We’ve written extensively about Karma’s cheap internet option here, and here.
But now there’s big news that makes Karma’s unique internet option even more attractive — especially for those readers who don’t qualify for the low-income internet plans available. (Click here to see more about those plans.)
When Karma introduced its pay-as-you-go plan, it had one major limitation — it worked only on a technology called WiMAX. But Karma has leapfrogged beyond that problem by moving its service to superfast and more widely available LTE. And if you pre-order now you can save $50 off the Karma hardware.
The hardware we’re referring to is a new $149 Karma hotspot hardware that’s required to use the Karma service. But if you sign up now to take advantage of that $50 savings, you’ll only pay $99 to get yourself up-and-running on Karma’s new, faster, better network. And, of course, once you’re using Karma, you’ll save money compared to other companies’ pre-paid data plans. A ton of money, in fact.
More about Karma
In case you’re not familiar with Karma’s unique and inexpensive internet plans, here’s a quick review:
It’s as easy as 1-2-3:
#1: You buy a your own personal hotspot device from Karma for a one-time, up-front fee of $199 (or even less, as we discuss elsewhere in this article). This hotspot acts as your own WiFi hotspot, for yourself and a number of other users you might let on.
#2: You pay just $10-14 for each gigabyte you consume
#3: You can earn free internet access by sharing your personal hotspot with friends, neighbors and even strangers
Wait. Did we say free internet? Absolutely. Because Karma is designed to be shared, and the more you share your personal Karma hotspot, the more free internet usage you’ll get. In fact, if you’re one of those exceptionally social people, it’s conceivable that Karma could give you free internet forever (or at least until too many people begin abusing this incredible offer).
For a more detailed look at Karma read our Karma page here.
More about the Sprint LTE network
Why is Karma moving its service from Sprint’s Wimax network to its LTE network? To be blunt, the Wimax technology never delivered the kind of performance Karma had expected. In fact, an argument could be made that Wimax never worked as well as anyone had hoped for. That may explain why Sprint is shutting down its Wimax network in late 2015.
According to FierceWireless.com, “In April, Sprint said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would ‘cease using WiMAX technology by the end of 2015.’ As part of that effort, Sprint said it identified approximately 6,000 ‘redundant sites that we expect to decommission and terminate the underlying leases.'”
The bottom line is that this news is nothing but good news for Karma and its current and future cusotmers.
geek.com reports that “Karma is basically re-selling access to Sprint’s/Clearwire network, which is the only national carrier to roll out WiMAX. That ended up being a nasty page in Sprint’s history. WiMAX never lived up to its potential with sluggish speeds even compared to HSPA+ on carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T. Sprint abandoned its WiMAX expansion plans several years ago to focus on moving to LTE, which is why Karma will be able to offer LTE.”
The low cost of Karma
Karma says that its new hotspot router is a tad larger than its old WiMAX hotspot. The bad news is that it costs $149 (that’s $50 more than the older, smaller hotspot. Luckily, Karma is doing everything it can to ameliorate that higher cost by offering it to current customers owners for just $75 (pre-orders only) and to new customers for just $99.
More good news? Karma is holding the line on data costs. You’ll pay a mere $14 for 1GB of data. The better news? That data never expires. Repeat: That data never expires. And with Karma, the more data you guy, the more you save. If one gig for $14 won’t take care of your data usage, you can buy 5GB for just $59.
Karma’s really on a roll. It’s network will improve dramatically with the new LTE network, and its prices are just as low as ever.
Go ahead. Kick Karma’s tires. Take a look under the hood. Check it out. We think you’ll like what you see. (We apologize if the previous paragraph makes us sound like used car salesmen.)
Henry says
I purchased their hotspot plan a few years ago and then they removed the unlimited data plan and only offered limited data plans that cost much higher if you use a lot of data. A lot of heavy users forced them to revise their subscription plans. Only people who use the hotspot very infrequently should use their service (i.e., those that travel a lot). The service plans offered by this company are NOT for people who use the hotspot at home.
joe says
Here’s the $89 discount link they gave me, if anyone’s interested:
https://yourkarma.com/invite/joseph6776