If anyone needs backup internet

[netmik3]

http://www.freedompop.com/home/plans is pretty good. You get 1gb free a month. There are other offers for more that I've seen.

Free 10gb TRIAL http://www.freedompop.com/homeaccountfree

The company is a little shady but the modem is cheap and if your internet goes out a lot this may help. Otherwise clearwire directly is cheap too and unlimited.

USA only, Merlin only has experimental backup support.

 

[JoeSchmoe007]

http://www.freedompop.com/home/plans is pretty good. You get 1gb free a month. There are other offers for more that I've seen.

Free 10gb TRIAL http://www.freedompop.com/homeaccountfree

The company is a little shady but the modem is cheap and if your internet goes out a lot this may help. Otherwise clearwire directly is cheap too and unlimited.

USA only, Merlin only has experimental backup support.

This is not 100% accurate (I have this service, this is Clearwire MVNO).

You get 1.5 (or 1?) GB for the first month for free. After that you get 500MB and you can add another 500 MB by jumping through hoops (adding "friends"). Modem can be returned within first year for a full refund. Some time in 2013 FreedomPop plans to switch from Clearwire WiMax to Sprint LTE/3G and introduce another device.

I can confirm that .270 original Asus firmware works with their WiFi hotspot device with following settings:

Enable USB Modem: Yes
Location: Manual
USB Modem: WCDMA (UMTS)
USB Adapter: auto

Leave the rest of the fields empty, plugin hotspot via USB cable and unplug WAN from the internet.

Haven't tried on Merlin yet.

 

[netmik3]

Yeah it's an option. Clearwire direct may be the better choice but a free gb is cool. But I also think they are shady and when I tried refunding my modem it took weeks.

 

[JoeSchmoe007]

Yeah it's an option. Clearwire direct may be the better choice but a free gb is cool. But I also think they are shady and when I tried refunding my modem it took weeks.

Clearwire direct is better choice for long-term and high-bandwidth usage. Devices from them cost less (but you can't return for a refund) and they have "unlimited bandwidth" monthly plans.

Also keep in mind that coverage at this time is pretty much limited to major cities. It can be checked on ClearWire website.