Review by RobG78 
Posted: 2.2 years ago
member for 2.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
 Reno,Washoe,NV
 $59 per month (24 month contract)
 about 1 days
 "Great price on modem when you sign up for 24 mos."
 "Heaven help you if you want to upgrade to another modem before end of contract."
 "If you need 'net on the go, this is one of the best choices!"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I'm self employed and work as a web programmer. All of my clients are remote and located all over the country. I consider myself very fortunate in that regard. It allows me to live most anywhere I want. It also means that I have to have reliable Internet in order to work.
I signed up for this service back in January when my DSL at home (from AT&T) got very flakey and unreliable. I had been wanting it for a while but wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger, but when I lost my regular home connectivity, I decided it was time.
WOW! I'm very pleased. My first modem was the free PC Card one. It was a little slow, but it's hard to complain. The connection is pretty darn reliable. I've left it on all night for several nights and it hasn't dropped the connection except one night.
My laptop died a couple weeks ago, and very few newer laptops have PC Card slots; they all have PC Express slots now. I was on the verge of ordering the built-in Verizon Broadband card in the new Dell that I ordered, when I discovered that they now have a USB modem! I was so happy that I could finally use this service from any computer, not just a laptop. I rushed down to get one. HOLY COW... when you're still in your contract, you get to pay FULL PRICE for any new modem... no discounts whatsoever. So this $99 (two year) or $150 (one year) modem cost me $290! Yikes. Man I'm sure glad I can write it off.
The upside is the USB model is actually a bit faster than the PC card version... they even mention this on the website. I can't say how much faster just yet, but it IS faster. The downside of the USB model is it's kinda big. It comes with an extension USB cable that happens to be a Y- cable. The reason for this is by using two USB ports, the modem gets an extra amp of power for connecting in fringe areas. I'm guessing that the PC Card models already had full power from that slot, and this was the workaround for USB's limitations.
It's worked in places I didn't expect it to work -- i.e. where coverage wasn't shown on the map. Kingman, Arizona comes to mind. It also worked on the outskirts of Amarillo, Texas, which was nice when I received a panicked call from a customer, and I needed to pull over, fire up the laptop, login, and take care of some problems.
Anyway... bottom line is this just plain WORKS. All in all I'm very pleased with it!
Followup comments:  
good_info
@myvzw.com
| Thanks for the review! I got the USB modem as well, using this in lieu of cable modem, since it's just as fast yet also portable.
I thought the Y-cable was to connect to 2 machines, so it now seems funny when I tried to connect to my 2 laptops and it only worked on the first one!
But if I do have a desktop and a laptop, with this USB modem, is there any good info on how to set up an ad-hoc network using just one USB modem?
I haven't found any, searching google. Anyway great insightful review, thank you! | |
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anonadsfwee
@myvzw.com | usb modem yah the y is so you can use another usb next to the one you're plugged into also, the modem if plugged in directly fills too much space to put something in next to it | |
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J37642
@myvzw.com | 720 The USB "Y" is used to increase power. It adds more voltage to the 720 for use in more remote locations. | |
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