Problems with Cricket Broadband

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Problems with Cricket Broadband

by Bob
(Tucson, AZ, USA)

Problems with Cricket Broadband:

Problem #1 - You always get dropped.

Problem #2 - Customer service sucks.

Problem #3 - The Web page was very poorly programmed. They say you can pay your bill online; perhaps true if you have a Cricket phone, but false if you just have broadband. The programmers made it impossible to get a password for broadband users. I tried at least 50 times, and each time I was led in a circle on the site. So I called customer service, and the idiot gave me a number to call, but it was someone's voice mail.

If you try to get a password at a Cricket store, again you will get a line of BS.

My advice is to stay away from Cricket. Also, you will never see the rebate Cricket offers. If you send in all of the info, including the UPC codes, you will get a letter stating that something was left out and you need to resubmit.
Believe me, I make copies of everything that is sent; these people are out to get every dime from you!

Comments for
Problems with Cricket Broadband

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Dec 10, 2011
Rating

all lies NEW
by: Anonymous

I have this service and everything the writer said was wrong. I've had a password since the beginning etc......

Dec 01, 2011
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Cricket Broadband is a Joke!
by: Anonymous

I've had the Cricket EC1705 broadband modem for about 6 months now and I'm getting sick of it. I live in a rural area where any and all DSL companies are out of the question, and Virgin mobile is about 3-5 kbps on a good day so that left me with Cricket. Paying is a huge pain. Every time I try to pay with my debit card I always get a server crash (FAIL) so I have to call them on the phone and pay.

I refuse to pay more than $30 a month for a higher data cap. Before I pass the data cap my speeds are about 100-150 kbps which isn't THAT bad but still slow. Then I reach my pathetic 1GB data cap, and my speeds drop to 3-12 kbps. I've been searching for a way to reset this but I can't find a solution. All in all, Cricket rips you off, their website is crap, the coverage area is VERY small, and can cause depression and thoughts of suicide. OK I'm done ranting. Have a nice day.

Nov 05, 2011
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CRICKET OVERALL IS HORRIBLE
by: Anonymous

Cricket customer service reps on the whole are rude- and poorly trained.Their customer service is horrible. Cricket broadband is a joke. 40 bucks for the prepaid card and I sit for 20 minutes literally waiting for a page to load!! And dont even think about calling customer service because they know NOTHING!!!!

Jul 01, 2011
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NO PHONE AND NO REFUND AND NO SERVICE
by: Anonymous

I ordered a phone from Cricket online as an overnite shipping order. The package was never delivered because the apartment number was entered wrong by the customer service rep. The package was shipped back to cricket. It's been 16 days and the package is still in limbo. Cricket says once they recieve the package, they can give me a refund in 30 days. Not fair at all. Their fault and everything. I can't get a decent sales rep to explain anything. And they act like they have no supervisors. No service whatsover AFTER they collected my money. So I have no phone and no refund. I'm the small person and they are the big business. It's so unfair that we can't do anything, but just like they refer to their fine print when discussing an issue (fine print they can't even understand or explain) I am going to use their fine print against them, and take them to arbitration. Because that is one option available.

Jun 03, 2011
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scheiß service...kein speed (service sucks...no downloadspeed)
by: Cristian

Hab mir solch ein Scheißteil von Cricket gekauft, USB Stick plus 40 Dollar Monatskarte. Die ersten 2 Testtage alles kein Problem, ausser der langsamen Datenübertragung von 12Kbit/sec. Testphase vorbei, 1 Monatskarte vorher schon aktiviert, nichts geht mehr. Die einzige Website die zum aufmachen geht ist die von Cricket. 1-800 Cricket Serviceline, schade um die Zeit da nur ein Roboter rangeht, und kein Service Typ. Kann diese Scheiße keinem empfehlen.

