Prepaid Wireless Internet - No Contract Required!
Are you looking for prepaid
wireless Internet? Prepaid wireless isn't just about cell
phones anymore! One
exciting element that's evolved in the wireless industry over recent
years is wireless Internet, often referred to as wireless broadband or
mobile broadband.
So what is it? Think of your high speed Internet
access at
home that you get either through your television cable provider or your
phone
service
(referred to as DSL). Now take that high speed Internet
experience and make it mobile!
Note
that this is very different from what people have traditionally talked
about when they discuss wireless Internet or WiFi. WiFi
allows
you to take a broadband connection like cable or DSL, and broadcast it
wirelessly so that you can connect to it with your laptop or other WiFi
enabled mobile device (ex. iPad, Galaxy Tab) without having to plug any
cords into your
computer. The wireless Internet that I speak of here is
actually
cellular, which means that you're not confined to your home or
Starbucks HotSpot as is the case with WiFi. You can access
the
Internet wherever you would
normally have cell phone reception; now that's mobile Internet!
And even better is that you can now have prepaid wireless
Internet
with
no contracts.
Although you'll see some laptops with wireless (i.e. cellular) Internet
built-in, the
most common approach is to buy a wireless broadband card that slides
into a slot on your laptop, a USB modem that plugs into any
computer
with a USB connection, or a MiFi hotspot.
Depending on your wireless provider, and the type of card or
modem you
have, you'll
experience speeds that can meet most of your needs.
Especially if
it's 4G, you can even stream movies. At one point I
actually
canceled my high speed cable Internet at home, and exclusively used my
wireless broadband card. If you're the type of person who's
always on the move, you're likely to find this service absolutely
invaluable! And if you're not interested in being committed
to
one carrier with a contract, or just want to try it out, prepaid
wireless Internet is now available, and is a competitive and maturing
market, which means great pricing for us customers!
One
note to consider, however, before you cancel your broadband service
with your local cable or DSL provider: If you're downloading
large
amounts of data continuously, and for long periods of time, or
streaming a lot of video, you'll find
that wireless Internet won't perform as fast as you might hope it would
(unless, of course, you're using 4G).
Also, most providers will have clauses, even on unlimited
plans,
that restrict you from file sharing or continuous streaming (ex.
Internet video streaming). It's really
best for data bursts (as opposed to continuously high speed
downloading). I use it for the following activities and
don't notice any speed issues:
- Internet
browsing
- Email
- Watching YouTube
videos
- Watching streaming full length TV episodes
from sites like ABC.com (though this is more and more requiring a 4G
connection if you truly want a consistent high speed connection)
- Downloading music (ex.
iTunes)
- Downloading large software updates
So
my recommendation is to try it out and use it for a month or two before
canceling your existing service to ensure that the performance meets
your needs. Also, you'll want to take note of how much data
you're using to see if it makes financial sense to go completely
wireless. Even with prepaid wireless Internet,
depending on
your usage, you
might
find that you can save money. Though a couple of months trial
before
making any drastic changes is definitely recommended.

Not
all networks are created equally, so consider
that AT&T (GSM), for example, may not provide speeds that are
as
good as Verizon or Sprint (CDMA). At the time of writing
this,
CDMA technology can offer far greater speeds than can current GSM-based
implementations. That said, 4G LTE is really becoming the
standard next generation mobile broadband technology, which is starting
to be offered by prepaid broadband carriers. You can visit
the
Prepaid
Wireless Broadband
page for more details about mobile broadband technology and speeds.
You can also read an
interesting discussion about the
Definition
of Broadband. If there's anything additional
that you'd like to learn that you don't find on these
pages, please feel free to
Contact
me and I'll be happy to help. I also recommend that
you compare the reported speeds on the provider's website,
and be sure that they have at least a 30 day, or similar, return policy
so that
you can take it home and test it out in your normal environment.
Initially, the convenience of wireless Internet was not
available to
prepaid customers, however, that's certainly no longer the case.
There are a LOT of options available to us now!
Virtually
every carrier offers some type of prepaid offer. While some
are
much better priced than others, the great news is that we now have a
lot of options to choose from wireless providers that offer
prepaid wireless Internet and broadband modems and
service for
very reasonable prices.
If you're traveling in the U.S. for only a short period of
time, or only have a need for mobile Internet on rare occasions,
there's another option for you to consider. You can look at
aircard rental services. Renting means that you can not only
avoid a contract (compared to postpaid), but you can also avoid having
to invest in purchasing the equipment (compared to prepaid wireless
Internet). Learn more about
Wireless
Broadband Rental now! Also, if you're traveling
abroad and looking for
the best deal on a local prepaid broadband service, compare
mobile
broadband plans by visiting
International
Wireless Broadband.
Home
›
Prepaid Wireless Internet
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave a comment in the box below.