Don wants to know about FreedomPop
We are “snowbirds” who fly from Michigan to Florida and are wondering what “FREDOMPOP” is and if it would provide Wi-Fi free for us. I’ve seen mixed reviews and I am confused about how it works. I’ve been a life time subscriber and trust you totally. You helped this old “geezer” many a time. Thanks, Don.
Our answer
Hi Don. When FreedomPop was introduced back in April — we wrote it up and since it was brand new, it sounded like it may be work looking into. Well here it is almost 8 months later, and like so many other ideas that seemed great in the beginning, FreedomPop has evolved into something else.
I checked on FreedomPop’s coverage area and found its coverage to be limited. They guarantee you up to 500MB of bandwidth free, but I was curious about the “up to” part – more digging was needed. It seems they “Throttle” free users — i.e. slow them down to give the best speeds to paying customers.
Another thing I was skeptical of is there is not much information on their Web site – and I was not able to find any coverage maps or plan pricing, nor was I able to find any MiFi device pricing. So my first thought was — what are they hiding?
We had to do some digging and what we found tells us you should steer clear of FreedomPop. It sounds like a bad deal to us.
My reservations about FreedomPop is that they’re secretive about their plans and pricing. Perhaps they just want you to call to find out and sell you a plan on the phone. I don’t know. I’ve never used either one, although I have used a Sprint MiFi and was pretty happy with it. I rented the Sprint MiFi from a condo I was staying in in Florida — (no it’s not my condo! Heavens, I couldn’t afford a tent!)
After further digging around about FreedomPop I came up with the following (not from FreedomPop’s site):
“FreedomPop offers a USB stick for a $49 deposit, or a portable hotspot for $89, both refundable minus the cost of shipping. The stick plugs into any PC or Mac, so it’s a good option if you’re often out and about with a laptop and there’s no Wi-Fi around. The hotspot provides wireless data for up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices at a time, so it makes more sense if you’ve got tablets or portable gaming devices to connect. Just keep in mind that it only gets about six hours on a charge.
FreedomPop is also taking pre-orders on sleeves for the fourth-generation iPod Touch, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. These sleeves do not provide voice or text service (though you can use VoIP services such as Skype). They simply work the same way as the portable hotspot, providing data for up to eight devices, including the iPhone or iPod itself….”
Where does the data come from and where does it work?
FreedomPop piggybacks on Sprint’s 3G network and Clearwire’s 4G WiMax networks, but doesn’t offer nationwide coverage. Instead, coverage is available in 71 markets.
FreedomPop claims to offer 4G data speeds, but until 4G LTE becomes available next year, the network relies on the slower WiMax standard instead. Even then, the fastest speeds are only available to users who pay $3 per month for a speed boost. Free users get throttled…”
But wait,, there’s more:
Now, a 4 gig plan is $28.99.. quite high for only 4 gig. something else to note. its all BETA. This is also in your agreement, so it sounds like you are actually buying the equipment: In order to use the Broadband Service and Value Added Services, you are required to purchase Equipment made available by FreedomPop.
Now they add insult to injury by requiring you to sign a two year contract if you decide to go with a service: Extended Term Plan. In order to receive more favorable pricing, some of the Broadband Service Monthly Plans that we offer require you to maintain Broadband Service with FreedomPop for a minimum period, usually two (2) years
You provide credit card info upfront for when you go over.. you can bet most anyone will be going over in a very short time. They round up for charing.. ie., if you use 1.22 gig of bandwidth, they charge you 1.3 ..sneaky.
Read further.. if you use the free service, they automatically deduct .99 to keep status active. If you cancel free for a period of time, you pay $19.99 to start it back up.
Oh.. wait.. there is more.. Stated prices for the Services do not include applicable sales taxes, surcharges, fees or other government or regulatory charges, which may include without limitation, mandatory surcharges for federal and state Universal Service Fund contributions, state and local 911 fees, and cost recovery surcharges. No idea what that is, but it adds up, trust me.
Now, back to that equipment lease, the info on that is difficult to understand in the fine print, but from what I can see, if you return it, they only accept returns if you have been using the equipment and if it is within the first year. Then, you have to wait 90 days for the return of your money.
My advice? RUN. Don’t even consider FreedomPop.
I have one suggestion for you as a viable alternative to FreedomPop.