I bought this piece a s**t plus the monthly card for 40 bucks. After the 2 day drial, hell is coming loose. No downloadrate, and the only website Ì was able to reach, was the f***ing site from Cricket self. They have an absolute horrible Customer Service, and the Help Line 1-800 Cricket is just a f***ing answeringmachine. DON`T buy that shit, spend better some bucks more and take a provider who knows how it works.

May 02, 2011
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lousy service and lousy customer service
by: Anonymous

Cricket broadband has a lousy customer service. Since I got the modem my internet searches always result in showing me sites in Phoenix, AZ, despite the fact that I live in Las Vegas, NV. I went to the corporate store several times to complain and to show the people what is happening, nothing changes. I wrote them an email and I got no response. My internet service is cut off all the time, especially in the evening. I get messages like no device or the port is not open. It is practically impossible to watch anything on Youtube or any other video online. For this kind of lousy service it is way too expensive.

Feb 22, 2011
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Cricket Broadband not what it is suppose to be
by: Ms J

I have Cricket Broadband and lately it has been staying more off and on , dormant and just stopped working.........

Feb 03, 2011
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Cricket Broadband Speeds
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Assuming you haven't gone over your monthly allowance (after which they throttle your speed), you should be getting MUCH faster speeds than that (i.e. faster than 150kbps)! You shouldn't need to get another modem. I recommend calling Cricket and complaining about the speed.

Feb 03, 2011
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slower than a snail in winter.
by: Anonymous in Tucson

We got the new cricket highspeed wireless 2 months ago, upgrading from the regular internet service. Since then it rarely goes over 55kbps. The first week it went over 150kbp most of the time. We have the UM185C modem...do we need an upgrade? thanks.:)
BTW we did get our rebate eventually...it took 4 months.

Oct 12, 2010
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local area connection problem.
by: Anonymous

My internet is connecting, but it will not allow me to connect to my playstation. It is saying I have a local area connection #5 problem. What's going on?

Sep 21, 2010
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Cricket Broadband Usage Management Policy Change
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Thank you for your correction. You're right! I had learned this a few weeks back, and forgot to update this thread. So, the rolling 30 days IS as you describe it, which is pretty pathetic in my opinion.

HOWEVER, the good news is that sometime earlier this month (Sept), Cricket changed their broadband usage management policy such that usage is now reset at the start of the next billing cycle. This is definitely great news, b/c the rolling 30 day cycle (which I incorrectly described in my earlier comment; sorry!) is really a horrible customer experience.

This resetting at the beginning of a new cycle approach is much easier to understand, and certainly much easier to know when you'll get your speed back!

Note that their Website still shows the rolling 30-day terms, however, when I talked to a live agent, they noted that the new policy is in place, even though the Website hasn't yet been updated.

If anyone has any personal experience with the change, or evidence to the contrary, definitely please let us know!

Sep 21, 2010
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rolling 30-day period
by: Anonymous

Comment on Cricket's 30-day rolling download limit:

A previous comment is incorrect, which said:

"In there they also note that it's a rolling 30 day period. So if you go over your limit on day 5 or day 15, or day 27, once your 30 days is up (i.e. the length of service that you purchased), and assuming that you've paid for another month, you'll get reset to the normal/fast speed. "

The way the rolling period works is, if you go over your limit on day 5, you DON'T get reset on day 30, you get reset sometime between day 31 and day 35 (5 + 30).

On day 31, your day 1 usage is disregarded, on day 32 your day 2 usage is disregarded, etc. So if you didn't use the service at all on day 1, you will be reset on day 31

And if you use a lot on say day 1 and day 15, what you downloaded on day 1 is going to be counted toward your limit until day 31 and what you downloaded on day 15 is going to be counted until day 45.

Sep 06, 2010
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Finally Dumped Cricket and Got Happy
by: Lynn

After the experiences I wrote about 12/31/09 I continued with Cricket until the end of June 2010. Their wacky billing errors also continued. On June 26 I went online to pay July's bill but service, went dormant seconds after I logged on. But it was long enough to see I had a previous balance of zero. So I try again the 28th, get connected and see they now want 90 dollars plus change. That was the last straw for me. While customer service has acknowledged there's an issue with the accounting software on some accounts, they won't DO anything about it.

