DEAL $149 Karma Go (was) Unlimited Data for $50/mo.

[wardmundy]

If you haven't read this week's Nerd Vittles article, start there. The topic is unlimited Internet service for your vehicle (or home). For those that don't have a grandfathered Verizon unlimited data plan, you now have another option if you live or travel in an area with Sprint 4G data service (dark green in first map below).

For $50 or less, you can surf all you like. If you sign up in 2015 with our signup link, you also can get a $50 discount on the device which brings it down to $99.

And our signup link gets you another $10 off plus we get a $10 credit to help cover the cost of support when we're on the road.

You don't have to use the all-you-can-eat plan. You can elect to pay by the gig as you go. Data never expires, and there's a 45-day money back guarantee. It's a great deal if you have Sprint coverage in your area or if you travel the interstates for a living.

 

[wardmundy]

Uh oh. Sounds like there may be trouble in paradise after only two months.

Last Week "The BAIT":

This Week "The SWITCH":

Unlimited Neverstop apparently has hit a speed bump and is starting to sound not quite so unlimited based upon the "Help Us Improve" email we received today which has narrowed its usage to "on-the-go needs"...

We launched Neverstop two months ago and the usage has blown our minds.

We couldn’t be more excited about your appetite to be online while on the go. But we were surprised to learn how many of you are also using it heavily at home. We've seen lots of you binge watch Netflix in HD all day, back up your hard drives over the internet, and even connect your Xboxes through ingenious means. It’s a glimpse of how the internet should be, and we love it… but it's putting a strain on the service and it’s not what the product is meant for today.

So, to make sure that Neverstop continues to work seamlessly for as many people as possible, we have to make some changes to the service. We began running tests to optimize the service, including lowering speeds. Our engineers are working hard to find the right balance of always accessible worry-free internet, at a fair price, so you'll likely see speeds change over the next few days while we try to fine-tune that balance.

We will continue to get you online so you can do what’s most important to you when on-the-go: things like email, streaming, and browsing. But, we need to reduce the extreme usage cases. If you find that Neverstop doesn’t fit your needs, use our mobile apps to switch to Refuel, or head here for a refund.

As we figure this out, we want to take into account what is most important to you as a Neverstop customer. To get your input, weput together a survey so you can help us improve Neverstop.

Ultimately our goal is that you never have to worry about getting online whether you’re at the office, home or the spaces in between. That’s Neverstop’s future. Today, we will make Neverstop the right solution for your on-the-go needs.

Thanks,
Steven van Wel

More news here. It only cost AT&T $100 million in fines for their unlimited switcheroo. Similar FTC action here would pretty much eat up Karma Go's $1.2 million in venture capital funding. That should leave all of us with a pretty coffee table ornament and not much else. You have 45 days to get your money back. I'd take them up on it.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

i knew it i knew it I KNEW IT.... there is always a SUPER THIN THIN FINE PRINT in White or Gray at Front Size -0.001... UGH

 

[wardmundy]

We've now done considerable testing of the Karma Go and, for "normal" computing chores on a desktop or smartphone, it still works fine. Too bad they shot themselves in the foot right out of the starting gate.

Charleston isn't known for good Sprint service and we're getting 2Mbits down and 1.5Mbits up which still beats a Ma Bell T1 line.

Music streaming from Google Music and Amazon as well as video streaming from YouTube worked fine.

 

[Jay Deal]

"Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered"

OR in this case (and many similar others), the hogs end up getting the whole pen slaughtered.

It ALWAYS ends up this way unfortunately.

 

[Jay Deal]

Another observation albiet slightly paranoid regarding privacy

"We've seen lots of you binge watch Netflix in HD all day, back up your hard drives over the internet, and even connect your Xboxes through ingenious means. "

How the heck do they know about this especially the last item?

What else are they watching?

 

[darmock]

Been using it for a week in Florida. Don't usually watch movies or play games. For my limited needs works better than the alternatives. Took it for a short run on the motorcycle with a laptop in the trunk connected to the karma. Never dropped and maintained access to my neorouter network with no problems. Stopped in the middle of nowhere and RDP'ed into my Windoze desktop at home worked like a charm. While pulled over in rest area FHP pulled up wondering what I was doing on a laptop in the back of a motorcycle. He was amazed out in the boonies I had connectivity as his guvrmnt hotspot had no signal....... Sprint aint the best in Fla either. Had a couple of instances where it "turned itself on" in the farday bag but no repeats.

