Mostly data phone question

cgrab

cgrab

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cgrab
I rarely use my phone. I have a company blackberry and can't have a picture phone where I work.
I would like to get a phone to connect my Galaxy Tab to the internet when I'm on the road.
I don't do it often so I need a cheap plan. I saw the Walmart plan but read bad things about it.
 
cgrab said:
I rarely use my phone. I have a company blackberry and can't have a picture phone where I work.
I would like to get a phone to connect my Galaxy Tab to the internet when I'm on the road.
I don't do it often so I need a cheap plan. I saw the Walmart plan but read bad things about it.
Click to expand...

You probably are better off with a hot spot than a phone. To tether to a phone usually entails additional fees.

As for Straight Talk, I've been using their phone plan for years with zero problems. YMMV. You are not allowed to tether on their phone plans, but they do offer various hotspot plans.

VZW also offers a prepaid hotspot plan that may suit your needs.

With any of these plans, the thing to consider is that most of them are time-limited as well as data-limited. You can't just buy a bazillion gigabytes of data and use it for the next ten years. So read the plan carefully to make sure that the data and time limits work for you.

Rich
 
Is a hot spot just a phone with wifi? Are they much cheaper than a phone? Isn't whether you can tether based on the phone capability and not the service?
 
cgrab said:
Is a hot spot just a phone with wifi? Are they much cheaper than a phone? Isn't whether you can tether based on the phone capability and not the service?
Click to expand...

Probably every smartphone made in the last five years has hotspot capability. Whether or not it's available to you, however, depends on the carrier.

Rich
 
cgrab said:
Is a hot spot just a phone with wifi? Are they much cheaper than a phone? Isn't whether you can tether based on the phone capability and not the service?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even think of a hotspot as a "phone". Its just a gizmo that retransmits data between a short range WiFi connection (like to a laptop or any other WiFi gizmo) to the cellular network.

Like Rich says, most modern smartphones already have this capability built in -- the network provider who sells the phones has the option to turn the feature on or off. I have T-Mobile, who gives you the option to turn on network sharing via WiFi. Most recently I've found it useful because the android games tablets I bought my kids for Christmas have limited functionality when off network; we haven't configured them for WiFi access everywhere they might want to use them while out and about yet. Nor do we have WiFi in our car. So the tablets connect via WiFi to my phone, which communicates with internet via cell towers -- easy peasy. Of course, this access eats into your data allotment, but I haven't yet been close to going over.
 
cgrab said:
Is a hot spot just a phone with wifi? Are they much cheaper than a phone? Isn't whether you can tether based on the phone capability and not the service?
Click to expand...

I have a Clear hotspot device, it will connect 7 wifi devices at a time and is $50 a month unlimited service. Unfortunately it may go dead this year since it rides on Sprint's WiMax system which someone informed me that Sprint is dropping this year.

I also carry a Galaxy S4 with a T-Mobile contract that is unlimited data on the device and allows me 2GB high speed data hotspotting for no extra charge.
 
Henning said:
I have a Clear hotspot device, it will connect 7 wifi devices at a time and is $50 a month unlimited service. Unfortunately it may go dead this year since it rides on Sprint's WiMax system which someone informed me that Sprint is dropping this year.

I also carry a Galaxy S4 with a T-Mobile contract that is unlimited data on the device and allows me 2GB high speed data hotspotting for no extra charge.
Click to expand...

Yup, Clear is supposed to go away. They got so bad around here after Sprint took them over that I dumped them. They went from 3g+ to dial-up speeds overnight. When I called tech support they wanted it to be my problem. Comcast is better than that even with all their problems. Now have 100 MB down, 10 MB up and I'm not looking back.
 
Why not just ditch the Galaxy and get a tablet with 3G/4G data built in? Much less screwing around and no need to sign a contract for data.

I have an original Nexus 7 with 3G and IIRC the AT&T prepaid data is either $15 or $30 per month with no contract. I recall recently reading that T-mobile has a plan that even has some amount of free data.

Hot spots are fine in some applications but IMO the additional hardware cost, an additional box, cable, charger, etc. is really unnecessary money and hassle for getting one tablet onto the internet.
 
I am able to tether my iPad (wifi only) to my Verizon android phone for data (Internet) access with no problems.
 
Clark1961 said:
Yup, Clear is supposed to go away. They got so bad around here after Sprint took them over that I dumped them. They went from 3g+ to dial-up speeds overnight. When I called tech support they wanted it to be my problem. Comcast is better than that even with all their problems. Now have 100 MB down, 10 MB up and I'm not looking back.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have the house wifi where I stay, but Clear gives me a great deal when I'm traveling around. I was able to watch Netflix in SD and LA, and since our I household AT&T goes down at least once a week, I keep it on as a back up. When I leave Clear range, I just don't pay the bill, when I want to use it I pay no reconnect or penalty fee. I'll probably keep using them as long as they stay around because it's the only way I can afford 20GB a month wirelessly. I can get by on my phone plan, but I have to watch Netflix direct on the device. I guess f they go away I'll have to upgrade to a Note.
 
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