I went without any internet access for a couple months while deciding what to do. In the meantime I'd go to the public library with my laptop where wireless access is free. I decided to go with Comcast while they were laying new lines in the neighborhood. I get a steady 18 Mb upload and 21 Mb download for $24.99 a month. I can now watch YouTube, which I couldn't with Cricket. And service doesn't go dormant 100 times a day so I can browse websites with ease, plus watch any movie I want to see. Getting away from crazy Cricket and all it's problems and misinformation actually changed my life; it had been that aggravating!

Sep 06, 2010
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Cricket Broadband
by: Anonymous

I have Cricket Broadband, and it keeps going off line. I have to keep dailing up to return on the internet, and this is a repeated matter day and night time. I made a month ahead payment and still I have the weak broadbant. I am planing to get a faster internet service, that does not leave or become weak at times. When I had Comcast Internet service, I had no experinces like this. I would not recomend Cricket Broadband to anyone, and the advertisemment on regular TV doe not reveal the problems people will experince later. I will be stuck with my purchase modem soon.

Aug 06, 2010
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Cricket Broadband Speed Throttling
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Yes, my understanding is generally the same with a few nuances. I don't believe they disallow particular activities (ex. movie downloads) per se. It's just that the speed you get will be such that it's not at all practical to use any high bandwidth services because they will be PAINFULLY slow.

Also, I do believe that they disclose this in their terms and conditions in the fair use policy on their site. If you look under the plan details on their broadband page you'll see a note about all plans having a usage level. It's actually in normal font size, which is nice to see.

In there they also note that it's a rolling 30 day period. So if you go over your limit on day 5 or day 15, or day 27, once your 30 days is up (i.e. the length of service that you purchased), and assuming that you've paid for another month, you'll get reset to the normal/fast speed.

Most companies will actually just cut you off (for prepaid), or charge you exorbitant per MB overage fees (for postpaid). But as you note, it's pretty useless at that speed, and you'll basically be stuck just checking email; even loading a basic website will be painful.

I suppose it's debatable whether throttling the speed is better or worse than simply cutting you off. I think if I'm aware of my usage level (so I'm not surprised by the reduction in speed), I'd rather have some access than none.

Aug 05, 2010
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This is why your Cricket broadband speed is slow
by: Anonymous

What Cricket does not tell you is that it has a 2.10 gb download limit for each month , after you have reached 2.10 gb of downloading they don't cut you off but they do cut your broadband speed to less than half.

After you have reached your download limit you will have to wait 15 days or longer with no downloading or streaming video or movies before your broadband speed is returned to normal.

Jul 24, 2010
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not a cell phone
by: Anonymous

sometimes my broadband messes up and the screen looks like im on a cell phone..!..the connection manager only pops up when IT feels like it, and not all the txt messaging goes thru!!

if it was up to me i would not allow cricket to sell anything.!!!!!

Jul 11, 2010
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What Affects Broadband Speed
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

What affects wireless broadband speed is not an easy question to answer, as there are a number of variables.

There's your computer performance. Your PC needs to have the processor speed, harddrive space, and available RAM to process the video data that you're downloading. The number of applications you have opened also plays into these things. That said, most modern computers should not pose a bottleneck at all. I typically have 4-6 applications opened, as well as 20 or more tabs in Firefox opened, and I've never had it impact my video download/video speed.

There's the video application. What I mean by this is that some applications that are downloading the video will buffer for several minutes or more while you wait, and then start playing. Thereafter the buffering continues but there's ample lead time such that the video streams well throughout the whole video.

Other applications try to buffer is very short spurts in an attempt to start playing as soon as possible. However, what often happens is what you describe, with short bursts of buffering followed by the video playing for a very short period before more buffering is needed.

