Poss. New Alltel Customer-? about UTStarcom 150/Huawei EC228

amazingrace · EVDO Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

I currently have HughesNet but am giving serious consideration to switching to Alltel. Unfortunately, the representatives in the local Alltel store haven't been very helpful and really more confusing than anything else. The same thing goes for the 1800 number. It seems I get conflicting information depending on who I talk to. I'm confused and have been researching this online in an attempt to get clarification, which is how I found this site. I apologize if these are stupid questions but I am brand new to all this. I would appreciate any input/advice anyone might have. Thanks so much!

My questions:
---The Alltel reps are pushing the UTStarcom UM150. However, the Huawei EC228 is free after rebates (according to their site) and seems like a comparable card at least, if not better. Would there be any advantage to pick one over the other?
---Is it possible to get a router that would be Alltel EVDO compatible but also DSL/Cable compatible? I'm asking just in case someday DSL/Cable would be available here...I would like to avoid having to purchase another router if they would ever be available and I would switch.

Alex · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:44 am Post subject:

the UM150 has an excellent track record with 3gstore, but the one we sell is the Verizon version.

we will be selling alltel version just as soon as we can. our agency relationship with alltel has taken forever to get going, but.. its going to happen.

we'd recommend the um150 simply because its known to work well with the cradlepoint routers, our hands-down recommendation for a cellular router.

three router models would also work with DSL, the CTR350, CTR500 and MBR1000.

if you will need ethernet connections to any computers when you are using the router with DSL, you will need to get the MBR1000 because the CTR series only has one ethernet port that acts as either DSL/WAN input, or LAN output.

Atmega · EVDO User Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 56

I had a similar thing went to a Alltel store and was trying to get a
Huawei EC228 but they were out of stock and recommended me the UM150. Even though it costs a little extra (after rebates) I will say its a great card and gives me a good EVDO speed. Always 4 bars for me, which gives me a speed similar to this...

*Side note: The offer for the Huawei EC228 expired on June 26th but I see they extended it to July 3rd.