Jump to content

Novatel MiFi 500 (Sprint Tri-Band Hotspot)


dedub

Recommended Posts

I'm going to order the Netgear hotspot this Friday, that's when I'm eligible for rebate :) Finally time to retire my old Novatel MIFI. Now to see if I can pick up some Band 41 goodness in the city!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had two orders, one under my name, one under my wifes and they both shipped and should arrive friday. Crazy stuff..The retail price on sprint's website is $249 so it has to be a mistake (wirefly charge $19.99 when you sign a contract), but they have to know about it by now and it is still listed as free on their website so who knows. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine was cancelled this morning :/

Wonder why they cancel some and not others?

 

I am wondering if the "validation" process (whatever that means) is what's causing these hang-ups?

 

Does anybody know what they're validating?

 

 

Sent from my Sprint iPhone 5, not the old one (using Tapatalk 2).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had two orders, one under my name, one under my wifes and they both shipped and should arrive friday. Crazy stuff..The retail price on sprint's website is $249 so it has to be a mistake (wirefly charge $19.99 when you sign a contract), but they have to know about it by now and it is still listed as free on their website so who knows.

 

We have to activate these via Wirefly, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have to activate these via Wirefly, right?

I am gonna try to do a regular esn swap on the sprint website first (i have an older wifi hotspot already), if that doesn't work then I will go thru wirefly. But I don't see why you would need Wirefly to activate it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonder why they cancel some and not others?

 

I am wondering if the "validation" process (whatever that means) is what's causing these hang-ups?

 

Does anybody know what they're validating?

 

 

Sent from my Sprint iPhone 5, not the old one (using Tapatalk 2).

I used an old TravelEx card.  Is it worth putting a real credit/debit card on there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am gonna try to do a regular esn swap on the sprint website first (i have an older wifi hotspot already), if that doesn't work then I will go thru wirefly. But I don't see why you would need Wirefly to activate it.

 

I have a sprint store close to my house, so I'll try to pop in there and add a line to my account/get this activated away from Wirefly.

 

I was only curious about the Wirefly activations because it seems like a pretty awful idea for them to just give away (and ship! for free!) these hotspots and not get anything out of 'em.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a sprint store close to my house, so I'll try to pop in there and add a line to my account/get this activated away from Wirefly.

 

I was only curious about the Wirefly activations because it seems like a pretty awful idea for them to just give away (and ship! for free!) these hotspots and not get anything out of 'em.

Seems to me that Sprint is subsidizing the cost and shipping on these. Wirefly is just the vendor. I could be wrong, but I can't See why they would just be giving these hotspots away for nothing with free shipping if it weren't for Sprint subsidizing them.

 

 

Sent from my Sprint iPhone 5, not the old one (using Tapatalk 2).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems to me that Sprint is subsidizing the cost and shipping on these. Wirefly is just the vendor. I could be wrong, but I can't See why they would just be giving these hotspots away for nothing with free shipping if it weren't for Sprint subsidizing them.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow when the Hotspot arrives... I'd imagine that there would be a 2-year contract agreement involved in exchange for the subsidy...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My order got approved and is waiting for inventory to come in! :) I'm quite excited. I just hope they don't cancel it. I'm starting to think that if they can't verify card billing address with shipping address they will cancel the order, and if you ordered more than one time under the same name. I can't blame them for limiting due to overwhelming demand.

 

I still agree with those of you that think Sprint had something to do with this. It's the cheapest and easiest way to get people off the WiMax network by letting them have a free MiFi without a contract.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess I'll find out tomorrow when the Hotspot arrives... I'd imagine that there would be a 2-year contract agreement involved in exchange for the subsidy...

Mine arrives tomorrow as well. We shall see.

 

On a side-note: anybody know if the MiFi500 shows which band of LTE you're connected to and if so, can they be prioritized like the Netgear offering?

 

 

Sent from my Sprint iPhone 5, not the old one (using Tapatalk 2).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My order got approved and is waiting for inventory to come in! :) I'm quite excited. I just hope they don't cancel it. I'm starting to think that if they can't verify card billing address with shipping address they will cancel the order, and if you ordered more than one time under the same name. I can't blame them for limiting due to overwhelming demand.

 

I still agree with those of you that think Sprint had something to do with this. It's the cheapest and easiest way to get people off the WiMax network by letting them have a free MiFi without a contract.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

From everything I've read, these Tri-band hotspots are flying off the shelves (not just the free MIFI 500s). People must be catching on, even though Sprint seems to have soft-launched Tri-band as well as the hotspots.

 

The free MiFi500 has to be Sprint's doing. I just don't see it happening any other way. It's just weird that they would make you jump through hoops to find the hotspot for free like that. As far as I know, it's only through WireFly and you have to know what you're doing to find the deal. It's not advertised ANYWHERE.