Personally, I'd rather wait for a number of minutes and not have a problem after that, have the choppy/frustrating experience.

Wireless coverage also plays in. If you're in a fringe area with poor reception, you'll also have problems like you describe.

Anyway, assuming your PC is relatively modern (i.e. no more than 3-4 years old), you're probably ok. If you go to speedtest.net and post your results, I can let you know if the actual broadband speed you're seeing is reasonable. Assuming you're not over your Cricket plan data allowance, your speed shouldn't be throttled, and you should be able to view videos reasonably well. That said, while I was testing Cricket broadband service, while I could view real time videos, it wasn't consistent. i.e. Usable but not fantastic.

Jul 11, 2010
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slow loading video clips
by: Alice

It takes forever to load a video clip from YouTube or any webpage. It loads for a while, then you watch a little while, then it loads some more, and you watch a little more, then it loads so....well, you get the picture (not if it's Cricket). Is it my computer or the broadband gadget?

Jun 12, 2010
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Would probably have better service using 2 tin cans and a string!
by: Sonny Walls

Cricket Broadband has to be the worst "service"(if you want to call it that)out there.....You spend more time redialing after your line was dropped, than you spend online......customer "service" is a joke......when you do finally talk to someone from customer service, it is almost impossible to talk with them unless you speak their language, which definitely isn't English. They want to talk over you with their canned pitch, then as a result never resolve your problem. If I knew of another service comparably priced in my area....I would sign up in a heartbeat! As far as I am concerned Cricket can kiss mt _ss!

May 21, 2010
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overpayment
by: Anonymous

I sent in a payment to them instead of to my credit card company. Of course I sent it electronic and didn't catch it in time. So I overpayed them over $300.00 tried to get the money back. They said they couldn't refund the money. So I cancelled the account, they said that they would also take next months payment and send, it will take 14 days. Still waiting. Customer service is terrible I couldn't understand them. Kept telling me my phone was cutting out. How? I was on a land line! Would not recomend these people.

Jan 01, 2010
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Cricket Issues
by: Tom

Recap: Cricket Customer service is setup to route communications to insecure and unintelligent personnel that can only give minimal answers. Upon politely requesting a Supervisor, the Customer service rep. hung up the telephone...and a repeat hangup, on a recall.

A visit to a Cricket store approximates the feel of a sleazy check cashing store, with nice employees, but minimal customer service.

This may not be a bad product if you have no issues, however this is never the case with electronics. Wise to avoid this service.

Dec 31, 2009
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Billing errors & impossible customer service
by: Lynn

Paying by phone - no problem except I don't like being charged a $2 for using a credit card to pay.

Paying via bank's bill pay feature - seemed easy, except on July 3rd I was disconnected. The payment made June 30 for July has NEVER been credited to my broadband account to this day. I've since provided bank statements to prove payment, but talk to a different rep each time to no avail. My niece had just died and I didn't want to bother with this so I quickly paid it again, by phone this time, and paid the late fee. I foolishly assumed the error would be corrected and I'd be credited the following month, so I let it ride.

For the next few months I paid by phone and remained unaware that a payment hadn't been credited.

Then I made the mistake of paying via the website in late Oct for Nov. I get an email thanking me for my payment, and I see the payment cleared my bank immediately. Yet service was disconnected on Nov 2. I called customer service, couldn't reach anyone so on Nov 5 paid for Nov AGAIN, complete with a late fee AND the credit card fee. I MUST have internet access to send data from a heart monitor every evening to my doctor, and there aren't multiple options for access where I live. I NEED the service and I PAY for it. This 2nd payment should have been credited to Dec's bill. Anyway, I finally reached a rep named Tammy or Pammy and she extended my service for a week in Dec while this could be sorted out. I wanted to know where my money is going since it isn't going to my account. In mid-Dec I took Cricket receipts, email and all my bank statements to a local Cricket store, confident that this would soon be resolved. The store clerk was confused by the extension I'd been granted so proclaimed the account was paid late but current. Paid late? Since when does paying 26 days early mean it's late? She would not compare my bank statements to the online account, which was what Tammy/Pammy told me to request at the store. My service had again been disconnected the day before for "nonpayment", and she couldn't explain why that was. But she did have it turned on again.

