Category: modem

Cricket USB UM100 Broadband Wireless Modem Review.

Paul6 Replies

The UM100c is No Longer Available, Please check out the Cricket [intlink id=”3059″ type=”post”]A600 Modem Review[/intlink] Or the [intlink id=”4523″ type=”post”]UM185 Broadband modem[/intlink]. The UM185 modem might be a replacement to the UM100.

After a full week of playing around with this USB wireless, I wanted to talk about it. So let’s break it down into pieces.

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  2. Installation —  The installation of the USB was not to difficult.  I did have to do some more steps than this:  Install the Software, then hooked up the USB device to the USB port.

  3. Manual Activated the Broadband —  For some reason in my area they had several people have problems with the broadband activation.  So I had to activate it manually!!

After that all went well, I was on the internet just a cruising along.  I did however wonder why I was getting such a slow response speed.  When I went traveling I thought I would share some of my local results with you to better show you my speed.  All these test were done at

my speed test around town

Please see an updated post on how to get even more speed from the broad band modem.
This speed is not the true speed for the broad band modem.

The Percentages over the results are showing you just what my signal strength was when I was doing the test.  Two of the 4 were traveling on the highway and the other two were stationary.  I also know that my speed will vary along with signal strength, I know I have to be a mile or less from a tower to get 100%.

*Update* 12/21/08

[ad#cricket-1]In my other post I talk about why I didn’t get the speed I expected, but after I did the activation I went to normal Mobile Broadband speeds.   I also now have been using the USB Modem for my main internet without any or much problems.   I know I can’t play any major online games but I can at least have the internet with me were ever  I go.   As long as you stay in the coverage area, you should be in good shape.  .  Like I Said I’ve used it in my area for over a 1 month and with the small little problem, the speed has been really dependable and I haven’t had any major issue with connectivity. I’ve been using this modem as my main internet and have not seen any major internet and have not seen any of the cap come my way.   I think they won’t mind to much as long as you don’t ABUSE the internet, for example don’t use it for bittorrent downloads and you should be fine!!

Update 12/24/2008
I also did travel with my laptop to another city, and I got to say it was really good and how it did when I went from one city to another. Check out the report here.
According to some post and forum talks around the the internet they are talking about the soft cap of 5 Gigabytes but that seems to not be so important right now.   After all, they have to make money some how.   I will update as necessary when I find anything else out.

update 1/01/09

I also did a video and uploaded it to youtube using the broadband connection. I had no problem uploading this video to Youtube. I’ve embedded it in this web page. See it on the bottom:

I also bought the [intlink id=”3059″ type=”post”]A600 Cricket modem[/intlink] and I absolutely love this modem because of the things you can do with it.

Cricket USB UM100 Broadband Wireless Modem Review.

Paul


The UM100c is No Longer Available, Please check out the Cricket A600 Modem Review Or the UM185 Broadband modem. The UM185 modem might be a replacement to the UM100.

After a full week of playing around with this USB wireless, I wanted to talk about it. So let’s break it down into pieces.

  1. (USB Broadband A600 Modem card for Free after Instant online rebates and Mail in rebate Free shipping & first month free! Shop today.)

  2. Installation –  The installation of the USB was not to difficult.  I did have to do some more steps than this:  Install the Software, then hooked up the USB device to the USB port.

  3. Manual Activated the Broadband –  For some reason in my area they had several people have problems with the broadband activation.  So I had to activate it manually!!

After that all went well, I was on the internet just a cruising along.  I did however wonder why I was getting such a slow response speed.  When I went traveling I thought I would share some of my local results with you to better show you my speed.  All these test were done at

my speed test around town

Please see an updated post on how to get even more speed from the broad band modem.
This speed is not the true speed for the broad band modem.

The Percentages over the results are showing you just what my signal strength was when I was doing the test.  Two of the 4 were traveling on the highway and the other two were stationary.  I also know that my speed will vary along with signal strength, I know I have to be a mile or less from a tower to get 100%.

*Update* 12/21/08

 

In my other post I talk about why I didn’t get the speed I expected, but after I did the activation, I went to normal Mobile Broadband speeds.   I also now have been using the USB Modem for my main internet without any or much problems.   I know I can’t play any major online games but I can at least have the internet with me were ever  I go.   As long as you stay in the coverage area, you should be in good shape.  .  Like I Said I’ve used it in my area for over a 1 month and with the small little problem, the speed has been really dependable and I haven’t had any major issue with connectivity. I’ve been using this modem as my main internet and have not seen any major internet and have not seen any of the cap come my way.   I think they won’t mind to much as long as you don’t ABUSE the internet, for example don’t use it for bittorrent downloads and you should be fine!!

 

Update 12/24/2008
I also did travel with my laptop to another city, and I got to say it was really good and how it did when I went from one city to another. Check out the report here.
According to some post and forum talks around the the internet they are talking about the soft cap of 5 Gigabytes but that seems to not be so important right now.   After all, they have to make money some how.   I will update as necessary when I find anything else out.

update 1/01/09

I also did a video and uploaded it to youtube using the broadband connection. I had no problem uploading this video to Youtube. I’ve embedded it in this web page. See it on the bottom:

macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0″>

I also bought the A600 Cricket modem and I absolutely love this modem because of the things you can do with it.

Limiting Use of Your Bandwidth!!

Paul

With the Recent Comcast deciding to declare how much of bandwidth you can use.  I decided to talk about how to limit your bandwidth.  So Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your bandwidth:

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Chapter 1 — Understanding your Wireless Router : This is a must.  This chapter talks about how to access your router and and how what is an IP!!

Chapter 2 — 10 Ways to keep your wireless router Secure — This one will help with those pesky neighbors who are leeching of your internet and Bandwidth!

Chapter 3

  • Turn off Auto Update to Unimportant programs : Having several programs checking for updates can start to add up.  Although this is a small amount of bandwidth.  It will give your that extra amount.

  • When not using your Internet turn off your Modem : This one is the most useful because when your not using your internet just turning off the modem will prevent you from using to much bandwidth.

  • Use a program like AppSnap to update your programs : Having told you that you should stop auto-updating on some of programs.  Here is how you can update manually.  This little program will check most of what you have installed on your system and will let you know which ones have available updates.  This should be done once a week or every other week!!

  • Use a Program like GoodSync to perform backups : Know that some people have backups in the cloud this will greatly reduce the amount of bandwidth your system will use to upload to the cloud.  Get an E3 Amazon account and use the program to back to E3.

  • By an External Backup Hard Drive : This option is also good for people who have the need for all the bandwidth possible.  Buying an external hard drive for use as backup is also a good idea so that way you don’t depend on your internet bandwidth.   Just remember when you do a backup take it off site just in case of a fire or earthquake or something like that.   Might be time to buy a Safety Deposit Box, and use that.

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In an Upcoming post I will be discussing the program or tools you need to  monitor your bandwidth!  This is going to be a must for thos who need to monitor you monthly bandwidth per month.  I will be looking into some of the options available to you for free.