FreedomPop

[livingthedream]

I've been using FreedomPop's Photon hotspot in my car for the past 6 months and it works pretty well and the 500mb service has been free. The site is kind of gimmicky but it looks like you can get the same device for free now. This is my referrer link if you want to try it - http://www.freedompop.com/referral/e9YE You can also get more data by sharing your own links with friends.

[arebelspy]

I have FreedomPop as my home internet (12.5 gb/mo for 9.99), my wife and I each have a phone of theirs ($0/month for 1GB of data and some minutes and texts - she uses hers as her main phone, mine sits in a drawer as an emergency backup phone), and I also have one of the travel routers ($0/mo for 1GB).  So 4 FP devices.

Clearly I'm a huge FreedomPop fan as well.  :)

Their customer service sucks though.  And call quality is pretty bad.  But if you mostly need data (which we do, texting and data, not so much with the voice minutes), it's great.  So just monitor your use and don't go over and you'll be fine.

[Jack]

my wife and I each have a phone of theirs ($0/month for 1GB of data and some minutes and texts - she uses hers as her main phone, mine sits in a drawer as an emergency backup phone)

I heard on the radio (Clark Howard) the other day that they have a unlimited talk/unlimited text/500 Mb of 4G/unlimited 3G plan for $20/month that I was planning to look into, but your plan sounds even more interesting.

Questions:

• Is the 1GB data for $0/month deal still available?
• Is it 3G or 4G? If the former, is it fast enough in practice for VoIP?
• How many voice minutes do you get?
• What happens if you go over?

I'm currently on a 5GB 4G/unlimited 3G/negligible minutes for $30/month T-mobile plan for me, a $20/month PureTalkUSA plan for my wife, and a $35/year VoIP account that forwards to my cellphone and the home phone. Since I use less than 1GB of data/month, it sounds like I could just get a second VoIP plan for my wife, get her a new Sprint-compatible phone, and switch to two $0/month FreedomPop plans -- if service quality is good enough to rely on.

[arebelspy]

my wife and I each have a phone of theirs ($0/month for 1GB of data and some minutes and texts - she uses hers as her main phone, mine sits in a drawer as an emergency backup phone)

I heard on the radio (Clark Howard) the other day that they have a unlimited talk/unlimited text/500 Mb of 4G/unlimited 3G plan for $20/month that I was planning to look into, but your plan sounds even more interesting.

Questions:

• Is the 1GB data for $0/month deal still available?
• Is it 3G or 4G? If the former, is it fast enough in practice for VoIP?
• How many voice minutes do you get?
• What happens if you go over?

I'm currently on a 5GB 4G/unlimited 3G/negligible minutes for $30/month T-mobile plan for me, a $20/month PureTalkUSA plan for my wife, and a $35/year VoIP account that forwards to my cellphone and the home phone. Since I use less than 1GB of data/month, it sounds like I could just get a second VoIP plan for my wife, get her a new Sprint-compatible phone, and switch to two $0/month FreedomPop plans -- if service quality is good enough to rely on.

1. Yes, I believe so.  You get 500MB and then "earn" 500mb by adding "friend's" emails (people who already have the service - you can find lists online of email addresses to add - see here, for example)

2. 4G, yeah, but like I said, the voice quality is bad.

3. 200 minutes, 200 texts. We use all voip/google voice, so we don't actually use any minutes or texts (even though we talk a few hundred minutes and send 1000ish texts, none of it is through the phone plan, it's all using data).

4. You get charged per kb, just like any other plan.  You can have it shut down your data instead, also. 1GB tends to be way more than enough, especially if you have it hooked up to WiFi at other times.

Literally $0/mo (after an upfront cost of $80 or something for the phone) for the wife's plan is pretty nice, and my extra phone sitting in the drawer.  Hard to beat that.

[Cheddar Stacker]

I have FreedomPop as my home internet (12.5 gb/mo for 9.99)...