Tom

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

HOW TO AVOID A CONNECTION CAP MAX:

Most HotSpot Only Allow 5 to 15 Devices on One HotSpot at a time...

How i avoid it and TAKE off all the stress of devices on one mini device so it works better is to use a Portable DD-WRT or a HOme DD-WRT Router with REPEATER MODE.

No more MAX CAP. YOU WELCOME.

Don't till any one but me and the guy down the street have DD-WRT Routers with antenna's & we split the cost of our Verizon Unlimited Business Plan $150 a month no contact no credit check and can use just about 300GB a month no data cap... no speed drop to 2g/3g/4g... always LTE. i found it on ebay searching UNLIMITED DATA No Throttle

but i found out the ATT & T-Mobile both have CAPS on ALL & ANY PLANS at 23GB even if they say its UNLIMITED total lies

i have used well over 300GB on my Veriozn and still kicking at LTE speeds.

we dont get Cable or Dish Internet out here or even Satellite but Only Cellular not even DSL but $75 each cant go wrong and the NETFLIX is HD and the Downloads are fast and Crackel shows load fast as well as the ads they have with No pixel issues & no wheel or buffer.

 

[darmock]

Oh Boy the real switch
From Karma this morning



Last week we announced that we were testing lower speeds to find a way to reduce strain on Neverstop. At the same time we asked for your input to improve it and have spent the last week analyzing your feedback.

What Happened
We made a mistake. We modeled Neverstop usage to be much higher than usage on Refuel. But we never anticipated that some customers would use over 1,000GB a month.

Some of you asked why we don't kick off the bad guys. Frankly, we don't think there are any bad guys. We offered an all-you-can-surf option, and people took us up on it. That's on us.

But usage this high is not something that will work today.

The other thing made clear in your feedback is that speed is important. Slowing it down was not a good solution, which is understandable.

What’s Next
Getting online with Neverstop should be simple and work well for most use cases. Here's the update:

• 5Mbps up and down speeds are coming back
• Get 15GB of data per month. After this, you’ll still be online but with speeds good enough for emailing and messaging
• Earn a $1 credit for each unused GB

Beginning today at 10am ET, everyone on Neverstop will get a fresh start at 0GB. Based on current usage, this change will have little to no impact for most of you, while still reducing strain on Neverstop. But, if you’re looking to binge watch Netflix 24/7, this probably isn’t the product for you. If that’s the case, head to our returns page and we’ll take it from there.

 

[wardmundy]

 

[darmock]

Came in the mail today (below)

Sent mine back! Supposed to get a full refund time will tell if I ever see anything out of it. So Much Snake Oil!


Tom

Hello Pulse,
Goodbye Neverstop

Let’s cut to the chase: for many customers, the current version of Neverstop is tolerable at best. We shouldn’t provide a one-size-fits-all service that doesn’t actually fit all.

As of today, we’re no longer offering Neverstop, and your subscription will end when your current billing cycle finishes up. The time isn't right for us to offer an unlimited service and you shouldn’t have to deal with a compromised internet experience in the meantime.

We’ve been hard at work on a subscription that gives you the flexibility of choice, connects more of your devices, and has no throttling, ever. It's also a model that we can sustain. It's called Pulse.

Pulse delivers data to your account every month. It averages speeds of 6-8Mbps with peaks of 25Mbps and gets 8 devices online at once—more devices and more speed (hallelujah). We don't like throttling, and are glad to throw it out. Now you'll spend less time waiting for videos to buffer, playlists to stream, or photos to sync.

As a Neverstop customer, you’ll get a discount on your first 3 months of Pulse. Click here to pre-select your plan.



If you don’t pre-select, you’ll be enrolled in the 5GB option when your billing cycle ends. That way, you won’t lose service. You can also switch over to our pay-as-you-go plan, Refuel. If you’d like to opt out altogether, head here.

Visit our blog for more details on the end of Neverstop. Thank you for your open feedback over the last few weeks—we’re building Karma with your help and keeping your comments in mind. We’re grateful to have you on board.

 

[wardmundy]

Karma Go quickly turned into a Piece of . Finally got a refund after complaining and threatening.

By the way, the same $35 a month HotSpot plan gets you 6GB on T-Mobile PLUS unlimited (free) music and video streaming from dozens of providers. Details on Nerd Vittles.

 

[tycho]

Yes, it frosts me when a vendor sells an expensive device to work with a plan that then suddenly vaporizes.

I get 1 GB free on my cheap-a@@ Volt that I use as a hotspot via RingPlus, and extra GBs cost me $8. So I could get 5GB for $32...