Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go

So I am back to the USA now... and believe it or not, this time it ain't business trip - just vacations. But interestingly this trip has put even more pressure on me to prepare mobile computing environment for the family to use on the go. I know this may sound weird, but among various pieces of equipment (such as a tent and sleeping bags), we are bringing not less than two laptops, two mobile phones, two digital cameras and everybody expects we will be on line as usual. For that reason I've brought with me the Apple Airport Express wireless router to be used in places where a wired Ethernet port will be available. But honestly I do not expect WiFi to cover camp sites in national parks :). So we also have to rely on cellular data.

In Poland where I live, we have quite a price war between the four MNOs, that results in quite interesting offers. For about $15 a month we can have virtually unlimited mobile data delivered over EDGE (rural) / HSPA (urban) networks. With 24 months contract you even get a USB stick - type modem for free. But things get more complicated (read: expensive) when you travel abroad. Within the European Union the roaming data charges are within some control enforced by the law, but going to America is dangerous... about $2 for 100KB one way. Typical 30 minutes session on 3G connection is around 5MB. That is $100 charged to your account. Unacceptable for some fundamental reasons... a rip-off... Some carriers (like Orange) offer "packages". I bought 100MB for $100. It is 20x cheaper compared to the standard (100KB/$2) offer, but still very expensive. I purchased this for my BlackBerry - 100MB is just what my 2G BlackBerry Curve 8900 can eat in a month, so at least I will not be worried about an ultra - high data bill. But on the other hand 100MB is very little, should you plan to use this for a 3G - equipped laptop. Can be easily eaten in two days... So basically I ruled out any roaming data for the laptops.

In Poland we also have some nice prepaid cellular data packages. With Play Mobile you can have a full 1GB for around $8. There is a catch - it works only on Play's own network, that covers only major urban areas. And you need a modem, typically a USB-stick type, accommodating the SIM card you get when purchasing prepaid data starter pack. On the other hand it is absolutely no questions asked offer, available to anyone, especially for visitors.Bring your own modem (or 3G equipped laptop), buy a no-commitment 1GB starter SIM and off you go...

America, on the other hand, has not discovered the beauty of prepaid mobile data (or more precisely should I say: pay-as-you-go mobile data). At least until recently... But I saw the light in this tunnel... appearing not to be a train :) Virgin Mobile, a virtual (MVNO) operator on top of the Sprint CDMA network, started offering the Broadband2Go prepaid data. I thought it a good fit for several reasons. First, it is based on a USB-stick type 3G cellular modem (Novatel MC760), so can be plugged to various machines needing connection. Surely I would prefer a MiFi style 3G-to-WiFi standalone portable router, but hey, I have been using USB for several years now and it is just fine. Second, it is Sprint/CDMA under the hood. The network with good rural coverage, certainly much better than AT&T. And that is important for outback travelers. Third, it is CDMA in its pure form, not the disabled WCDMA we have in the GSM world. I have not tried this personally before, but from the technological point of view it's EVDO Rel A variant should potentially offer a very good experience, while the 1xRTT mode should still be faster compared to GSM's EDGE.

So on Friday, the day I arrived in New York (20 hours behind the original schedule, due to canceled connecting flight), I showed up at the Best Buy Mobile store at 750 7th Avenue, Manhattan to buy the Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go kit. The modem is $150, not cheap, but a must have. And then you have to "top it up" with some funds to select desired plan:

• $10 will give you 100MB valid for 10 days
• $20 will give you 250MB valid for 30 days
• $40 will give you 600MB valid for 30 days
• $60 will give you 1GB valid for 30 days

As you may guess, I opted for the $60 option. 1GB is really not much these days, especially when you have two machines to consume that and folks on the other side of the Atlantic expect you to share pictures, blogs and other stuff real time...

I thought prepaid (pay-as-you-go in America) should have been no strings and hooks attached... But I realized about the first problem while still in the shop. While credit card is the preferred way to fund the account, you can "top" it only with a credit card with an American billing address. I do not have one (BTW: why do they do that???). Therefore the only way to go was to buy top-up scratch cards. So I bought some together with the modem. $210 plus tax.

Got back to my hotel room hoping for a quick and easy software installation. The Novatel MC760 when first plugged in, identifies itself as a storage device, containing the necessary setup files (Windows XP and Vista only, sorry, no Mac's). But to my despair the installation process did not get through. Windows was unable to find the necessary drivers... After disengaging the autopilot setup procedure, I took the matters in my own hands, the hands of an experienced software engineer. Three hours later I identified the problem and found the workaround. Your Windows machine has to be configured with US English (1033) as a default non-unicode language (you do that via the Control Panel). Otherwise the setup will fail. Hopeless... Virgin Mobile spends millions to create the new product, and brings it to the market with such a fundamental bug in the installer... Yeah I know many Americans just do not realize there are other nations on the Planet, but hey, even in New York you have so many nationalities mixed, I guess at least 10% of buyers will hit that problem... An there is no word of such limitation / requirement in the manual nor on the www.virginmobileusa.com web page. Luckily after changing temporarily my settings to US English, I managed to install the software and it recognized the modem. It reported the modem uninitialized, trying to connect to the network several times to set it up and failing. So the next workaround was to temporarily disable the Windows Firewall to let the Novatel software do its housekeeping tasks. After it registered the modem, the Broadband2Go web page was showing $0 credit on the account. I topped it using the scratch cards, but then even that it was showing $70 credit, it kept on reporting insufficient funds to activate the $60 plan. Imagine the $70 was reportedly not enough to activate the $10 plan. This time a browser restart was needed between topping up the account with scratch - cards and activating the desired plan. Finally I made it through. For hours. Should I charge Virgin Mobile now stating my usual hourly rate? At one point I was really close to give up... thinking of returning the whole thing back to the shop. But the inner soul of the software engineer inside persuaded me to try once more... And it worked.

Having said the above, after the installation was done, I have really started enjoying the solution. First, it is fast. My subjective feeling is it is at least as fast as my DSL connection back home. Speedtest.NET reports 1,55Mb/s downlink and 0,39Mb/s uplink with 161ms latency (ping). Very good, and feels much faster compared to the HSDPA I often use in my home country. Second, it is fast, when it comes down to the connection setup time. The software can be configured to connect automatically when the USB modem is inserted. Nothing simpler. Plug it in and you are on line in a matter of just a few seconds. Much faster than the comparable procedure in the HSDPA world (but this may be vendor, not technology dependent, so I will try to find a HSDPA modem by Novatel to compare).

I will be reporting how it works during my trip. Follow my Tweet at http://twitter.com/hdwrx. On Sunday we fly from NYC to Salt Lake City and then will be driving around Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada and California. If there are signs of life from my side, they will likely be transmitted using the Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go. So far, it is two thumbs down for the installation and two thumbs up for the operation.

And by the way - there are thousands of tourists coming down to USA every day. Many of them bring their laptops, to stay in touch and perform other tasks, like image sharing, tweeting,... Why o why there is just one pay-as-you-go mobile data offer? And why Virgin makes it so hard (almost impossible) to use by foreigners visiting America? Folks, rush to your tech departments, fix the installer first. Then repackage the thing and sell it at the airports. It will be hot... believe me...