So you only pay $10/month for home internet? Seriously? I want in? My home internet just went up 50% last month and I haven't done anything about it yet.

Any downsides?

[arebelspy]

I have FreedomPop as my home internet (12.5 gb/mo for 9.99)...

So you only pay $10/month for home internet? Seriously? I want in? My home internet just went up 50% last month and I haven't done anything about it yet.

Any downsides?

Only downside is the usage cap.  Doesn't work real well if you have Netflix or any other streaming service or play lots of games or anything. 

Other than that it's been awesome!

[Cheddar Stacker]

I have FreedomPop as my home internet (12.5 gb/mo for 9.99)...

So you only pay $10/month for home internet? Seriously? I want in? My home internet just went up 50% last month and I haven't done anything about it yet.

Any downsides?

Only downside is the usage cap.  Doesn't work real well if you have Netflix or any other streaming service or play lots of games or anything. 

Other than that it's been awesome!

No online gaming for us but my 4 year old son loves Netflix. Might have to think about it for a bit.

Looks like they have 12mbps for $14.99 (says good for gaming and video streaming) and 1.5mbps for $9.99. Plus $80 upfront for the modem.

Thanks for the tips livingthedream and arebelspy!

[Jack]

2. 4G, yeah, but like I said, the voice quality is bad.

3. 200 minutes, 200 texts. We use all voip/google voice, so we don't actually use any minutes or texts (even though we talk a few hundred minutes and send 1000ish texts, none of it is through the phone plan, it's all using data).

Are you saying the VoIP voice quality is bad, or the quality of the "real" voice connection you don't actually use is bad?

Also, if you use VoIP/Google Voice your phones either stopped working when Google Voice XMPP bridging shut off a month or so ago, or you're understating your costs a little. Instead of $10/month (home internet) + $0/month (phone 1) + $0/month (phone 2) + $0/month (mobile hotspot) It's really all that + $?/month (VoIP line 1) + $?/month (VoIP line 2). Which VoIP provider do you use, and how much does it cost?

[arebelspy]

Yes to both.

I'm not understating any costs, I listed exactly what we pay.  It runs Android, use whatever service/app you like that's compatible.

Feel free to go do your own due diligence.  :)

[Jack]

I'm not understating any costs, I listed exactly what we pay. It runs Android, use whatever service/app you like that's compatible.

I don't understand -- what are you using that lets you call "real" phone numbers without using voice minutes or paying extra for a VoIP service? Google Voice stopped allowing third-party apps to connect back in May, and (as far as I can tell) Hangouts on Android doesn't support VoIP yet.

Feel free to go do your own due diligence.  :)

Gee, thanks!~

I thought I had done my due diligence, and that a VoIP provider was necessary!

[livingthedream]

I should also note on this that my device doesn't work at my house but their coverage map indicated this would be the case. Not a big deal since I use it in my car only but you might want to check on the coverage map before buying.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Thanks again for the information. I received my modem last night, setup was fairly easy, cancelled high cost telecom company this morning. I cut my bill by 75%.

I guess based on the coverage map and data usage capabilities it won't work for everyone, but it's a big win for me.

[arebelspy]

Awesome.  Did you cut Netflix too?

[Cheddar Stacker]

Awesome.  Did you cut Netflix too?

Nope. If it were just me I would in a heartbeat. The rest of my team would be very unhappy with that change.

I'm hoping the data package will be enough to cover what my son uses it for. If not we can go up to the $20 plan and still come out way ahead.

[arebelspy]

Awesome.  Did you cut Netflix too?

Nope. If it were just me I would in a heartbeat. The rest of my team would be very unhappy with that change.

I'm hoping the data package will be enough to cover what my son uses it for. If not we can go up to the $20 plan and still come out way ahead.

Is the $20 unlimited use?  Make sure you monitor it closely, Netflix chews up data...

:)

[Daley]

Awesome.  Did you cut Netflix too?

Nope. If it were just me I would in a heartbeat. The rest of my team would be very unhappy with that change.

