Hands-On With Sprint's Mobile Broadband

A growing number of laptops offer built-in support for cellular broadband data access. This can make life much easier for mobile professionals in need of Internet access on the go.

Assuming they can actually activate the service, that is.

In my experience, using my Sony Vaio VGN-TXN19P ultraportable and Sprint's Mobile Broadband service, the activation process was laborious. (The VGN-TXN19P is similar to Sony's Vaio VGN-TZ150N/B, recently number 8 on our Top 10 Ultraportable Laptops chart.)

Here's my report on what it was like to activate, use, and terminate Sprint's Mobile Broadband service.

Ordinarily, I have no need for Sprint's service, which costs $60 per month for unlimited data with a two-year contract. I'm content using ethernet in my home office and Wi-Fi when away.

But on the eve of a vacation in DeBordieu, South Carolina, a small beach community, I panicked. Facing a last-minute surge of work, I knew I'd need Internet access on my laptop while away. The owner of the beach house where I'd be staying told me her home had no wired or wireless Internet access. "If you sit in a certain spot on the back deck," she said, "you may be able to get on a neighbor's network. But it's not a strong signal."

To make matters worse, my research turned up no Internet cafes within miles of the beach house. And the weather forecast was rain, nearly every day--hardly ideal for sitting outside with my laptop. I could have used a dial-up connection, but the calls would have been long distance and I didn't want to add charges to my host's telephone bill.

I decided to take advantage of the Sprint Mobile Broadband free 30-day trial included with my Sony Vaio. The laptop has a built-in Wireless Wide Area Network chip designed to work with Sprint's EvDO data network where available, as well as the carrier's lower-speed 1xRTT data network where EvDO isn't available. The promotional coupon stated that the trial offer expired December 30, 2007.

To begin, I called Sprint's customer service and explained that I wanted to try the Mobile Broadband service. The rep informed me that the offer I referred to had expired on June 30. My only option was to sign up for the service with a one- or two-year contract and an early termination fee of $200. The rep said I would need to buy a broadband card to access the service.

"I don't need a card," I replied, and explained that the required WWAN hardware was built into my laptop.

"I've never heard of that," the rep said.

I thanked him and called Sprint's customer service again, hoping for a more knowledgeable rep. The second one parroted the first: I would need a special card, my trial offer was no longer valid, and so on.

A media spokesperson for Sprint later told me that "while customer care representatives have been informed of these policies and are trained to follow the procedures for assisting customers with these types of inquiries, we continue to work hard to ensure our representatives receive additional, ongoing education."

I decided to initiate the service on my own and deal with the details later. To begin, I launched Sony's SmartWi Connection Utility, which came preinstalled on my Vaio. The software is designed to step you through the activation process, which you can presumably do online or over the phone. I chose the online option but the process stalled when the software asked me for my Mobile Station ID (MSID) number. I didn't know what the number was, nor could I figure out where to find it.

Note: Sony Vaio customers can't complete the activation process online on their own, a Sprint spokesperson later told me. Sprint's phone reps can handle the programming to provide customers with MSID numbers, she added. Once you have that information, you can use the Sony wizard to complete the activation process.

Frustrated, I took my Vaio and the printed offer to a Sprint store in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. I waited in line 30 minutes. Finally, I met with Gregg E., a friendly, knowledgeable guy. I showed him the coupon and explained my situation.

I soon realized why I waited 30 minutes: Gregg is extremely popular. That's because, unlike the Sprint telephone service reps I dealt with, he sincerely wanted to help me use his employer's service. Example: When Gregg didn't know the answer to one of my questions, he used his own cell phone to call a colleague at another store to find out. Someone needs to give this man a raise.

Within about 15 minutes, Gregg had me online using Sprint Mobile Broadband. The service worked flawlessly during my travels. It was easy to connect, and the connection was fast where EvDO was available. Not surprisingly, the EvDO network wasn't accessible in remote DeBordieu, though Sprint's slower data network was.

About a week after returning from my trip, I returned to the Sprint store to cancel my service. Gregg wasn't there, unfortunately. The customer service rep I spoke to said I'd have to call Sprint to discontinue my service.

"Why?" I asked. "Are they trying to make it hard for me to drop the service?"

"Pretty much," he replied.

I came home and called Sprint. The phone rep asked me why I wanted to cancel the service. "It costs too much," I explained.

Would I keep the broadband service if he could give it to me for $40 per month instead of $60? No, I replied. "I might be able to give it to you for $30 a month," he continued. I stayed firm, however.

At this point, the Sprint rep said I would only be charged a partial month. I told him I shouldn't be charged at all, because the offer was for a 30-day free trial. He said he was unfamiliar with this offer, and that I'd have to fax it to him to verify, which I did.

I waited a week. During that time, I noticed a $40 charge on my Sprint bill, relating to the broadband service. I called Sprint again. The customer service rep had no record of my fax. I faxed the offer again. This time, I waited on the phone until the rep acknowledged receiving the offer and credited the $40 to my account.

When I later contacted a Sprint spokesperson, I was told that "Sprint honors its current published promotions and advertisements. However, in certain instances a customer care representative may exercise his or her discretion to offer a special credit or adjustment on occasion and depending on the circumstance."

I realize that cellular service providers like Sprint have spent billions building wireless network infrastructures--and they need to recoup those investments. It's only fair.

But they need to make it much easier for consumers like me to give their service a risk-free trial. And while they're at it, they should find a way to let consumers use the service for an hour, a day, or a week and pay based on usage. Sure, they'd lose some of their $60-per-month accounts. But they might gain a lot more customers in the process.

• "Business Buyer's Guide to Mobile Broadband"
• "The Worst Technology Laws"
• "Flying High With Broadband"
• "The Cellular Internet"
• "Microsoft, GSMA Promote 3G Laptops"

Do you use a cellular broadband service on your laptop? If so, which service do you use, and what do you think of it? Send your comments to me, and please include your name and location.

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