Cricket Wireless Internet Vs. Quest 1.5 Mbps

Cricket Wireless or Qwest's 1.5 Mbps service may be the right broadband provider choice based on your location. Both companies offer service in dozens of states. However, Cricket and Qwest have core markets in geographically opposite regions. Qwest's broadband service is available in 14 states from Washington and Oregon, as far west as Minnesota and as far south as Arizona. Cricket has limited service portions of those 14 states and a stronger presence from Minnesota to several states along the east coast. You can check availability for Cricket Wireless and Qwest Broadband by inputting your address on the company website.

Qwest Heavy Duty high speed Internet service is available in a range of speeds, from 1.5 Mbps to 40 Mbps. As of July 2011, Qwest offers 1.5 megabits of speed for $29.95, or $14.95 if you purchase additional services, for 12 months. Afterward, the cost is $40 per month. Cricket Wireless Broadband does not have the range of service speeds that Qwest offers. The top speed of Cricket Internet is 1.4 Mbps and you are charged based on how much data you consume: $40 for 2.5 gigabytes, $50 for 5 gigabytes or $60 for 7.5 gigabytes

The technologies that each company uses are very different. Qwest uses Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, which funnels high speed Internet through phone cables using special protocols. Filters plug into the phone jack to separate DSL and phone lines and a modem is used to connect your devices to the Internet. Cricket Wireless uses 3G technology, which is a wireless cell phone standard. The companies modems connect your devices to the Internet the same way a cell phone does.

Anyone that has used a cell phone before knows that the wireless signal strength varies based on where you are, interference by other radio signals and other factors. Because this is the same technology that powers Cricket Internet, your service is susceptible to the same potential problems. By comparison, Qwest's Internet service is more stable and reliable as it uses physical phone lines. However, Cricket's service offers Internet wherever you are (within the company's service area), which offers more convenience than a wired DSL connection and is worth consideration if you need mobile Internet.