Privacy By Design For Everyone

News 2022

The Calyx Institute receives a generous grant of $1M from #startsmall

We are excited to announce a generous $1,000,000 grant from #startsmall, Jack Dorsey's philanthropic initiative, to support our work in 2023 and beyond.

We will be sharing more info soon. Have a great rest of 2022 and a Happy New Year everyone!

Calyx Institute Referrals are now live!

Attention Calyx Institute Members,

Do you know someone thinking about joining the Calyx Institute? Tell your family, friends, and neighbors because the Calyx referral program is now live!

Starting today, every person you refer to the Calyx Institute gets a free extra month of membership benefits - one more month to enjoy unlimited and unthrottled internet!

Even better, you also get one extra month per referral. If you refer three people, that’s three extra months! With no caps on the number of people you refer, you can help spread the word on unlimited and unthrottled internet while helping yourself to some extra membership time.

We are very grateful to our membership community who have greatly increased our membership base through word of mouth. Your support has allowed us to continue building CalyxOS, developing free digital privacy services, hiring more staff, and more! Make sure you take advantage of the referral program today!

To get started on referring future members, sign into your account and follow the instructions here: members.calyxinstitute.org/referrals

Thank you for your membership and support,

The Calyx Institute

Gifting a Calyx Institute membership this holiday season? Order by December 12

Give the gift of privacy this season! Calyx Institute phone and hotspot memberships make amazing gifts, so don't wait. Complete your order by December 12 to make sure your gifts arrive by December 25, and check out our Holiday Shipping FAQs below.

Gift a CalyxOS Phone or Calyx Institute Hotspot Membership this holiday season!

Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? Give the gift of privacy with a CalyxOS Pixel phone or Calyx Institute hotspot membership!

Our memberships are perfect for anyone who enjoys staying connected through the internet, and deserves the best digital privacy experience possible.

Every membership supports our nonprofit mission, and comes with cool Calyx swag like stickers, pins, hats and shirts as an extra thank you for supporting the work we do in making digital privacy accessible online.

When it comes to a great gift for mom or dad, your kids or your grandparents, a new hotspot with unlimited wifi or a new phone with custom privacy features is sure to please! Even techies with advanced gear and "that person who has everything" will love a Calyx Institute membership.

Introducing the CalyxOS Privacy Champion Membership with the Pixel 6a

We have big news: the Pixel 6a with CalyxOS is now available as a membership premium with our Privacy Champion membership. CalyxOS phone memberships are a great way to invest in a more private phone experience, as well as support our nonprofit mission to develop and distribute free online privacy tools. Plus, they make great gifts! You can learn more and sign up here

As a Calyx Institute member, you get the first opportunity to sign up for a new Privacy Champion membership and receive your new Pixel 6a with CalyxOS. A new Privacy Champion membership is $700 for the first year, and $10 to renew if you'd like to continue supporting our work maintaining and improving CalyxOS.

CalyxOS offers a suite of features inspired by our core principles of Privacy By Design, like encrypted backups, secure communications, control over when and how your apps communicate, and more. These pair perfectly with the Pixel 6a's excellent technological capabilities, including Google's Tensor chip--the same chip that powers Google's 2021 flagship 6 Pro--plus the Titan M2 security chip; 6.1-inch 1080p OLED HDR display with slim bezels-- the same display size as the Apple iPhone 13; and 18W Fast Charging Support.

Want to make your CalyxOS phone membership even better? Combine it with our unlimited wifi hotspot membership! Our CalyxOS phone memberships do not come with any wifi or data benefits included, and can be used with any phone or data carrier.

Thank you for your membership and support,

The Calyx Institute

Contributor Plus Is Back

We are thrilled to announce that our Contributor Plus membership is back, now with a new 5G-capable device: the Quanta 5G hotspot for T-Mobile. Like the 5G Mifi M2000, this hotspot supports 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6, Advanced Carrier Aggregation, and has an internal 4x4 MIMO antenna. It has max theoretical speeds of 1.2 Gbps Down / 316 Mbps Up, can support up to 32 connected devices, and has USB tethering capability. As with all Calyx Membership hotspots, wifi data is unlimited and unthrottled.

Sign up for a new Contributor Plus membership to get a Quanta 5G hotspot + a year of unlimited data: members.calyxinstitute.org/enroll. A new Contributor Plus membership is $600 for the first year and $500 to renew every following year.

If you are in the middle of your membership period, you also have the option to order the Quanta 5G as a replacement device for a $250 donation. Just log in to your account with us, click Devices, and then click Order Replacement Device. Get yours today: members.calyxinstitute.org

Before deciding if a Contributor Plus membership is right for you, we strongly recommend calling T Mobile for an up-to-date, personalized coverage assessment of your local 5G infrastructure here: 1-800-937-8997.

As with all our memberships, The Calyx Institute cannot offer test hotspots, or offer refunds if service is inadequate or non-existent. Our wireless hotspots and data plans are offered as a thank-you to member donors who support our research into privacy protecting communications technology, and are not a commercial transaction.

