FreedomPop Launches “Free” Global Data Hotspot And SIM - and Competition?

[andy]

Originally Posted by kctopitz

I look forward to your findings! Have you seen any indications that you can use any Three prepaid SIM for this offer?

Sorry for not replying sooner. A Three SIM only arrived today, after a phone query found no trace of order, so I re-ordered. (edit: another SIM arrived the next day)

I don't know whether any previous SIM can be transferred to this offer. I suspect not, but I haven't actually asked.

My SIM is the free one without the initial paid bundle. Activation was online, using a web form, and needs to be connected to a router with the SIM in. However it will help to simultaneously be in a home wifi zone, as the process involves a confirmation link in an email, and other connections than the specific web page (i.e. email and other websites) didn't work until about 20 minutes after that was clicked

The 200 MB allowance is shown in the account online, and I have not been asked to add any credit. The options to do so seem to start with pre-selecting a bundle, all for 30 days, and the cheapest is £15 for 2GB, so some people might then wish they'd chosen the £10 for 1GB on the initial SIM order. But I'm intending to see how it goes without topping up.

[kctopitz]

Originally Posted by andy

Sorry for not replying sooner. A Three SIM only arrived today, after a phone query found no trace of order, so I re-ordered. (edit: another SIM arrived the next day)

I don't know whether any previous SIM can be transferred to this offer. I suspect not, but I haven't actually asked.

My SIM is the free one without the initial paid bundle. Activation was online, using a web form, and needs to be connected to a router with the SIM in. However it will help to simultaneously be in a home wifi zone, as the process involves a confirmation link in an email, and other connections than the specific web page (i.e. email and other websites) didn't work until about 20 minutes after that was clicked

The 200 MB allowance is shown in the account online, and I have not been asked to add any credit. The options to do so seem to start with pre-selecting a bundle, all for 30 days, and the cheapest is £15 for 2GB, so some people might then wish they'd chosen the £10 for 1GB on the initial SIM order. But I'm intending to see how it goes without topping up.

Great news. Thanks for the report. Sounds like I'll have to get myself one of these. Now if only the eBay sellers would offer the SIM-only package with shipping to the US!

[izenzen]

Bumping this as FreedomPop has just launched the service in Spain.

For 12€ you get a SIM with free 200mb + 300sms + 100 outgoing minutes each month with "unlimited Whatsapp usage" (1gb FUP on that), you can get up to free additional 500mb (which are recurring!) by adding a bunch of friends from Slickdeals list. Data overages are really cheap (0,015€/mb for free plan, 0,01€ for paid ones).

Even if calls and texts are VoIP (and limited to Spain unless you buy an international call plan) and quality varies, the plans are quite cheap (9€/mo for 2gb + unlimited calls and texts), even more considering it roams (without apparent limits) on most of EU and US.

Only problem is network speed in Spain, by default it connects to the Orange network in which speed and latency are quite horrid (1-2mbps, ~300ms), but they sent an email announcement telling people to connect manually to Movistar (!) which gives decent (~12mbps down) speeds while they fix the issue with Orange. There are also problems now with Whatsapp being discounted from your data allowance _twice_. Quite a bumpy and original start.

The other curious thing is that the SIM has a UK ICC belonging to Three, pings and latencies correspond to all traffic going through the UK.

The issue will probably be getting one from outside Spain for non-spaniards, but once the issues are fixed for EU/US roamers this is probably a really good deal.

[wolfbln]

I really can't share this optimism about FreedomPop trying it again in Spain.
We have their offer in three countries now: US, UK and Spain.
Every decent review shows a very mixed bag so far. Basic data is quite cheap, but there are many strings attached and 1/2 of all customers buy additional allowances which are rather pricey. This is after all, how this company makes money.

The first reviews from Spain were horrid. As a novelty they teamed up with WhatsApp to offer a more widespread solution for VoIP. Basically a good idea. But it's generally not working.

Pero lo cierto es que los primeros usuarios del nuevo operador han reportado que la conexión es muy lenta, peor que usando una SIM de la propia Orange o de otros virtuales bajo su cobertura.

Traffic through Orange seems to be deprioritized and often it's not feasible to make calls at all. You need a certain speed for VoIP. Generally, speed with Orange network is good. So it's a FreedomPop problem. This is added by the fact, that they don't have access to 4G/LTE networks. Sure, getting a 2nd 3G network coverage like Movistar may improve the situation. But Movistar doesn't offer so much more speed or better coverage on 3G in Spain compared to Orange or Vodafone. All three networks are more or less on par.

