My Cricket Wireless Experience (Part One): Getting Started

Here's my situation: I'm relocating temporarily to my parents' home (older folks need help with the heavy lifting of daily life), their home is not wired for internet, and my cash flow is prohibitive. What to do? My solution was to sign up with Cricket Wireless Broadband mobile internet.
Cricket Wireless has been around for several years, and though their service is only available in certain areas of the United States (like here in the Chicago area), they are expanding. Their network uses CDMA technology, the same type as Sprint and Verizon. Cricket Wireless, a division of Leap Wireless, is probably best known for their more affordable, contract-free cellular and mobile broadband services. This is what has attracted my attention to them.
Here's the current rundown on Cricket Broadband wireless internet: like many of the other nationwide carriers (Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc.), they offer a service plan with a 5 GB data cap, and of course, a wireless USB device. One difference is that right now, Cricket is offering very sweet deals for the devices (practically giving them away), and charge $40 per month while the other carriers charge $60 per month for the same type of service. You're also not locked in with a one or two-year contract for service. This means that if you want to switch to another carrier, you're not going to be paying any early termination fees.
Just as an example, because prices and promotions vary by location and over time, when I set up my service a few days ago I paid $80.81 out the door. How does that break down? The Pantech UM185C USB modem was regularly priced at $129.99, with a discount of $79.99...so I paid $50.00. The activation fee was $27.31, listed on the paperwork as a $72.69 discount from $100.00 regular price. And the promotion was classified as "first month free" which means I don't pay the $40.00 for my first month up front, but rather, on my first due date. To bring it up to $80.81, the local taxes came to $3.50. This promotion does have a $50.00 mail-in rebate, though Cricket Wireless requires completion of 45 consecutive days of use and service before eligibility kicks in. After this is the common 60-day minimum for receiving the rebate; and the rebate will be in the form of a Cricket Wireless debit card (like a branded gift card).
I'm not using the device regularly yet, but I have set it up and done some initial testing. The installation is relatively quick and easy, as the software is pre-loaded in the device itself and the absence of a contract cuts down on install time and difficulty. It took me about five minutes and minimum hassle to get it up and running. This is in comparison to a Sprint Mobile Broadband USB card/service I used previously, the installation of which took about 45 minutes, a required phone call for verification, and a couple of computer restarts.
SO, how does it work? My overall impression is that it's pretty decent as a mobile broadband solution. I used an online speed test service and (from a location with a "weak" signal) and came up with around .50 megabit-per-second download and .10 megabit-per-second upload. For the lay person, these numbers are in the range of the speeds given in the FAQ section of Cricket's own website.
Since I've seen negative comments around the web on the subject of these speeds, I would remind everyone that none of the carriers offering similar mobile broadband services can significantly compare to the speeds commonly experienced on home broadband internet from cable or phone providers. This means that attempting heavy use with media such as music, images, video or games is going to be slow and disappointing.
I'll be reporting back again after I've had more experience with Cricket's service and this device. Meanwhile, if you want to check them out to see if they're in your area and look at their services and devices, here's the Cricket Wireless website.