This has nothing to do with music or videos, but I thought you guys might be interested in affordable internet for the home.

UPDATE: Normal internet users NEED NOT APPLY. You will go over the 10gb limit. I'm also having billing issues, even after I upgraded to the 10gb, it was still automatically charging me for additional GB after 1GB. I'm working with them to reverse the charges, but I'm definitely NOT HAPPY with this.

It's been three months since I placed an order for the Freedompop Hub Burst, and it finally arrived today.

To catch you up, this is a 4G Cellular/Wireless modem. It has one Ethernet port, which you can plugged this a wireless router and have a number of wifi-enabled devices hooked up to it. Setup was a cinch, I never even bothered to look at the user manual.

The device itself costs $89.99, but you are given 1GB of free data a month - so if you are just using Freedompop to check your emails and Facebook, it's free for you. If you are an average user, you can pay for upgraded services, which I've listed below:


The price includes 10GB of data, if you go over, they will charge you $0.005 per MB (which is about $5 per 1GB). I suppose it can end up being more costly than what I was previously paying for internet (Comcast's internet for $60 a month), but if you aren't doing super heavy downloading or video streaming then I think you will be fine.

I don't know what my usage will be, but I'll track my data usage closely to let you know if 10GB will cut it for me or the average savvy internet user.

As for the speed - it's pretty impressive for wireless (read: not cable or wires into the home). I'm on "Basic" 1.5mbps, and I think the speed works great. Upload speed averages .7mbps, which is not great, but I'm not doing heavy uploads. If I'm streaming YouTube, I don't really mind having to let it buffer for a few seconds. YouTube also know and determine the video quality to playback, so videos do load up okay, although the quality suffers. I will likely upgrade to 3mbps, which I think is a good half-way point. We'll see. I'll update this again when I upgrade my service soon.

FREEDOMPOP: WHAT'S IN THE BOX

The only problem I can see is that people will not want to pay for $89 for the modem. However, just think of it this way: it's a one-time installation fee. For example, I inquired Comcast about internet service in my house - and they wanted to charge me up front $79 for them to install wires in my house. Even as a "loyal" subscriber for many years, there just wasn't a way avoiding paying for an installation at a new home. Plus, Comcast will charge you a rental fee for their cable modem. Since you paid for the Freedompop modem, there's no reoccurring monthly rental charge.

If you're not happy with your internet services right now, especially with steep pricing - I suggest looking into Freedompop as an affordable internet alternative. There's no contract, so you can cancel anytime. If you're not happy, you can even return the modem for a refund.

Anyway, I will update later if I have crappy services or problems.... but so far, so good.