The main issue remains that all traffic is routed through UK-based servers. This is like their US product resulting in very high latency/ping times of some hundred ms. They will not be able to bring this down considerably with any 3G network, not even with a 4G/LTE network, as long as they don't change their routing. This makes it very inconvenient, if all voice calls are continued to be routed through VoIP. So some voice calls face a delay of 5 seconds or more. This is like IDD calling more than 50 years ago. This is added by their billing problems with WhatsApp and a practically non-existent customer support.

So again, they have introduced a product to a local market, which simply doesn't seem to be ready for it. For a "free" allowance, users are willing to bear some burden, but are getting annoyed when the product remains to be faulty. After all, they want to sell add-ons based on the same product. They should have better marketed this product as a data-only option (without voice calls) like their international data roaming SIM in the first place. Adding voice calls from the start in Spain like this, just gets them more trouble than necessary. But they should have known these issues before as they are not new!

I really don't understand how it can be recommended right now. Only if you use it for 3G data only, are willing to accept a certain delay in transmission and stay within the free allowance, it can be a viable back-up solution after all. Getting it in Spain, UK or the US is not such a problem as they accept all internatl. credit cards and your plan will be linked to it. You only need a postal address for delivery in one of these countries.

[bylo]

To anyone who wants to try FreedomPop out, for the US you have to give them your ZIP code and an e-mail address in order to establish eligibility. If you do that and then wait a few days they'll send you an offer that's cheaper than their original offer. I don't know if they do something similar in the UK or ES but it's worth waiting to see.

[peterdoo]

The spanish FreedomPop offers 10 GB monthly at €25, according to them valid in more than 25 countries without any roaming surcharge (confirmed in blogs of various users):

https://es.support.freedompop.com/ap...tail/a_id/2973

This could be an interesting data roaming SIM. I have not tried yet to order the SIM to an address outside of Spain.

It is a Three UK based SIM. Tethering seems to work on Android, however no tethering profile is available for iOS.

[bukzin]

Has anyone tried using their MiFi 2 unit without the FP SIM?

Is the box FP supplies unlocked? I would like to buy a local SIM card
with data and use it without the FP Global SIM

(the unit I purchased is the Novatel #5792 with Ver. 1.1 software)


I am US based and would use it in Europe and Vietnam, Mexico etc



Any thoughts on this?

[andy]

Originally Posted by bukzin

Has anyone tried using their MiFi 2 unit without the FP SIM?

Is the box FP supplies unlocked? I would like to buy a local SIM card
with data and use it without the FP Global SIM

(the unit I purchased is the Novatel #5792 with Ver. 1.1 software)


I am US based and would use it in Europe and Vietnam, Mexico etc



Any thoughts on this?

Check the device specification for frequency bands

I don't think it has 900 MHz 3g, which is common in some European countries, and no 4g here either.

That's why I didn't buy one, pointed this out to them, and asked them more than once to sell just the SIM.

[andy]

I failed in my attempt to get the roaming data SIM via the US site. It accepted the order, with UK postcode lookup, and with a UK credit card. After 2 months of occasionally logging in to check progress I asked for a predicted delivery date. They replied to say they couldn't process this, and refunded.

A couple of days later they launched a new roaming product on the UK site, very similar to as mentioned above for Spanish site, with 100 minutes some texts and 200 MB free monthly, or paid bundle options. Free trial larger bundle in first month. Roaming in most though not all EU countries plus USA.

[andy]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

I didn't expect a reaction to FreedomPop by another operator on this side of the Atlantic, but Three UK seems to match their offer, well sort of.

They introduced their new Data Award SIM which happens to give out 200 MB for free per month. This data can be topped up for pay and used even in the "Feel at home" countries too or you stay at the very low (domestic) default data rate of 1p per MB (which seems not to be available for roaming).

So it's a combination of the two different plans of FreedomPop domestic and roaming. It includes only data, no "free" calls, yet you can text for 2p and call for 3p/min in the UK. But there are fewer countries covered on their "feel at home" plan compared to the roaming on FreedomPop.

While Three UK's SIM is for GBP10 with 1 GB valid for 30 days, FreedomPop is free (domestic) or at GBP10 (roaming SIM) without data included but the 200 MB freebies.

The most important difference, Three's SIM is available without waiting for months and will be distributed on eBay in other countries soon. It doesn't need to be linked to a UK credit card. Although top-ups from outside of the UK without having one is tricky.

Feel at Home countries added a week ago, now whole EU, 8 other European, 8 rest of world