Anyone here...

[OnAFly]

Anyone here use their cell phone as a wifi hotspot for home internet? I'm considering dropping my Comcast internet and going with an unlimited data plan through Tmobile. This way my overall costs will be approximately the same, I'll have one less bill in the mail and I'll have internet wherever I go.

I do not have a smart phone now, so I really don't know a whole lot about how well they would work for this. Anyone ever try it?

[Whoaru99]

Not with the phone but I do have a dedicated mobile hotspot/air card. Mine is only 3G and it works OK for sending email and basic browsing but for any sort of downloads and or for watching higher bitrate streaming movies and such I find it lacking. Going from 30Mbps down to the hotspot is a noticeable difference. I could live but frankly it would suck to have just the hotspot speed, IMO.

The LTE (4G?) is supposed to be much better but I can't speak to that.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

T-Mobile is coming out with true 4g in the metro in 2013. It will work great if you can get that signal in your house.

The hotspot feature is awesome, but I agree it will take true 4g for it to replace your cable. Even then it won't be as fast as cable, but should be pretty darn quick.

[OnAFly]

I have the 3Mbps speed right now. It's noticeably slower, but I use the internet for griping on here and emails, with the occasional youtube clip thrown in. If it's not much slower than what I have now and there is promise of faster speed in the near future, I might go for it.

Sounds like I'll have to go talk to a sales person at Tmobile.

[brian6715]

I use Verizon hotspot for my internet, but it's true 4G. It's super fast, but it's not unlimited. Between the wife and I we have 4 gigs to use, and we have never really come close to that. That includes playing Call of Duty on XBOX live a couple times a week.

[Whoaru99]

Another possible consideration is that, at least my phone, does not support data and voice at the same time. That's why I have the separate air card. Sometimes I have to be on the Internet and discuss at the same time. That may or may not be applicable to the situation here though.

[OnAFly]

That's an interesting point. I wonder if I would have to have a separate hotspot to be able to surf and talk at the same time.

[Whoaru99]

You'll need to look at the specifics of the phone and possibly contact the carrier.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

That's an interesting point. I wonder if I would have to have a separate hotspot to be able to surf and talk at the same time.

With tmobile you can use them both at the same time. My hot spot feature has saved my bacon more then once at my office when the Internet goes down.

[fishnowworknever]

I have the mobile hotspot via Verizon (work cell) and it works fantastic.

My tmobile phone (personal) I wouldn't trust as a home internet connection, then again my G2 is getting a little outdated.

[Rich Lindgren]

i personally would like to have a mobile hotspot but don't want to pay the extra money. does the hotspot work as easily as a home connection? does the hotspot ever crash or have a slow connection?

[PurpleFloyd]

When I moved to a new shop this spring I decided to go that route and have been using my iPhone through Verizon as a mobile hot spot but in my case it wasn't a real good option so I had DSL brought in last month and am ditching the hotspot.

What I found is the 3G was too slow and with it tethered to my phone, when I got calls the connection was lost. The speed was slow and the amount of data I got was not enough and many months I went over and got jabbed for the extra added usage.

In the metro where 4g is available I am sure the speed is better but then with that speed comes more usage and more cost.

[PurpleFloyd]

i personally would like to have a mobile hotspot but don't want to pay the extra money. does the hotspot work as easily as a home connection? does the hotspot ever crash or have a slow connection?

It is very easy to use. Speed is dependent on where you are and if 4g is available.my hotspot has never crashed or gave any troubles like that. Speed is the concern as well as how much data you use.

[CAMAN]

PF, you're in Jordan correct? I'd be very surprised if 4G wasn't in your area yet.

I use my phone (verizon) as a 4G hotspot and it is excellent. Occasionally get dropped from the network but that has more to do with my Galaxy Nexus' radio than the network. I don't recall if surfing and talking can be done at the same time, I will have to try and test it out.

[deadeye]

For what its worth I have been using T-mobile for a little over a year now and have been really happy with the data speeds. In the metro area I have seen peaks of 22mbps and average somewhere around 10. Pretty solid for HSPA+. As mentioned LTE is supposedly going to light up in the first half of 2013 here too...

OnAFly that would be faster than the 3mbps you got now for sure. As mentioned you can use data and still talk too so that is pretty nice. I guess I would still go in and talk to them and make sure its for you.

[OnAFly]

I took the plunge last night. I went from an old beat up bar phone to a Galaxy SIII. It's a bit of an adjustment going from a tiny little phone to a big honkin thing.

I can talk and surf on my laptop at the same time. The guy at the store demonstrated it. Now I can cancel my cable, be completely done with Comcast (thank god!) and only be a few dollars over what I was paying previously. So far, I'm happy

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Alright!