I'm hoping the data package will be enough to cover what my son uses it for. If not we can go up to the $20 plan and still come out way ahead.

Is the $20 unlimited use?  Make sure you monitor it closely, Netflix chews up data...

:)

Don't forget, you can set Netflix's video playback quality lower to save on bandwidth as well.

[arebelspy]

According to their help page, here is Netflix's data use by quality setting:
Low (0.3 GB per hour); Medium (SD: 0.7 GB per hour); High (HD: 3 GB per hour)

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87

Even 3-4 movies at low quality will chew up 1/4 of your 10GB, and you're paying Netflix monthly for that low of usage?

I just can't see using Netflix and FreedomPop, they seem to be mutually exclusive to me.

I'm hoping the data package will be enough to cover what my son uses it for. If not we can go up to the $20 plan and still come out way ahead.

Although I'm not seeing a $20 plan on FP - how much data does it get you?  Typically the higher plans don't give you any more data, just speed, which doesn't help with this issue.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Awesome.  Did you cut Netflix too?

Nope. If it were just me I would in a heartbeat. The rest of my team would be very unhappy with that change.

I'm hoping the data package will be enough to cover what my son uses it for. If not we can go up to the $20 plan and still come out way ahead.

Is the $20 unlimited use?  Make sure you monitor it closely, Netflix chews up data...

:)

Don't forget, you can set Netflix's video playback quality lower to save on bandwidth as well.

It's not unlimited. $18.99 for 10 GB.

1 day in we've used 2% (95MB) of our 5 GB "allowance". That puts us at using about 60% of the limit by month's end. I will certainly continue to monitor. Small sample size I know.

Netflix is mostly used by our son for an hour here and there. This will be an interesting experiment. I will report back at month's end.

Thanks for the tips arebelspy and I.P. Daley.

[arebelspy]

Ah. Yeah, I have 12.49GB (special promotion thing), and we're on the edge some months, and have several GB left some months.   But we use the internet a lot.  Just don't stream videos.  Make sure you add the "friends" to get the bonus 500MB.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Update: One week in and we've used 13% of our monthly capacity, so we should be just fine. I did upgrade to the 10MB/month for $5 more after the Netflix discussion last week. I'll try to circle back again at the end of our first month since I know you are all on the edge of your seats in anticipation.

[livingthedream]

Cool. Glad it's working out for you. Keep stacking.

[Cheddar Stacker]

In case anyone cares, with 1 day left in our plan period:

My Usage
12.50 GB Total
12.40 GB — Plan Data
100  MB — Earn & Share
Earn More   
You've used 6.05 GB (48%).
1 days left in your plan period.

So it looks like this little experiment should work well for our family.

[arebelspy]

Nice!  Sounds like a great switch.  :)

[EarlyQuit]

Thank you all for this thread. I just made one of the best phone calls ever and cancelled my AT&T home internet service!!!! because I got the freedom pop modem in the mail today (a few days earlier than expected!) I should also mention that I was somewhat trapped before, because the building where I live is only serviced by AT&T as far as big companies go, so I had no negotiating leverage on the price of their service. The lesson learned is that you are never really trapped :)
When I signed up, freedom pop didn't have the same deals that were mentioned in the thread, but I am still much better off - $18.99 for 10 GB (1st month free). I was paying $54 a month before.
I think this calls for a mini celebration and I am going to have a beer now :)

Thanks again to all of you awesome badasses!!

[Cheddar Stacker]

Cheers!

At&t was my internet master as well. No more.

[livingthedream]

I received an email offering a free 4G mobile hotspot with free shipping for labor day.

[Davids]

If not for my use of netflix I would sign up for this service. I average close to 100GB per month.

[Miss Stachio]

For those using freedompop home broadband - has anyone noticed a price increase in their plan this month?  In my account, the plan for 10Gb went up from 18.99 to 21.99 but without any notification from freedompop.  Wondering if it is just my account or a uniform price increase for all freedompop customers.

