the MiFi 2200 and still strongly recommend it.
24 of 29 found the following review helpful:
Best Wireless Broadband Available!Oct 19, 2010
By Muhammad Miguel Ali Hasan
"Film Director & Political Pundit"
I haven't been writing a ton of reviews lately, but I had to give a shout out to Virgin Mobile and the MiFi device
For you roadwarriors (or like me, writers who frequent diners that have no Wifi service) this is the PERFECT and BEST device available
I was previously using a Sprint USB card that was $60 a month for 5 gigs of data, with a 2 year contract - the device purchase was also around $100
This Virgin Mifi has NO CONTRACT, is UNLIMITED DATA, and is $40 per month (pay as you go plans) - and this device is around $150
I can attest - the speeds are excellent and stable! In addition, you can hook up 5 devices total - I live in LA and I find no connection or speed problems (and apparently, this device uses the Sprint network, so if Sprint is good in your area, this is the device you want)
The battery is solid, as it usually lasts around 4 to 5 hours on a full charge, so you may wanna keep the charger around - I do use a Mac and you can hook it up directly over USB (which will also charge it), but doing so will also turn off the Wifi connection - and for what it is worth, it is faster over USB tethering
Anyways - I can't sing the praises of this device anymore - buy it! It's terrific and well worth it! You will NOT find a better wireless broadband plan out there
Love and peace everyone!
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Pure garbage reflecting the days of dial-upApr 04, 2011
By oneflashoflight
"oneflashoflight"
We have had this device for 9 months. It's garbage.
EVERY complaint written in all of the 1-star reviews here are accurate and universal. When it rarely works, it works well for basic web browsing, but would you own a car that only operated on one day each month?!?
We grew tired of this in mid-December but kept it going as more of a science experiment....just to see how bad bad could get.
Netflix = our average 2-hour movie takes nearly 4 hours to watch with all of the loading, service interruption, etc...(yes, really...every time); YouTube = requires pausing and letting the video buffer for several minutes...Hulu = 30-minute TV episodes an easy hour to watch with tons of pauses/interruptions...Customer Service is NON-EXISTENT and watching an email "send" for 20-minutes is amazing!?! Dial-up on vintage AOL didn't even take that long!?! We have a friend with one and it works the exact way, or doesn't work in the exact way.
Maybe if you lived somewhere that had no other service option, or you simply CAN NOT afford to pay what your local cable/internet provider is charging, then this is an option. But, we live in a major city and there is simply ZERO reason to suffer through this. Free Wifi at every coffee shop in town is better than this. The library is better than this. Blackberry tether is better than this!?!
We're exploding ours as an effigy of technological garbage this weekend because it would be bad karma to sell this as used to an unsuspecting buyer. This thing sucks.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 A thumb in the eye of the "leading" broadband providers that require a contract.Dec 01, 2010
By squashpup
"squashpup"
UPDATE September 2011: Virgin Mobile finally added another intermediary plan to their lineup. $20 for 500 mb for 30 days. Fair enough. This is the plan I use most of the time. It is good to know I can get the 2.5 GB for $50 if needed, and if I only want to surf for the weekend, I can get by with the 100 MB for $10 for 10 days.
The MIFI itself is still a little sketchy from time to time, requiring an occasional "reactivation". But, I've never had a problem with it that couldn't be fixed.
Be careful if you lose your password. My mother lost her password to her VM account, and now she can't get the $40 a month payment to stop (she was grandfathered under the old plan). We've called several times to no avail. I would always leave my account set to renew manually.
UPDATE April 2011: Choice isn't a strong point of Virgin Mobile's plans. I'm disappointed. I'm grandfathered on the Unlimited (with a 5gb throttle cap). Forty dollars for the first 5 gb, then reduced bandwidth. Not bad, but if I choose ANY of the other plans, I can never use that one again.
As of right now, the only plans available to new users is a 2.5 GB plan for fifty dollars, or a 100 MB plan for ten dollars. That's a HUGE gap in both price and bandwidth. Virgin needs to have an intermediate 1 GB plan for around thirty dollars or so, for intermediate users. Stupid that they don't. The plans simply aren't flexible enough.