NetZero 200MB free – you buy more bandwidth more money. This is typical pre-paid service. You pay as you go. See this page. The coverage areas are better than FreedomPop — you can get 1 GB of bandwidth for $19.95 / month. It’s pay as you go — no contracts. You do need to buy their MiFi device. The “Hotspot” is a one-time price of $49.95 and lets you connect up to 8 devices simultaneously. NetZero pretty much puts everything out there for you to see — I like that. It eliminates unwanted surprises later.
Keep in mind that 200MB and 500MB are not much in the way of bandwidth. If all you’re going to do is check and send emails and do a little web browsing then you should be okay with 500MB or 1GB. But if you plan on heavy internet usage you’re probably going to be looking at around 2GB to 4GB of data transfer a month.
Just based on the information that NetZero puts upfront – and FreedomPop hides, I’d go with NetZero.
Hope this helps you and others who may be traveling away from home this winter.
It is important to see if you are in Freedompop’s coverage area. You can do this by going to http://freedompop.com
If you get coverage, Freedompop is great. I have had the mobile 4G hotspot for two months. I don’t use it a lot. But, when I do, it’s great. My download speeds have been 9 Mbps, which might be slower than fast home internet. But it about ten times the speed of 3G.
It is important to review the settings to avoid being billed for things that you do not want. For example, there is an auto-top up setting that, if you go over your free amount, will bill the credit card on file to ensure that you do not lose connectivity. The auto-top up feature can be disabled.
In the two months that I have had my mobile hotspot, the only thing that I have paid for is the $89.00 refundable deposit.
Also, I am in no way affiliated with Freedompop. I heard about them several months ago. I signed up when their devices were made available. And I am satisfied.
If they’d be more upfront on their Web site perhaps folks wouldn’t think they’re hiding something? NetZero spells it out clearly. FreedomPop has everything obfuscated. Why?
I have freedompop in Chicago and it’s great. Paid $100 for the device (they call it a deposit, but I’ll be keeping this as long as I can), get 1GB in free data every month. What is there to really argue about here?
Get the free service, add Freedom Friends and max out your bandwidth to 1GB (just google “Freedompop Friends Slickdeals”), and enjoy mobile internet for a fraction of the cost. I’ve been using it with my iPad Mini in Chicago and even if I consider the deposit a loss it has paid for itself many times over.
I don’t notice any throttling, I don’t need lightning fast 4G speeds though. It’s free internet with no ads.
Been using FreedomPop for months, with friends linked I get 1G per month free and it has the same coverage area as NetZero. Using it for email, websites, txt, etc. on my ipod touch, ipad, and Kindles, I never go over 300Mb. Even stream a few live videos and a you tube or two. Not recommended for cut the cord video, daily you tube, or online radio like pandora as those will push you over the limit.
Maybe NetZero if you are paying for a plan and theirs is better for your use. But for free, I highly recommend FreedomPop!
https://www.freedompop.com/coverage.htm
took me a while to find it, too.
Beem ussing freedom pop for a few months i don’t really have to much to comeplain about. Being in south carolina and they say they don’t have service here…
I have been using freedompop for almost a year until August 24th. Some kind of a glitch cut me off from having internet access. I keep betting a page from Freedompop web site telling me they are having technical difficulties. I called customer service and after a hour and 30 minutes on hold I was told by the “service” rep that I have to be patient as they were working on my account and I needed to give them some more time. I called everyday since then and waited until some answered and was told the same thing again. Yet they were quick to charge my credit card on August 25 for another months service and still no internet. Stay away from freedom pop. They suggest (while you are on hold ) to visit their discussion forums to possibly get answers and you should see all the complaints about not being able to contact customer service and over billing and not being able to get help. Stay Away!
ITS FREE! What the hell were you expecting!?
Did you not see where she said they charged her $25? She’s a paying customer.
I live in Chicago and I LOVE FreedomPop. I pay for 4G/mo plus have completed some very quick “free offers” which earned me even MORE data (such as buying flowers for my wife for Valentine’s Day and such).
The only problem that I have had with them is the ZTE phone they try to sell you is reconditioned GARBAGE. AND…no customer service on weekends! Other than that–their service is excellent, fast, and basically flawless.
I LOVE FreedomPop and have recommended them to all of my friends and clients. Simply excellent.
BTW–my speeds range from 6-18mpbs down and 6-10mbps up. Just remember that streaming video (say YouTube) uses about 5mb/sec on the lowest resolution setting!