Has anyone tried FreedomPop?

[veg-0-matic]

I've been with VM for quite some time now, but today I came across an offer for the HTC EVO 4G for 99 bucks with FreedomPop.
The thing is, their free plan would actually work for me--200 minutes, 500 texts and 500MB of data/month. Turns out I don't use my phone nearly as much as I thought I would.
I checked their coverage chart and it looks very similar to VM's.
Now free sounds like a great deal. Unfortunately, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So I'm just wondering if anyone has made the switch from VM to FP, or just started out with FP. What do you think?
This really has the cheapskate in me itching to try it.

 

[kate]

They both use the Sprint network so coverage should be the same.

I haven't used FreedomPop, but according to some articles I've read they make money because half their customers end up buying extra minutes and data.

 

[veg-0-matic]

Thanks for the info. I think the phones they sell actually say Sprint on them.

One thing I found out (after ordering the phone, of course) is that you can't port your number to them. That kind of sucks, but for the prices they're charging, I might just break down and deal with it.
I also learned that their free plan doesn't include voicemail. I hardly ever get voicemails, so I'm considering doing without it, but the $2.49/month charge might be worth it.
So it boils down to this:
HTC EVO V 4G on Virgin @35.00/month with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and data

Or

HTC EVO 4G on FreedomPop @$2.49/month with 200 minutes, 500 texts, and 500mb data.

I have never even come close to using 200 minutes in a month, much less 300. Nor do I send more than about 10 texts a month. So those will be just fine. I'm willing to shell out the $2.49/month for voicemail. I thought 500mb of data didn't sound like much, but so far this month, I've only used 130mb, and I think this is typical.

Of course, there's that whole changing-my-cell-number, but people do it all the time.

Still not sure which way I'm going to go (switch or stay), but I still have some time to decide.

 

[tli]

I tried their "free" broadband service when they first offered it. Just a note of caution, their business practices are not very above board in my opinion--just watch out for those 'hidden' charges--that weren't even disclosed initially. I got bitten by those hidden charges placed on my credit card--which you need to provide to start an account. Now, after much customer complaints, they have disclosed some of them in the obscured fine prints. One of those charges is a monthly fee if you don't use their service at all!!! FYI...

 

[7t2]

Thanks for the info. I think the phones they sell actually say Sprint on them.

One thing I found out (after ordering the phone, of course) is that you can't port your number to them. That kind of sucks, but for the prices they're charging, I might just break down and deal with it.
I also learned that their free plan doesn't include voicemail. I hardly ever get voicemails, so I'm considering doing without it, but the $2.49/month charge might be worth it.
So it boils down to this:
HTC EVO V 4G on Virgin @35.00/month with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and data

Or

HTC EVO 4G on FreedomPop @$2.49/month with 200 minutes, 500 texts, and 500mb data.

I have never even come close to using 200 minutes in a month, much less 300. Nor do I send more than about 10 texts a month. So those will be just fine. I'm willing to shell out the $2.49/month for voicemail. I thought 500mb of data didn't sound like much, but so far this month, I've only used 130mb, and I think this is typical.

Of course, there's that whole changing-my-cell-number, but people do it all the time.

Still not sure which way I'm going to go (switch or stay), but I still have some time to decide.

I signed up their service, but the voice quality has been horrible since I started using it. I have since started using my Skype account to make calls on the phone. The phone itself is nice and I like it a lot, but the service for making calls sucks. They use software like Skype as a front end, but it does not work nearly as well as Skype over the 500MB of data provided with the service. I chose the $10.99 unlimited plan free trial, but will probably downgrade to the free plan at the end of the trial. I will wait to see if the Freedompop software improves before I give up my Pageplus account. I don't want to carry both, but since FP is free, I can wait.

 

[7t2]

I tried their "free" broadband service when they first offered it. Just a note of caution, their business practices are not very above board in my opinion--just watch out for those 'hidden' charges--that weren't even disclosed initially. I got bitten by those hidden charges placed on my credit card--which you need to provide to start an account. Now, after much customer complaints, they have disclosed some of them in the obscured fine prints. One of those charges is a monthly fee if you don't use their service at all!!! FYI...

They don't charge the inactivity fee any longer. I have a device they I haven't used in over 3 months and my balance is the same. The other fees are still being charged and you have to very careful to make sure that they don't trap you. I have three devices with them; two free and one paying. Just make sure that you read all of the fine print and ask a lot of questions.

 

[veg-0-matic]

Well, I had to give up on the FP service as it turns out I couldn't make calls from the two places I really needed to be able to. VoIP worked fine at home but not at work, and that ended up being the deal breaker.
Now I'm going to try Ring Plus since the whole VoIP thing doesn't exist there.