FreedomPop Free Internet Review

[Scott Greczkowski]

Last week you might have read on the tech sites of a new company giving away FREE Internet called FreedomPop.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads...Goes-Live-90-Hub-Burst-Now-Available-to-Users

FreedomPop is a company founded in 2011 and is backed by the founder of Skype. FreedomPop promises to deliver fast free internet to anyone who wants it, and to get this free Internet you need to purchase a special 4G router from them. Last week when the news came of Free Internet out I decided that I would be a Guinea Pig.

Their free service includes 1.5 Mbps download server with 1GB of data transfer per month included, if you go over that 1GB they will then charge you 1 cent per MB you go over.

FreedomPop also offers different plans and higher speeds.

For $9.99 a month you get 1.5 Mbps speed, and 10 GB of data per month, extra data is 1/2 cent per megabyte that you go over.
For $14.99 a month you get up to 3 Mbps speed and 10 GB of data per month, extra data is 1/2 cent per megabyte that you go over.
And their fastest plan is for $18.99 you get speeds up to 8Mbps and 10 GB of data per month, extra data is 1/2 cent per megabyte that you go over.

Freedom pop uses the Clearwire 4G Wimax Network and later this years plans to use Sprints 4G LTE Network.

For those who choose the free plan they can earn extra data by referring friends or by completing online offers. These offers contain things like playing an online game, watching a video, to things like signing up for Netflix or a Credit Card. In my tests I was credited within minutes for watching videos, while other things that were more complex such as playing 2 Slot Tournaments on the Free Double Down Casino on Facebook didn't credit me yet even though I performed the task.

I decided to get a FreedomPop Hub Burst Router not because I needed internet, but to have backup internet available in case I need it. Here in Connecticut we have been having some strange weather the past few years and my cable modem has gone down a few times. Now I can have internet when I need it... or if I go somewhere like a hotel I don't need to pay $14 a day for internet access. For those who are thinking of signing up for the same reason they should be warned however that if you do not use your service FreedomPop will charge you 99 cents a month if you do not use at least 5 MB of data a month in order to keep your service active.

I signed up last week the first day the Fredom Hub Burst became available, it was shipped 4 days later and I received it last night via FedEX.

This morning I opened the box up and gave it a try from my office which is in downtown Hartford, Connecticut.

The Modem/Router kind of looks like a Netgear Router and is white in color with black trim. On the front of the router are 8 lights, 5 of them are the Signal Strength Bar, another is a WI-Fi Light, another is a 4G LED which shows you are connected to the 4G Network and the power light. Besides the Router the box also contains a RG45 Cable, a plastic foot base and the 12V power supply.

On the back of the router there is a SMA connnector which you can use to connect your router to an external WiMax compatible antenna and a switch to enable that antenna. The back also has 2 RG45 Ethernet connections (100 MB) and a reset switch for defaulting the router back to its origional configuration.

Setup was simple. Plug the router into power then search for the routers SSID name on your PC or you can also plug your router into your computer, as there are 2 Ethernet connections on the back of the router. (For wireless use you can find the initial networks SSID name and the access password are on a sticker on the side of the router. Both the SSID and the password are changeable) Once connected you are online and you are free to Surf the internet!

You can manage the router by going to http://192.168.15.1. The interface is well laid out and easy to understand. If you want to make any changes to the router you can do so by logging in. The default password for the router is admin and this password can be changed one you log in. This router is a very powerful router and contains all the feature one would want in a router, including support for Dynamic DNS updates, Universal Plug and Plan (UPnP), DMZ, Port Forwarding and more. About the only things missing are the availability of a graphical signal meter within the web interface, the unit does show you a signal level (for example mine is showing a signal of RSSI:-69, CNIR:9) I have no idea what that means though. A graphical interface for the signal would be nice to help position the router for best 4G signals. I guess you could always look at the lights on the front of the router itself, but I would still like a graphical interface on my computer as well this would help you diagnose issues when you are on wifi and not in front of the router. Another thing missing in the router is a data gauge so you can check your router to see how much data you have used and how much free data you have left. You can check you usage via the FreedomPop Website, but the data is delayed by 3 hours. And it also seems as though FreedomPop likes to round up for data instead of showing your true data use.

In using the service I was kind of surprised for a 1.5 Mbps connection browsing the web was actually snappy. The ad free version of SatelliteGuys loaded in less then 2 seconds. I checked a number of other sites and again the loaded quickly on my laptop. I ran a few Speed tests using Speedtest.Net and got 1.5Mpbs down and .50Mpbs up. Not bad for free. I should note that in my office I am only getting 3 bars out of 5, but I am getting the advertised speeds which is a good thing.

