wireless

If there's a thick layer of dust on your wireless router, then this Top 5 is for you.

CNET's running list of our highest-rated routers is a great place to keep up with the latest advancements in router technology. Unfortunately, it may also lead you to believe that it's necessary to drop over $150 on a router upgrade. Not true.

Our resident router expert Dong Ngo posted an excellent roundup of the best routers for shoppers on a budget. I took his list, worked with him on a ranking, and that's how we came up with … Read more

By definition, the no-contract carrier model is designed to save you money over the two-year contract agreement that reigns supreme here in the U.S.

The question is: How much do you really gain by going prepaid, and what do you lose from the subscriber experience? Without a doubt, no-contract carriers like MetroPCS, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, and Cricket Wireless can dramatically cut your monthly cell phone bill, but there are trade-offs.

I'm not going to dive into every carrier's pricing structure and phone offerings, so for the sake of comparison, I'm going to break down the … Read more

Verizon Wireless customers still waiting for 4G LTE to hit their town should get their wish by the middle of next year.

Speaking at a Wells Fargo Securities technology conference yesterday, Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo confirmed that the carrier is eyeing mid-2013 as the completion date for its LTE rollout. That timeframe is around six months earlier than the company had previously predicted, according to news site Fierce Wireless.

"I was confident in the first quarter when I said that you'll see an acceleration of our growth through the year, and I think that's proven to … Read more

On November 16, AT&T will begin selling two new devices. The MiFi Liberate stands out as the first hot spot with a touch screen. The device, which is designed by Novatel Wireless, can connect up to 10 devices and will sell for $49.99 with a new two-year service agreement. It qualifies, of course, for AT&T's shared data plan.

AT&T will also stock shelves with the Samsung Galaxy Express, a $99.99 midrange 4G LTE smartphone. It sports Android 4.0, a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen, and a 1.5GHz dual-core … Read more

As Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast last week, millions of residents were left without power, cell phone service, Internet, and home phone service. In an outpouring of support for people left stranded by the superstorm, several mobile carriers took to the streets offering free device charging stations and access to emergency wireless phones.

Verizon announced this week that it will continue to help Sandy victims by waiving all charges for domestic voice and text usage for its customers in the New York and New Jersey areas between October 29 and November 16.

"Verizon Wireless continues to … Read more

NEW YORK -- AT&T is in a much better place when it comes to spectrum today than it was at the end of 2011, the company said during an investor meeting today. And the company is confident is has the resources to make a big push to compete with its next generation 4G LTE market.

AT&T announced today that it plans to spend $14 billion to build out its wireless and wireline networks, an effort that includes bringing its 4G LTE network to 300 million potential U.S. customers.

John Stankey, AT&T's chief … Read more

Sprint is starting to flex some muscle with regional carriers.

The company announced today that it has inked a deal with U.S. Cellular for $480 million. The deal: Sprint will acquire 20MHz of PCS spectrum in the 1900MHz band across Chicago, South Bend, Ind., and Champaign, Ill. Sprint will also get 10Mhz of spectrum in the St. Louis market, as well as 585,000 customers, or about 10 percent of U.S. Cellular's subscriber base.

"Acquiring this spectrum will significantly increase Sprint's network capacity and improve the customer experience in several important Midwest markets including Chicago … Read more

AT&T has agreed to pay $700,000 to the federal government to resolve complaints that that the company switched certain consumers to its mandatory monthly wireless data plans even though it had promised they could retain their existing pay-as-you-go data plans, the FCC announced Tuesday.

AT&T has agreed to refund excess charges paid by these "grandfathered subscriber," which could be as much as $25 to $30 a month, depending on data use, the Federal Communications Commission said in a press release. AT&T began transferring customers to to its monthly data plans in … Read more

With Hurricane Sandy due to hit the East Coast in a couple of days, Verizon Wireless executive Mike Haberman tested his house's back-up generator and ended up finding a faulty circuit that he quickly fixed. So when the outage hit his house in Morristown, N.J., he was able to get enough power to his laptop and phone to work from home last week.

That's a good thing, because Haberman was one of the key people coordinating the carrier's efforts to keep service going at a time when massive power outages wreaked havoc on the East Coast. … Read more