I took the store clerk's word that I was current. However, I just checked my account on the website, expecting to see a $24 credit for being charged late fees when in fact I'd paid early those two times (via website and billpay), plus credit for 7-10 days that I was without service despite having paid. But instead, it shows that 2 months are due today. This just blows me away. My social security income won't stretch enough for me to overpay repeatedly and I don't see why I should be limited to paying by phone and have to pay extra fees for doing so, simply because my account is not being credited for payments made any other way. This nightmare has to end. surely there is someone who can straighten this nonsense out; it is Cricket's mistakes that I'm paying for, after all.

Dec 11, 2009
Rating

Cricket Prepaid Broadband Issue Resolution
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Great info; thank you for sharing! Just to clarify, you're saying that when you close down IE, the Cricket connection is closing as well and causing the problems your having. You suggested that we close down IE completely before closing Cricket broadband. How do we close it completely? Or did you mean to say that the Cricket connection should be shutdown before closing IE? Thank you!

Dec 10, 2009
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More on XP shudown problem...
by: Stephen Bell

I have discovered one case which has been common for me that causes this hang on shutdown to occur (although there be other issues). This is when you are online, and shutdown explorer before closing Cricket. It appears that Cricket Broadband is closing itself down as well, but it leaves mPhonetools behind. Solution: always shutdown explorer completely, then close your Cricket link to the internet. This seems to basically solve my problem.

Nov 21, 2009
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XP Shutdown problems with Cricket Broadband
by: Stephen Bell

I have not yet determined how frequent this problem is, but I have confirmed that it is the cause of Windows XP hanging on shutdown. When Cricket Broadband loads, it calls up a program called mPhonetools.exe. This can be found in taskmanager. When Cricket has been closed, this program remains and causes the shutdown command not to function. During shutdown, XP tries to shutdown the process but fails. Use taskmanager to locate and shut off the process and shutdown will complete nicely. (opening a dos command window and typing shutdown -L also works when the freeze happens; selecting Log Off from Start menu doesn't help)

Oct 20, 2009
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Cricket Wireless Issues
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Sorry to hear about your problems with Cricket's service. Your experience with logging in online sounds extremely frustrating! I expect that they didn't fully integrate their prepaid broadband product with their core voice offering, which is unfortunate. Hopefully they received your feedback when you called them, and will eventually fix it.

As this site grows, and I receive more and more feedback, my plan is to invite carriers to review the comments to help them learn about what their customers want, and the pain points they're experiencing. I'm starting to see the necessary growth starting to happen, so please have your friends also leave their reviews...good or bad! In the meantime, I have been reaching out to various carriers to let them know of issues that people tell me about, either by directly contacting me, filling out the survey, or via these prepaid wireless reviews.

With respect to rebates; wow, do I hate the idea of mail in rebates! If you're going to give me a deal/discount, just give it to me! I understand that part of a company's financial analysis involves calculating that only a certain proportion of customers will actually follow through on the rebate, which makes it more affordable for them. Unfortunately, as you noted, some of the rebates that they never end up having to give out aren't due to people not submitting for it, but rather that they're missing some piece of information or document here or there that results in them not being eligible.

So while the rebate can be a great savings for customers who follow through, and are actually successful, it can be a long (3-4 months) and frustrating process!

Personally, I think it would be an overall better, and more satisfying customer experience if companies simply applied instant rebates, or basic conditions, like buy and use the product for X number of months, and we'll send you the rebate; no hoops to jump through!

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