Reviewing the 3G A600 Cricket Modem

By Paul | Mar 5, 2009

So I got the Modem and wanted to test out the speed being stationary, So I go to my usual site Speedtest.net look at the speed, check below for speed.
As you can see this went fairly well. It does depend on your Cricket Coverage area. So you want to hear all about it.

First thing if you are upgrading from the UM100 Broadband Card, You’ll want to uninstall the Quicklink Software. To do that you can uninstall it by going to:

Computer > C: Drive > Program Files > Cricket > Quicklink > UNWISE.EXE

(This will uninstall the Quicklink software, I’d suggest after you uninstall it you reboot.)

How does the USB Modem work?

Once you do that you can then insert the A600 Modem into your USB. The Nice thing about this is the software for the Modem is on the Modem itself, so you don’t loose the CD for the modem. It currently only supports Windows and MAC OSX operating system but I have seen there is a work around to use the A600 Modem with Linux if your wondering.Once you insert it into the USB you’ll find you have a new Drive. It will say a Cricket CD Drive with 24 megs used. You’ll want to run that program on the Cricket CD and that will install the software.

The Connection

As you can see this is the provided application to connect to the Cricket Network and the speed and signal strength can differ from location to location due to coverage areas. This application can do several different functions:

Connecting to Cricket
Text Messaging (Free with broadband connection)
Bandwidth Monitor (Helps makes sure you don’t use to much Bandwidth, they do have a soft cap of 5 gig’s but haven’t affected me yet.)
Statistics, this is good for those who want to try to get the most out of the modem.
Logs, Also good for those who want to keep track on how much they used the modem. It however only logs activity on the system it is connected to.
Activation — Seems to help get updated tower positions when your traveling and can be done as long as you can get a signal

Pro’s to this EVDO MODEM:

Memory Slot to have backups on files in case the worst case scenario happens (1 to 4 Gigbyte Capabilities)
Speed and Bandwidth (See above for speed test)
No loosing CD — I have the program files online if you need them.
Independent card reader without having to install the Modem Software.
Able to take the modem with you as you go. (There is a clip slot for you to carry it anywhere you go.)
Found out there is an External antenna connector and will be looking at Antenna’s for it in the future.
Swivel USB port, You can swivel it up or down 90 degrees or side to side 180 degrees. (X and Y Axis)

Cons:

If you use it primarily internet you’ll expect some slow downs from time to time during HIGH Peak Zones.
This has a dormant signal feature that I will have to figure out how to disable but easily fixed by reconnecting to the tower. You can get out of dormant mode by web surfing, just load up your browser and the dormant mode will go away.

Twitter Comments:

@Laforge129 I sure am trying out the Cricket broadband.!I just started it last week and so far it never ceases to amaze me! (Via Twitter)

Conclusion

I and others would recommend the Cricket Broadband Modem a600 to anyone who wants an inexpensive and portable internet connection for $40 dollars and no contracts. Though with all the things you can do with this modem makes it an invaluable extra incentive in buying this modem. You should always check the Coverage area for Cricket and make sure you are able to use this modem in the first place. I’ll have another update on this later on but I’m really impressed with all the features of this modem.

Clicker here to buy it now.

Check out my Extended Review of the A600 and All the programs that I added to my 4 gig MicroSD Card.

If you want to comment on the A600 just twitter me and tell me what you think. Maybe you’ll twitter will be on my review site.

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keeme

I just bought one for a um100 and did a search on sellers other products (ebay) and found one for 39bucks - http://cgi.ebay.com/XHD-EXTERNAL-ANTENNA-For-Cr...

hope this helps

jbcurt

I bought the new A600, and I'm some what impressed with it.. I live on the outskirts of town where I only get one bar on the modem but it still is faster than dial up and faster than the UM100 that I previously had. I did find that if you remove the small black rubber plug up near the word "Cricket" that is molded in to the back of the modem, there is a place to plug in an external antenna. I haven't found where I can buy it yet but I'll keep looking. I am very impressed with the speed when I have all of the bars, I went in to town where I got a good cell signal and I tested it against my mom's computer that was hooked up to the cable service "Road Runner" and found the A600 modem was quite a bit faster than her Road Runner, fast enough to where my mom went out and bought her self an A600 modem and canceled her Road Runner service. I did find that while driving and using the A600, when I got in between cell towers there was a few second lag, I'm guessing it was from the modem switching from tower to tower? I'm using an Intel Mac Book and sometimes I have an issue when attaching the modem and logging on, it won't authenticate, so I have to close the A600 program and unplug the modem then run the modem's program again, reattach the modem and then log in.

Laforge129

Thanks for the information on where the Antenna is. I didn't know there was one. I'll look into finding out where you can buy the antenna from!! ;) So Stay tuned!!