Virgin Mobile will give semi-frequent travelers even less reason to get locked into a two year wireless data contract on Monday when its prepaid MiFi device hits shelves in Best Buy and Radio Shack stores.
The MiFi is a battery powered pocket router that pulls in a 3G data signal over Sprint’s network, which Virgin Mobile leases, and turns it into a Wi-Fi data signal for nearby users. It can be password protected so only those you want to share data with can glom on.
The device will cost $149 and data plans are available as month-to-month packages ranging from $10 for 100 megabytes up to $60 for 5GB of data.
Compare that to Sprint’s own MiFi offering, which costs nothing after $250 instant savings and a $50 mail-in rebate but requires a two-year data contract at $60 per month for 5GB and you’re basically looking at paying $149 to Virgin Mobile for the privilege of being able to use Sprint’s data network only when you need it.
If there’s at least three months out of the year that you won’t need $60 worth of data, it’d be worth it. And don’t forget that Virgin Mobile has plans available that cost less than $60, whereas Sprint only offers a $60 plan.
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