wireless

Owning a smartphone usually means being stuck in an expensive two-year contract, but Republic Wireless is offering an unlimited everything service that will cost you as little as $19 a month.

Most smartphone services start at about $70 a month on one of the major carrier networks. Prepaid providers, like MetroPCS, offer similar unlimited everything deals for $50 a month. Now Republic Wireless is offering an unlimited data, voice and text messaging service for smartphones that is only $19 a month.

Dear Maggie, I'm a college student, and my parents are dropping me from their cell phone … Read more

Wireless carrier T-Mobile expanded its prepaid offerings today with the nationwide launch of GoSmart Mobile, a budget wireless service targeting consumers interested in low-cost unlimited plans.

The service, which has been in beta mode in nine markets since December, is geared toward consumers more interested in voice and text services than high-speed Internet access. As such, GoSmart's target audience includes younger people, college students on a budget, and those with incomes between $30,000 and $40,000 a year, GoSmart Marketing Director Shailendra Gujarati told the Seattle Times.

"We are looking at customers whose predominant needs when it … Read more

With a name that evokes images of Jean-Luc Picard aboard the USS Enterprise, the ZTE Engage is actually just an Earthling-created, contract-free phone from Cricket Wireless.

But even if I could get engaged (ha, multiple definitions!) to this handset, I wouldn't want to. Yes, it sports higher specs than what you would usually see from a midlevel ZTE handset, but its poor call and camera performance would tempt any user, not just me, to break things off.

Design With its all-black design and flatly rectangular construction, the ZTE Engage doesn't break any design boundaries. At 5.4 ounces, … Read more

Being the person in charge of the Networking category, I've received many e-mails asking what my current personal router is, and how often I change it.

Even though I've worked with many routers -- in fact, I have reviewed most of the existing Wi-Fi routers on the U.S. market -- I don't change my home router very often. This is mostly because programing a router can be a tedious task, and I use a lot of different applications and services with many clients, all of which require different settings in the router's firmware.

That said, since the Wireless-N (802.11n) standard was introduced in 2007, I've used just about five Wi-Fi routers. Most of them them have served me very well over the years and I still have them all, except for one that was broken during a move.

The following is the list of those routers and how they've worked out for me.… Read more

Months after Google began selling the LG-made Nexus 4 Android 4.2 smartphone, it (finally) has a wireless charger to offer as well.

The charging accessory, available in the Google Play store, resembles a sheared-off Nexus Q and costs $59.99.

Google's wireless charger, like most, relies on the Qi protocol of inductive charging. The upshot is that the charger will be able to power other smartphones using the same standard.

I personally think this is a hefty sticker price for an add-on that's long been underscored as part of the Nexus 4's key selling points. Even … Read more

To be honest, I've never heard a Bluetooth speaker I liked, because better sound was available from wired speakers, like the AktiMate Micro model. They're sold in pairs for $499, so you get true stereo sound, a rarity even with higher-end Bluetooth and most other wireless alternatives like the $600 Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air, $600 Bose SoundDock 10, or $399 Sonos Play:5. Those three are perfectly fine for what they are, but wired stereo speakers from Audioengine, Emotiva, and AktiMate sound better, much closer to what I hear from traditional hi-fi speakers. True, they're not … Read more

Selecting a wireless carrier is just as important as picking a phone. The provider, after all, delivers the network that makes your handset work. And since you'll probably end up paying a healthy amount for that privilege, there's no point in sticking with a bad user experience.

Fortunately, CNET is here to help guide you through the decision process. Read on for the major factors that you should consider when choosing a carrier, followed by brief descriptions of each of the major players that CNET reviews. Also, be sure to consult CNET's cell phone buying guide if … Read more

Sprint probably can't wait to excise the Nextel part of its business.

The Overland Park, Kan., wireless carrier reported hefty fourth-quarter subscriber losses on the Nextel side, with more than 1 million customers leaving the service, easily offsetting the gains made on its core Sprint business. In total, it lost 337,000 net customers.

Sprint posted a loss of $1.32 billion, or 44 cents a share, compared with a year-ago loss of $1.3 billion, or 43 cents a share. Revenue, however, rose to $9 billion.

The results were better than expected. Analysts, on average, forecast a per-share … Read more

Nothing about the ZTE Groove screams "modern." Maybe it's the outdated name (seriously, the only appropriate times to say "groove" is when ironically referring to the 1970s, or discussing jazz music), but mostly because it runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has a very unappealing plastic construction.

Don't misunderstand me -- I have no qualms with entry-level handsets. They're great for users looking for something simple and easy to use. But the Groove is different. On top of being dated, it's plagued with mediocre call and audio quality, and a poor … Read more