5G is a relatively new technology, and we want to be transparent about the fact that 5G capability may not be a "silver bullet" for all connectivity and service issues. This device may not be right for everyone. 5G service is still not available in all areas where our other hotspots operate, because 5G infrastructure is still being built and refined throughout the US. Service, speed, and performance depend on many factors which The Calyx Institute does not control, including carrier network capabilities, device configuration and capabilities, network traffic, location, signal strength, signal obstruction, and more. Actual results may vary.

You can read more about the Quanta 5G hotspot here: rvmobileinternet.com/gear/t-mobile-quanta-5g-hotspot. If there are any other questions we can answer for you about our memberships or the hotspots we offer as membership premiums, please let us know at help@calyxinstitute.org.

Linkzone 2 Hotspot No Longer Available

Unfortunately, our hardware provider will no longer be carrying the Linkzone 2 hotspot. Therefore, the Linkzone 2 will no longer be available as a membership benefit for new Contributor memberships after June 27th. We apologize for any inconvenience!

Members with an existing Linkzone 2 will not experience any changes in their hotspot's wifi service in relation to this change. The Linkzone 2 will be supported on the T-Mobile Network for the forseeable future. If your hotspot is experiencing any technical issues, please contact our hardware provider, Mobile Citizen, at 877-216-9603.

New Franklin T10 Hotspots Available Soon

We're pleased to announce that we will soon be offering the Franklin T10 as part of our Contributor level membership. The Franklin T9 will no longer be available as a part of new Contributor memberships after June 5th.

Members with an existing Franklin T9 will not experience any changes in their hotspot's wifi service. The Franklin T9 will be supported on the T-Mobile Network for the forseeable future. If your hotspot is experiencing any technical issues, please contact our hardware provider, Mobile Citizen, at 877-216-9603.

Before deciding if a Contributor membership is right for you, we strongly recommend calling T-Mobile for an up-to-date, personalized coverage assessment at 1-800-937-8997 and/or checking cellmapper.net to see if 4G signal in your area is good.

As with all our memberships, The Calyx Institute cannot offer test hotspots, or offer refunds if service is inadequate or non-existent. Our wireless hotspots and data plans are offered as a thank-you to member donors who sustain our research into privacy protecting communications technology, and are not a commercial transaction.

You can read more about the Franklin T10 hotspot here: t-mobile.com/hotspot-iot-connected-devices/franklin-t10-mobile-hotspot. If there are any other questions we can answer for you about our memberships or the hotspots we offer as membership premiums, please let us know at help@calyxinsitute.org

The Franklin T10 mobile hotspot supports all possible T-Mobile/Sprint 4G bands, including T-Mobile's extended range bands and the bands formerly used by Sprint. In comparison to the LINKZONE 2, it has shorter battery life and does not have the ability to charge other devices.

Franklin T10 Specifications:
Battery Life: 8 hrs usage, 48 days standby (2450 mAh)
Maximum Number of Connected Devices: 15
Wi-Fi Networks supported: 4G LTE (bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 25, 26, 41, 66, 71) 3G/4G (bands 1, 2, 4, 5)
Max Theoretical Speed: 150 Mbps Down / 50 Mbps Up
Wi-Fi Technology / Frequencies: 802.11 b/g/n - 2.4GHz or 5GHz (not both at the same time)
Dimensions: 4.13" x 2.63" x 0.51" (2.99 oz)
Ports: Micro USB port for charging.
Advanced features: Can run without battery if attached to a power source
External Antenna Ports: None

Please note that max theoretical speeds reflect a device's capabilities under perfect laboratory conditions. Many variables, including as terrain, hotspot placement, distance from tower, network congestion and other factors, may affect the speeds measured during conventional use.

SIM Card Replacements

Attention: Calyx Institute members with Sprint SIM cards! Beginning June 1, 2022, your hotspot will need a T-Mobile SIM card to connect to the T-Mobile network. If your active device is a Mifi M2000, Linkzone 2 or Franklin T9 with a Sprint SIM card, we will be sending you a replacement T-Mobile SIM card in the next two months. To receive this replacement, log in to your Calyx Institute account here and confirm or update the shipping address on your profile by April 8, 2022. Once your address is correct, there is no further action needed on your part.

T-Mobile is incorporating the Sprint network into their 4G/5G networks. You will need a T-Mobile SIM card to maintain access to their network, but your current Sprint SIM card should continue to work until the incorporation is complete in June. We are working with our hardware supplier, Mobile Citizen, to get you a T-Mobile SIM as soon as possible.

If you received a Mifi M2000, Linkzone 2 or Franklin T9 from us before October 2021, then it has a Sprint SIM card that needs to be replaced. You can also reach out to Mobile Citizen (877-216-9603) to check if your hotspot has a Sprint SIM card. Again, you only need to confirm the address on your profile in order to receive your replacement SIM. We don't have replacement SIM cards in stock yet, but we will be rolling them out in the next two months. You should receive tracking information from UPS once your SIM card is shipped.

If you need tech support or help installing your new SIM card, contact Mobile Citizen at 877-216-9603 or support@mobilecitizen.org. For other questions and concerns, check out our help portal.