TwinCities

We don't have cell phones that tether so I was considering a Wifi hot spot for the car trips with the family so my son can play online games and we can connect our tablets and what not while in transit. Anyone else use one? I was looking at https://yourkarma.com/.

MrBottomTooth

Wouldn't it make more sense to upgrade your cell to something that can create a hot spot rather than paying a subscription for another device? Just about any cheap android can create a hot spot these days. Unless your current cell plan doesn't include data.

TwinCities

Presently I pay $35 for 2 phones with data from https://republicwireless.com/ but they don't offer tethering. The Karma hot spot lets you pay for the device and then you can buy buckets of data that never expire. You can buy a 1/5/10GB bucket one time and whatever you don't use rolls over to future months until that is all used and you need more.

SBJ

that actually looks pretty cool cause it is pay as you go and you don't have to keep it on when you don't need it. A lot of them make you sign a 2 year contract and stuff. That would be great for vacations when you didn't want to worry if all the hotels you might stay at has free wifi or even working wifi.

might have to book mark that!

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crockett

That's a lot of money per gig.. I get 20/gigs a month and unlimited cell/texting for $55 with cricket and they allow tethering on their pro plan. Data can go fast if you are gaming on it. Those little plans are not going to last you..

TwinCities

What you have looks like a good deal for ongoing use however I'm looking at total cost of ownership on this one. Since I get 2 lines/phones for a total of $35 per month from Republic Wireless and then will use the hot spot occasionally for car trips for email, Facebook, iPad games, etc, I don't want to pay monthly for what is essentially an add-on for me that won't get used every month, especially since I can bank the bandwidth.

Rochard

Who doesn't have a cell phone that isn't a wifi hotspot?

I guess me. I have an iPhone for my work phone and when I try to turn it on as a hot spot it tells me I need to "call my carrier" (which is Verizon). I've never done it because I get so annoyed and just use my Android.

At a certain point in time data will be free.

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TwinCities

I probably spend 90% of my life between my house and office, meaning, I have access to Wifi that much of the time. My cell carrier works off of Wifi and then falls to Sprint when I am out and about when there isn't wifi avilable in stores, restaurants, and so forth. The service is cost and quality of service optimized. I have stellar reception indoors at home and office while most do not and I pay $35 per month for TWO lines with no contract whatsoever. So basically my current plan doesn't include tethering/hotspot capabilities.

sandman!

people that have one of those el cheapo plans

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sandman!

looks like a decent device i dont see on their website them saying that carrier they use tho.

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SBJ

it's Sprint.. I saw it in the help section.. haha also says you are not a sprint customer and you never have to deal or talk to them.. They must know something about their customer support


https://yourkarma.com/help/network-d...t-to-use-karma

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Mickeygroves

sprint is the worst ever

AdultKing

You can use a phone as a hotspot, but roaming charges for data are expensive.

I use my mobile on roaming with my local number when abroad - but I turn mobile data off, I need to receive calls on that number at all times.

So to avoid high data charges I use a little 4G hotspot and just stick a local prepaid SIM in it wherever I have travelled to.



This little unit cost me $100 and came with $80 of credit in Australia. Last time I used it in the UK I spent about £12 on data that would have cost hundreds if I had used my mobile for roaming data.

Using a hot spot makes sense, it allows you to keep your mobile number active worldwide through roaming and you turn mobile data off and use the hotspot with a prepaid SIM - much cheaper and usually more reliable.

PornSEO

It makes sense.

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Tasty1

I have a Phone that can have 4 sim cards. I buy a local simcard and use that for internet data (most countries that will cost around 20 - 50 USd per month) while i can use my international Phone number. Just create a hotspot with your android using the local sim card (the iphone only has 1 sim card, what is ridicilous).

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AdultKing

Yeah but phones drain battery pretty fast compared to a hotspot unit like I posted above that will give a day of Internet use because it's got a decent battery.

SBJ

not when you read what the thread starter said... Why pay for more BW for your phone every month when you only want it a few times a year for vacations. The one he posted is no contract and the gigs he buys today can be used next week or next year.

He pays $35 a month for 2 phones now.. Someone posted that they pay $55 a month and get 20gig. That is great if you use that 20gigs. This guy wants to use 10 gigs on vacation or from time to time. Why would you pay more EVERY month for something you'll only use on vacation?

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AdultKing

He's not the first person on GFY to be bad at maths

SBJ

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Rochard

Perhaps you didn't read my post correctly. I have four phones on one plan with Verizon. I have no issues setting up my Samsung as a wifi hotspot. My iPhone - same company, same plan - tells me I have to "call my carrier". It's just not worth the effort.

I can flip as witch on my Android and magically I have a wifi hotspot or invest five minutes of time and effort to call my carrier to turn it on with my iPhone. Thus, I never use my iPhone as a wifi hotspot.

It's stupid.

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Stephen

My home / office Internet went down Thursday, the service guy is coming today to remount my dish (I'm on a WISP because of my rural NorCal location -- no land lines here). I can't have six days without access, so I looked for a decent alternative and came up with the "Personal Hot Spot" feature on my iPhone, and like you, had to call.

The problem is that I was grandfathered in to AT&T's "Unlimited" data plan, which does not allow for the device's use as a hot spot. I had to switch to a different plan but now have a good backup / travel connection.

My WISP averages ~3 down and 1 up, my iPhone clocked 20 down and 4 up this morning...

I'm watching my usage to see if it makes financial sense to use this as my main access.

Maqua

I like the Netgear mobile hotspots

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Colmike9

There are apps that can turn your phone into a hotspot like Open Garden. My friend uses another app that's like OG but better but I don't remember the name off hand.
That lucky asshole has a Verizon unlimited plan from when they still offered that..

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Colmike9

Some Verizon data packages don't come with the hotspot.. :/

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rowan

There's a major carrier in Australia that allows you to:

- Share included data between two or more phones on your account (eg if one account has 500MB and the other has 1000MB, they share the 1500MB pool)
- Add up to 5 extra data devices for a one-off fee of $5, no ongoing, which also share the included data pool
- In addition, excess data charges are in line with plan fees, automatically extending as if you were on a more expensive plan, rather than being ridiculously excessive penalty rates that are like 20 times what you pay for the first few gigs

So I have a backup data dongle that cost me $35 to set up (including the price of the USB dongle) and $0/month. It's worked well because I've only had to use it one day in 13 months.

Hopefully this novel approach will catch on... but knowing my luck, they'll phase it out by the time it comes time to recontract.