Sprint Broadband is going away.

[FRISKY]

Just heard news that Sprint subscribers will be getting a letter stating Sprint Broadband in Oklahoma will be turned off Aug 31.

At this time there are no other companies interested in picking up Sprint's subscribers. On Aug 31, Sprint will supposedly send data commands to all the routers that will have them disconnect from the transceiver signal. Sprint might also turn off power to the broadband equipment in downtown OKC.

This should not affect the Sprint phone service or the service of other phone companies that use Sprint equipment.

The only good news is the introduction of a totally new, extremely fast, system for internet service thru the cell phone system already in place. It will be piggybacked on the cell phone towers, but its startup date is a minimum of two years away.

[bombermwc]

What the crap. The one really good cellular broadband circuit in town and they are removing it?

I really hope this doesnt happen.

[venture]

At least I haven't cancelled my AT&T wireless broadband account yet...I'm still grandfathered in with their unlimited plan, and it works in most places across the state.

[FRISKY]

I dislike AT&T with a passion, but might be forced to switch to them because they show to have some of the fastest service. Are they still accepting new subscribers?

What about Cricket? Is their service as good as they say it is? Information about them is scarce.

[FRISKY]

Well, this is the real deal. I received the notification letter from Sprint Broadband today. Anyone have suggestions for another way to connect to the internet if you aren’t in an area with COX cable?

[Toadrax]

I really loathe this company, but the cricket broadband seemed to work better than the AT&T one. They have really limited coverage, and I didn't read the fine print but there might be some restrictions in there I missed.

If you go in the first national center(120 n robinson ave), they have a storefront there where the owner? runs his laptop on it and you can try it out yourself. Just be skeptical and read the fine print is all I am saying, the laptop he has is actually using cricket service though.

I was thinking about trying it out because the qualcomm card they use is supported really well on Linux out of the box. I have no idea how to get their service to work and I don't have a need for it.

[FRISKY]

Limited throughput... I'm not sure if this would work for a 24-hour, home based PC connection to the network.

I hope someone will be able to suggest other available broadband companies.

...


Plan Features: $40 per month

Wireless Network Technology - CDMA

Plan Type and Features Calling area - local coverage areas

Included Minutes Connectivity - Unlimited

Other Possible Charges - None

Additional Features -
Save an additional $5 per month when bundled with a Cricket unlimited voice plan.
Contract Terms and Fees - Activation fee $25.00
Contract term - None
Security deposit - None
Carrier's early termination fee - None

Throughput may be limited if use exceeds 5GB per month. Internet browsing does not include: hosted computer applications, continuous web camera or broadcast, automatic data feeds, machine-to-machine connections, peer to peer (P2P) connections or other applications that denigrate network capacity or functionality.

Requires new activation and up to $25 activation fee. Taxes and fees extra. Unlimited coverage not available everywhere; coverage maps. Terms, conditions & other restrictions apply. See store for details.


Customer Care
Customer Service Hours
M-F 7am to 11pm, Sat 8am to 9pm, Sun 8am to 8pm Central Standard Time. Automated system 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

[flintysooner]

Anyone have suggestions for another way to connect to the internet if you aren’t in an area with COX cable?

For an in home wifi network I use @link wifi in a part of OKC that has no Cox. It has been fairly reliable.

For mobile broadband cards as far as I know for OKC you might try Cingular and Alltel.

[bombermwc]

We have many sprint cards at our office and haven't had any contact about this. In fact our account rep is still working on us moving to blackberry's with a data plan.

Is if possible that it's just a consumer and not business thing? If that's the case, I wonder why our employees that use the same system at home haven't been notified.

[FRISKY]

Wireless Sprint Broadband is the only system being turned off. It was limited to around 14,000 subscribers nationwide.

It is a different system than the one used with cellphones. There should be no change to any of the phone services and that includes mobile cellphone broadband.

[Jon27]

I read today that Verizon is looking to buy Alltel. I'm hoping this happens. They supposedly have a great broadband service. Also, I really hope we'll eventually get the Verizon TV service here, but I don't think the wireless and TV are the same.

[solitude]

Wireless Sprint Broadband is the only system being turned off. It was limited to around 14,000 subscribers nationwide.

It is a different system than the one used with cellphones. There should be no change to any of the phone services and that includes mobile cellphone broadband.

That's where the confusion came in. It is Sprint Broadband Direct (the line-of-sight broadband-for-home) that is being shut down.

Here's an article from Engadget announcing the shutdown.

I think everyone was confused with talk of cell phones and alternatives to Cox in the same thread. I hope there are some other possibilities for you. I know people with @link, which is basically just repeating broadband routers to serve spots unable to get cable or dsl service. It can be pretty slow though - yet you pay a pemium. But it's a lot better than dial-up! Good luck!

SUPERCHRIS: The Verizon TV service (FIOS) is the same thing that's available in several neighborhoods here in OKC - AT&T's U-verse. In fact, OKlahoma City was the second city in the country to get it. Unfortunately, it's being rolled out slowly and you have to check your address on their site to see if it's available in your area. U-verse (fiber optic digital TV) looks absolutely incredible. There's also access to channels you don't have with Cox and it's better than DirecTV - no dish!

[flintysooner]

I'm getting 1605 kbps down right now on @link and have had considerably better. Up is 780 or 1,000. Biggest problem I've had is occasional interruptions. Still it was cheaper than satellite and nothing else was available.

[bombermwc]

AHHHH, it makes sense now. I was really worried there for a minute.

We have an employee that uses @link. She has great service as long as she doesnt try to use remote desktop. Problem is, that's how she connect to us to work. She was testing service with a Sprint card, and it worked fine...not as fast, but more stable. @Link did a poop load of work to try and fix the problem. It's a good example of how flexible and determined they are to make their service work, so props to @link.