 

 

Sent from my Sprint iPhone 5, not the old one (using Tapatalk 2).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ordered one from Sprint.com on Monday, it came Tuesday.  It wouldn't activate.  Sprint decided it was defective, so they are sending me another one.  BUT, they were on back order now!  After only 1 day!  I submitted an order for one of these.  Let's see what happens.  If I get this one, I will cancel my other order, which is within the 14 days from my "upgrade," and then not have to extend my contract.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have to activate these via Wirefly, right?

 

If you want the month to month, I believe you have to activate through the device itself.

 

The clearwire hotspot activates the same way.

 

Turn on hotspot, connect to it with a PC via wifi, open a browser, it should do a captive redirect to the activation page.

 

I am just assuming it works like this.

 

Otherwise, you would need to activate it through sprint with the type of plan you want.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprint just told me that my original re-order is now shipped...even though they were on back order for "10 to 15 business days."  Hm.  I'm hoping that this free one will ship and I can return the one Sprint is sending me.  It's still well within my 14 days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want the month to month, I believe you have to activate through the device itself.

 

The clearwire hotspot activates the same way.

 

Turn on hotspot, connect to it with a PC via wifi, open a browser, it should do a captive redirect to the activation page.

 

I am just assuming it works like this.

 

Otherwise, you would need to activate it through sprint with the type of plan you want.

 

That's great news if this one ends up working the same way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just placed an order for a freebie, see if it goes through or not.  It will be nice for camping or other travels to have reliable internet :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well either they are cancelling all of them now or i'm doing something wrong. i had submitted another one this morning and it just got cancelled too.

 

All of your information has to match what the bank has on file exactly, I think. If it does, I'm not sure what's going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

mine keeps getting canceled, I'm still trying since it's still "Free"

well either they are cancelling all of them now or i'm doing something wrong. i had submitted another one this morning and it just got cancelled too.

 

No MiFi for you!  Come back one year!

 

 

AJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well either they are cancelling all of them now or i'm doing something wrong. i had submitted another one this morning and it just got cancelled too.

 

Mine is still approved, just awaiting inventory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Posts

    • Excuse my rookie comments here, but after enabling *#73#, it seems that the rainbow sim V2? requires n70 (I turned it off along with n71 - was hoping to track n66) to be available else it switches to T-Mobile.  So this confirms my suspicion that you need to be close to a site to get on Dish.  Have no idea why they don't just use plmn. To test, I put it into a s21 ultra, rebooted twice, came up on T-Mobile (no n70 on s21).  Tried to manually register on 313340, but it did not connect (tried twice). I am on factory unlocked firmware but used a s22 hack to get *#73# working.  Tried what you were suggesting with a T-Mobile sim partially installed, but that was very unstable with Dish ( I think they had figured that one out).  [edit: and now I see Boost sent me a successful device swap notice which says I can now begin to use my new device.  Sigh.  Will try again later and wait for this message - too impatient.]
    • Hopefully this indicates T-Mobile hasn't completely abandoned mmwave and/or small cells? But then again this is the loop, so take that as you will. Hopefully now that most macro activity is done (besides rural colo/builds), they will start working on small cells.   
    • This has been approved.. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/fcc-approves-t-mobiles-deal-to-purchase-mint-mobile/  
    • In the conference call they had two question on additional spectrum. One was the 800 spectrum. They are not certain what will happen, thus have not really put it into their plans either way (sale or no sale). They do have a reserve level. Nationwide 800Mhz is seen as great for new technologies which I presume is IOT or 5g slices.  T-Mobile did not bite on use of their c-band or DOD.  mmWave rapidly approaching deadlines not mentioned at all. FWA brushes on this as it deals with underutilized spectrum on a sector by sector basis.  They are willing to take more money to allow FWA to be mobile (think RV or camping). Unsure if this represents a higher priority, for example, FWA Mobile in RVs in Walmart parking lots working where mobile phones need all the capacity. In terms of FWA capacity, their offload strategy is fiber through joint ventures where T-Mobile does the marketing, sales, and customer support while the fiber company does the network planning and installation.  50%-50% financial split not being consolidated into their books. I think discussion of other spectrum would have diluted the fiber joint venture discussion. They do have a fund which one use is to purchase new spectrum. Sale of the 800Mhz would go into this. It should be noted that they continue to buy 2.5Ghz spectrum from schools etc to replace leases. They will have a conference this fall  to update their overall strategies. Other notes from the call are 75% of the phones on the network are 5g. About 85% of their sites have n41, n25, and n71, 90% 5g.  93% of traffic is on midband.  SA is also adding to their performance advantage, which they figure is still ahead of other carriers by two years. It took two weeks to put the auction 108 spectrum to use at their existing sites. Mention was also made that their site spacing was designed for midrange thus no gaps in n41 coverage, while competitors was designed for lowband thus toggles back and forth for n77 also with its shorter range.  
    • The manual network selection sounds like it isn't always scanning NR, hence Dish not showing up. Your easiest way to force Dish is going to be forcing the phone into NR-only mode (*#*#4636#*#* menu?), since rainbow sims don't support SA on T-Mobile.
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...