[arebelspy]

Not here.

I'm on an old grandfathered plan of 12gb for $10, was just charged the normal 9.99 on 11/29.

Call them or email and see about getting switched back to the old pricing.

[EarlyQuit]

For those using freedompop home broadband - has anyone noticed a price increase in their plan this month?  In my account, the plan for 10Gb went up from 18.99 to 21.99 but without any notification from freedompop.  Wondering if it is just my account or a uniform price increase for all freedompop customers.

This happened to me as well, but they sent an email notification before the price changed.

[arebelspy]

I would not have the FreedomPop home internet if it cost $22 instead of $10 (I say this as a big FreedomPop fan).

But I can see it if you don't use much Internet and your local provider's minimum is 30-40.. might as well save a few bucks.

To me the price difference between a local $30 provider and FP's $22 is worth upgrading to unlimited.  If I'm capping my use at 10-12GB, I want significant savings.

YMMV.

[eyesonthehorizon]

Quick bump as this appeared to be the most recent post on the topic -
I almost finally bought in, as I got an email promo (theoretically one-day-only even though I clicked through and apparently qualified late) - for a Burst modem for $15 and one gig of data monthly at no charge. Fine print mentioned the service would be continuous for so long as Sprint had its WiMax service supported... so just before I approved a charge to my card, having read all the other legalese - turns out Sprint is shuttering its WiMax service in November, and resellers like Freedompop will have to switch to LTE antennas (what a great deal, modem at 80% off, wonder why...?)

Just thought I'd post a friendly warning to anybody else who came here to crowdsource their research like I did. You'll want to ensure you choose an LTE modem if you join, which isn't a clear choice on their site.

Q. I've been using a mobile-broadband service that resells Sprint's WiMax 4G, not its LTE. Isn't WiMax going away?
A. It is, and you'll need a new hotspot when that happens. Sprint announced some four years ago that it would replace its pioneering "WiMax" mobile broadband with the faster LTE standard other carriers use. Now, WiMax has less than year to live. ...

... At FreedomPop, you also find a mix of WiMax gear (advertised as only "4G") and LTE devices. That reseller's site only lists one broadband hotspot in the latter category, the Freedom Spot MiFi 500 LTE; another, the Freedom Spot Sierra 803, can be found at some third-party sites like NewEgg.com. ...

Emphasis mine. Source:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2014/12/07/wimax-4g-sprint-wireless/19917605/

[arebelspy]

If anyone wants my modem and to take over my plan, I'll send it for just the cost of shipping.

My plan is 12.49GB/mo. for $9.99.

It's from an early special/promotion and is grandfathered in--now you pay $23/mo. and only get 10gb.  My plan is 25% more, and less than half the cost.

Moving out of the country and have no use for it--would just toss it, but the plan is better than what you could get, so figured I'd see if any Mustachians want it.

We'd just change the email address on the account, then you'd go on and add your credit card instead of mine (for monthly payment/if you go over on data).

The modem will only work until Nov, as stated in the above post, but at that point you'd just need to buy an LTE device and activate it on the plan.

It's more work for me to transfer it over than just straight cancel it, but I figured it'd be a shame to cancel a plan so much better than the current offering if someone wanted FreedomPop anyways (and to make their total internet cost $10/mo), but otherwise will be cancelling this week.

If you just lightly browse the Internet, don't do much streaming (Netflix or YouTube), it's a great way to save on costs.  LMK.

[livingthedream]

I just received my new LTE hot spot from FreedomPop. It took over a month to ship. Very big and heavy compared to my photon but coverage seems better.

[sol]

I looked into BYOD options with freedompop.  I was hoping to put an old device to use on their "free" plan for limited data use.

But no dice.  Though the website still offers a $0 plan, you can't actually sign up for it.  I have coverage, I have eligible devices, I can activate them if I want to pay a monthly fee, I just can't sign up for the free plan.

It looks like they've suspended new customer sign ups without updating their website.  Which seems kind of shady, right?

