Virgin Broadband2Go Reviewed: Pay-as-You-Go Wireless Rocks!

Last month, Virgin Mobile announced a pay-as-you-go alternative to contract-based mobile wireless. With Broadband2Go, you buy the USB modem, then pay for blocks of service as needed -- no contract required, no monthly minimums.

During a recent trip to San Francisco, I put the hardware and service to the test. Verdict? I'll never again leave home without it. Broadband2Go kicks ass. Here's why.

Although the Novatel-made USB modem seems pricey at Originally $149.99, the Novatel-made USB modem now sells for $99.99 -- about what you'd pay for it's not uncommon to pay upwards of $100 for a contract-subsidized aircard from the likes of Verizon or Sprint. And here you're not stuck paying $60 every month for two years.

Instead, you buy blocks of airtime ranging from $10-50. Here's an overview (updated March, 2011):

You can get more details in my original post on Broadband2Go. So how does the service fare in real-world testing?

It doesn't get any more real-world than this: The Wi-Fi signal in my hotel room varied between "low" and "very low," meaning Internet access was about on par with dial-up. In other words, I couldn't get any work done.

So I plugged in the Broadband2Go modem. After an automated software install and some initial account-setup shenanigans, I was off to the races. Literally. A file download that was plodding along at 10-12Kbps over Wi-Fi jumped to around 150Kbps -- better than a tenfold increase.

After about two hours of fairly heavy Internet usage, including some downloading and video streaming, I'd consumed about 100MB of the 250MB I'd paid for -- meaning I could count on at least a few more hours of similar activity. (Without the downloads and streaming, my consumption was significantly lower.)

Because Virgin's service relies on Sprint's 3G network, coverage is generally excellent. I used it on a San Francisco ferry boat that had no Wi-Fi.

And that's the advantage of Broadband2Go in a nutshell: It provides speedy Internet access when Wi-Fi isn't available, and doesn't force you into a pricey contract for the privilege. I'm sold.