The total cost including shipping for the router was $93, which is not bad for free lifetime internet. About the only thing bad about it was not getting the promised extra data for completing some offers. But as far as the internet goes, it works, and works well.

If anyone would like to sign up please PM me with your email address and I can send you a referal. You can find out more about FreedomPop at http://www.freedompop.com

Thanks for reading and being SatelliteGuys!

 

[Ramy]

Nice. Not available for me though.

 

[Poke]

Cool thanks for the info..

 

[TheKrell]

So, for "free", you have to use 500MB but not more than 1GB/mo? How is anybody supposed to meter their usage that carefully?

 

[ZandarKoad]

Scott said 5 Mb, not 500.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

So, for "free", you have to use 500MB but not more than 1GB/mo? How is anybody supposed to meter their usage that carefully?

No for FREE you need to use at least 5 Megabytes a month. And you can not go over 1GB a month If you do its a penny a meg extra.

 

[mike123abc]

The mobile product may be more interesting. It is using the clearwire network (I guess soon to be Sprint). It could be a low cost way to get a WiFi tablet on the internet vs ATT/VZ

 

[anik]

I wonder if it would be possible to create some script to automatically download a 5.1 mb file (a large mp3 or something) once every four weeks. That would take care of the minimum usage, for those that would only need it as an emergency backup to their cable or DSL service.

The concept is interesting but their usage caps are way too low in these days of video usage. Some people can blow through 1 GB in a hour or two (watching ONE HD video off of YouTube could do it) and even the 10 GB on the paid service is ridiculously low. So really it's only useful in an emergency, and for things like checking e-mail (hope nobody's sending large attachments) and MAYBE viewing an occasional web page, though even that is pushing it given that you never know how much crap will come in with one web page load. You would quickly come to hate those sites that pop up unsolicited video ads that start playing automatically (not that I don't already).

 

[Neutron]

Too bad where we live the Sprint signal is pretty much non-existent.

Sounds like a good alternative to using your phone for a hot spot though!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The mobile product may be more interesting. It is using the clearwire network (I guess soon to be Sprint). It could be a low cost way to get a WiFi tablet on the internet vs ATT/VZ

They have a mobile product which I am interested in, it clips on back of an ipod and turns it basically into an iPhone.

My 10 year old son likes using his ipod to play games but when we go out he cant play his games as they require internet to function, now with this he can go almost anywhere and have internet... load skype on it and he has a phone for a lot less then an iPhone.

 

[ZandarKoad]

I'm all over that mobile thingy. In a heartbeat.

But lets look at this... If you are in an area with coverage, your talking $100 to sign up, then less than $20 a month for 8 mb/s, and 10 gigs. Satellite Internet right now is about 10 mb/s, usually some upfront fee with a two year agreement, and 15 gigs a month for over $50/month. This blows away Hughesnet and Wildblue systems. Does it not? Also, no huge latency issues that you have with satellite inet.

Edit: Ug, the premium mobile version is more expensive per month, with only 2 Gbs per month instead of 10. Ick. It's still a good deal though, if you stick with the free mobile version.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The only issue I see for getting my son the iPod sleeve is that it does not fix my sons 5th Generation iPod touch... it fits the 4th...

 

[TheKrell]

What's the difference between the FreedomPop Hub Burst Router and the Freedom Spot - Photon?

 

[hancox]

Very interesting as a backup for me. Not to mention a work 4G broadband hotspot. Hmmmmmmm

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Very interesting as a backup for me. Not to mention a work 4G broadband hotspot. Hmmmmmmm

Yup

Not useful if you want to stream videos or download a lot, but for browsing its fine.

 

[Teehar]

Hey,for free sounds like a very nice offering.If it were available here I would definitely try it.

 

[ZandarKoad]

I'd love to buy a handful of the $20 laptop dongles. I wonder if there is a limit.

 

[Foxbat]

Checking my area produced "No Coverage" but I could still sign up for the Mobile Hot-Spot. They suggested checking the coverage map, but I never saw a link for it on FreedomPop's website. Scott, do you have access to that information as a customer?

 

[papalittle]

no good here since we only have verizon 3G and Cell one 3G.

 

[scooby2]

It appears the mobile 2GB is only free the first month. Its $17.99 a month after that. The only free plan is 500MB for mobile. Thats highway robbery for 2GB.