If I had it to do over again, I'd look somewhere else...maybe even at a fixed monthly plan, if it were a better bargain. I feel like Virgin Mobile baited me in with a variety of plans, then yanked the rug out from under me, and their generic responses here to complaints are just salt in the wounds.
UPDATE January 2011: DON'T BUY YET! Word is that Virgin Mobile is changing their data plans AGAIN as of Feb 15, 2011. Problem is, no one knows exactly what those plans will be, because they refuse to release them! You'd be nuts to take that gamble. So, if I didn't already have one, I wouldn't order one now.
One thing is for certain. The forty dollar unlimited plan is history. Existing users will be grandfathered as long as they keep renewing the $40 plan, but as soon as they switch, even for one month, they can never use the $40 again.
Here's the kicker...the forty dollar "unlimited" plan will be "throttled" down to creepy-crawly speeds if you exceed 5GB of data in a month. Not exactly "unlimited", now, is it?
And new customers will never have the opportunity for the [...] unlimited plan at all. Word is the price of their "unlimited" plan, if it even will exist, will probably be higher. No word on what cost/bandwidth any other plans will be.
I feel like Virgin Mobile pulled the ol' "bait and switch". Heck, their unlimited plan has only been out a few months, and it always worked great, but now they're already doing away with it, after I already dropped [...] on a Mifi just to get this specific plan. I understand that no company can keep the same policies forever, but less than a year? Come on. Inexcusable.
What's next? I'm scared to find out. Wait until after Feb 15 at least if you're thinking of getting one of these. I had no experience with Virgin Mobile as a company before this, but in 8 months, they've dropped the selections from 4 plans to 2, changed from unlimited bandwith to a 5GB throttled cap, and now are eliminating the best plan they have altogether. No stability! When you buy a product that requires repeated investment in the long term, you like to have an idea of what that invesment might be! I sure don't right now!
******original review follows*******
The best part about this device? You don't have to pay for it if you don't use it.
Mine's been inactive for fifteen days now, and therefore hasn't cost me a cent. If I know I'm only going to use it for a brief period of time, I'll add 100 MB for [...]. If I anticipate heavy use, I'll get the [...] unlimited MB package good for one month.
Any time I want to use it, I can fire it up and access the Virgin Mobile site and buy bandwidth. Even if you have no bandwidth left, you can always access the Virgin Mobile website.
It is tiny, about the size of a credit card, and about as thick as four quarters stacked up. Slips easily into your pocket, ready to go at a moment's notice. Perfect for connecting an Ipod Touch while out and about.
Battery life is good considering the compactness of the unit. You can surf for a couple of hours between charges. Best part is, it is compatible with garden variety LG cell phone chargers. If you order a car or wall charger for an LG 220C TracFone, it will work with the MiFi. Save yourself some money this way and skip the more expensive Virgin Mobile accessories.
It really is versatile. You can open it up and allow connections without a password, or you can set it up as a temporary hotspot with a password of 12345, or you can leave the default password intact and surf privately.
Nevertheless, it isn't perfect. There are a few issues that I have with it.
1) It always takes more than one attempt to turn it off. You have to hold the button til the light goes out, and it often turns back on. If you don't pay attention, you'll run the battery down. I've done it more than once.
2) The activation procedure is a nightmare. You probably won't get it without calling Virgin Mobile. The number is in the manual. I've activated two of them (mine and my mother's). Despite carefully following the directions, both required a call to customer service. Fortunately, you only have to do it once, until...
3) ...it deactivates itself. It will ask you to contact Virgin Mobile, but that's not necessary. Just run the setup routine again. Your username and password will be saved from the previous setup, and it is just a matter of walking through the procedure and restarting the router. It doesn't happen often (I've only had it happen twice in about 6 months of use, and it takes less than three minutes to fix it). Virgin Mobile says they are aware of the problem and are working on it.
4) It is expensive to buy and hard to find. I bought mine for [...], but I see that they are now selling for up to $180 and are mostly out of stock everywhere. Crazy.
If I had to do it again, I would definitely get one (SEE EDIT ABOVE). I've used it on the road, while camping, as backup internet during power failures, and to make it though the weekend when I stay at a house that's dialup only. It has some idiosyncrasies and limitations, but those are far outweighed by the overall handiness of the device.
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