[arebelspy]

Weird. Did you call? 

I have a few FreedomPop phone plans that cost $0 and are just sitting (one on my wife's iPhone 4S, but it obviously doesn't work overseas, and the other on a Android phone I no longer even own). We may be able to activate one of your devices on it and just transfer the account to you (just change the email and billing address associated with it, and the password on the account).

[Daley]

It looks like they've suspended new customer sign ups without updating their website.

This may be a glitch, but a part of me isn't holding my breath.

What we know:

-Though FreedomPop had been exchanging WiMAX for LTE devices, they were still selling WiMAX devices inside the exchange window and their website still contains multiple WiMAX network references a month past shutdown.
-The Sprint/Clear WiMAX network has been wholly shuttered, excuse a small handful of NPO customers due to an injunction only lasting until 05 February 2016.
-Sprint's 3G CDMA and 4G LTE data is priced at a premium to their wholesale partners when compared to the old WiMAX data prices.
-FreedomPop's "free" account registration has apparently been suspended given Sol's statement.
-FreedomPop also appears to be having issues with new account creation, preventing others from downgrading back to the free plans, and tethering has been eliminated.
-There have been a few investors (including Sprint) that had been interested in buying or investing in FreedomPop that haven't materialized in the past year.
-Multiple MVNOs in the past with unsustainable financial business models and pricing have a habit of vanishing like a fart in the wind.

I'm not saying that FreedomPop is in death throws or anything, but I would recommend caution and staying alert to the forums goings on if you have an account with them. Their business model may be changing soon.

[Daley]

Their business model may be changing soon.

From Dennis Bournique at Prepaid Phone News: FreedomPop Discontinues Most 4G-Only Mobile Broadband Plans

Freemium Sprint MVNO FreedomPop has quietly discontinued a number of their mobile broadband plans. For starters, all of the 4G-only plans are gone except for the free 500 MB plan. The Home Broadband plans that worked with the Freedom Hub Burst WiMAX Modem and Router are also gone, as are all plans that included more than 4GB of high speed data.

Looks like the low cost party is pretty well over.

[arebelspy]

Not surprising.

The more surprising thing is that it's actually still going: Looks like they still have the free 500mb/mo plan for new customers, and anyone grandfathered in on old plans can keep it. For now at least.

[Daley]

Nope, not surprising at all.

It is good to see that they haven't just folded up and they're still offering what they are for free, but much like RingPlus, the "freemium" financially supplemented through datamining options to cut corners on pricing really isn't that sustainable long term, and the MVNOs offering these things either fall in line charging what the others have to charge or vanish. FreedomPop chose to raise their rates and eliminate several paid products that reduce margin. We'll have to see how long that lasts without a change to their support model.

[arebelspy]

Yeah, if their service stays as poor as it has been, it won't last much longer.  Useful while it lasts, IMO, if you're okay with the caveats.

[aFrugalFather]

Before I had tethering on my phone plan I would use FreedomPop and it was nice to be able to connect for a limited amount of data for the month for free.  As long as you check the right boxes so you don't get charged I think they are worth a try. 

[katsiki]

Does anyone have any new info on these guys?  I had looked into their service a while back.  I recently received an email offering service on devices from free to $39.99.  I was thinking of getting the free device and using the free level of service for car trips, etc.  Thanks for any info!

[livingthedream]

Does anyone have any new info on these guys?  I had looked into their service a while back.  I recently received an email offering service on devices from free to $39.99.  I was thinking of getting the free device and using the free level of service for car trips, etc.  Thanks for any info!

Check out Sprint 4G coverage in your area to see if this will work. There's an extra charge for 3G.

[katsiki]

Thanks for the reply.  Coverage seems good for 4g.

[Josh2016]

I tried FreedomPop a year ago and the coverage was very bad (may be in my area). I had excellent cell phone signal from Verizon and AT&T. I keep the hardware for 2 months and sold it back on ebay. Is the service improved? If so I will try again.