Like Cricket, Slingshot has an ‘unlimited broadband plan’. However, they state it’s only up to 5 GB. Yup…does not compute.Slingshot has four prepaid mobile broadband plans to choose from:
1. 100 MB for $24.95
2. 250 MB for $34.95
3. 500 MB for $49.95
4. ‘Unlimited’ for $59.95
As each plan has no credit checks, contracts or deposits, you can turn it on and off at will.
Like ReadyBroadband it’s similar to a prepaid cell phone where you top up as needed. In addition to buying ‘recharge cards’, you can also recharge your plan on their website.
Naturally, the question that pops up is how do you know how much you need?
While I cover what my regular use has looked like in the past (it’s much higher now since I use my broadband card as my sole connection), you can also get a detailed explanation in Lesson 3 of Mobile Broadband Buyer’s Guide.
As for their ‘unlimited mobile broadband plan’? Like Cricket Prepaid Mobile Broadband, they state that it’s unlimited up to 5 Gigabytes.
Wait…what?
How does something be unlimited up to a point? Last time I checked unlimited was kinda like infinity. It doesn’t end. Unlimited up to a point is a walking talking oxymoron. It doesn’t compute. Do not pass go and don’t collect $200.
It’s this kind of marketing that got Verizon, AT&T and even Sprint into some heavy lawsuits that cost them millions. You don’t mislead or misrepresent your product or else the Attorney General is gonna have to come after you.
Nevertheless, so long as you are now fully aware that should be good enough for now. At mobile-broadband-reviews.com, we like full disclosure. For more details on that, check out “My Ethical Bribe”.
We now resume our regularly scheduled broadcast.
There’s a not-so-slight hiccup that happens if you try to purchase Slingshot prepaid mobile broadband. When clicking on the buy now button…you can’t actually buy now. You’re greeted with a lonely string of text that reads:
Please visit one of our retail partners to purchase a modem.
Alrighty then. Let’s try click on ‘partners’…nope no listing of retail partners anywhere. As a matter of fact, we can’t seem to find any link to anywhere to buy anything. That’s a problem. To their credit, the service is new…wait…a sec…it’s been around since last year. Strange indeed.
Well, since no startup prices could be found on their actual site, after browsing around for information we dug up that they sell a starter kit for $249 that includes a modem, monitor clip, USB cable and carrying pouch plus 2 months of service. If you take away the two months, the startup kit technically costs about $130.
So, if that’s how much it costs, how fast is Slingshot’s prepaid mobile broadband?