Best Alternative to Millenicom

If it were me, I would stay with Verizon. I'm sure the costs will go up vs. Millenicom, but V has recently taken steps to stay competitive with the others, and I don't think you'll find better coverage. See what they offer, then decide.

Yeah, I'm waiting on Verizon to contact me; the deal was just finished I suppose. What about True Connect? They look pretty good on their web site (of course), and seem to have coverage where we go.

Which ever one you decide on you may want to have your phones and mifi device with same one. We have ATT. 2 smart phones and 1 mifi sierra device for about $200 a month for 15gb. We do have a Verizon mifi device $50 a month for 5gb. Verizon probably has larger coverage than ATT. Just my experience, ATT treats you better. Both about same price.

Do your due diligence with AT&T. We traveled out west with another couple last summer. They had a 6GB AT&T plan and we had Verizon.

Their data service was shut down after minimal usage. They called AT&T to see what was going on and they were told to read the fine print in their contract. Apparently when you are in an area where AT&T does not have their own towers, but provides service by using agreements with local companies, they limit your data usage to some really small amount and shut your service down if you go over it. I don't remember the number, but I believe it was less than 1 mg!

I immediately called Verizon to see if they also did that and they told me that they were familiar with the AT&T policy, but Verizon did not do the same.

That was over a year ago, so things could have changed . . . but you might want to check it out before you make your decision.

Thanks JCpainter, that would be a bummer!

Be careful also of those providing service on the "Verizon" network. My plan only uses actual Verizon towers and I recently drove half way across both Missouri and Oklahoma with no service.

It has been our experience that in the western states, Verizon has much better coverage.

In the eastern states, AT&T.

It will depend upon where you live/travel.

I use Straight Talk Mobile Wifi and it's reasonably priced and works well on Verizon. They don't offer enough GB and they can be difficult to work with for tech service but it's OK for me. For now.

jcpainter wrote:
Do your due diligence with AT&T. We traveled out west with another couple last summer. They had a 6GB AT&T plan and we had Verizon.

Their data service was shut down after minimal usage. They called AT&T to see what was going on and they were told to read the fine print in their contract. Apparently when you are in an area where AT&T does not have their own towers, but provides service by using agreements with local companies, they limit your data usage to some really small amount and shut your service down if you go over it. I don't remember the number, but I believe it was less than 1 mg!

I immediately called Verizon to see if they also did that and they told me that they were familiar with the AT&T policy, but Verizon did not do the same.

That was over a year ago, so things could have changed . . . but you might want to check it out before you make your decision.

Same thing with Sprint. You really have to read and look closely.
When you look at a Sprint coverage map the entire USA looks like it has good phone and data coverage... Be sure to CLICK ON THE DATA tab... then if you hit the + a few times and drill down on specific areas... like the entire area between WA and ND... most of the map goes to light purple which means roaming only. Including along the Interstates. Sprint hotspots will not work if they are on a roaming network. You only get 100 mb or so.

I talked to Straight Talk today. I was told that they are on the Verizon towers. They only have one hotspot to choose from and it's 3G only. Not sure I want to be stuck with that but 4G towers are few and far between where we go. Might be a good way to go for now. It's basically a month to month plan on a 30 day cycle. No contracts. If you buy the data in 1GB or 2GB cards... they are only good for 30 days and then expire. If you buy 4GB, 5GB or 7GB cards, those are good for 60 days and then expire. If you run out of data in the middle of your 30 days you just buy another card of data to bridge to the next 30 day cycle. There is never a charge to reactivate. Just buy a data card, add it to the account and you're good for 30 days again. The data cards are not refundable.

I talked to Verizon a few days ago and verified that my mifi will work on the Verizon plans... just have to get a new SIM card from Verizon. (They are free but take about a week to get.) I just don't like paying a $20 line charge JUST to have an acct with them... and then paying appx $10 / GB for data. ouch.

Thanks louiskathy, so I guess True Connect is out as I think they do use Sprint towers. How about StraightTalk; do they have some hidden problem with their Verizon towers?