Wireless internet

[BayouLady]

I'm thinking about having a backup internet service and I'm wondering what everyone else uses. The place I've gone to has wifi but when it's crowded, you can't get on and some sites, like weather.com or the locals news sites are blocked, which it can not understand. How do you stay connected?

[Bethers]

o If you do a search, you'll discover this had been talked about many times. Many of us use either Verizon or AT&T, while a few use other carriers. Many have a mifi or similar. Some of us use our phones as a hotspot and/ or to tether. Less and less are using satellite.

[judi]

What beth said. I have an AT&T hotspot - it adds about 30 dollars to my monthly bill but works wonderfully.

[avalen]

yep, what Beth said, I use my verizon cell to do my internet. I do have a mifi but deactivated it to save money. It was
cheaper for me to add an extra $10 to my cell phone budget to give me more gigs of data.

[retiredhappy]

Use my phone as a hotspot. Can even have others use it at the same time. Also that's all I use at home as well.

[BayouLady]

Use my phone as a hotspot. Can even have others use it at the same time. Also that's all I use at home as well.

So your phone is set up as wifi? That is too cool, how do you get that up? I have AT&T.

[bluepinecones]

I do not have a smart phone but do have cell service with AT&T.
I have the Verizon plan on iPad that you can turn on/off on monthly basis; it serves as hot spot for laptop. I only use it when traveling but it can also serve as a back up at home when power is out.

[mitch5252]

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Sarah, how effective is your iPad as a hotspot? Does it work well?

I'm thinking of getting an iPad mini that can supposedly be used as a hotspot. The contract version monthly cost is the same as the pay-as-you-go monthly cost - only difference I can see between the two is the purchase price of the iPad Mini - $329 vs $429.

Vickie said in addition to the $10 monthly access charge and the $20 montly (2Gb) charge, there MAY be another monthly charge to have the ability to use it as a hotspot. Does anyone know about this for an iPad Mini?

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[bluepinecones]

I don't have iPad mini so cannot comment there, however my iPad seems to do quite well as a hot spot. Very few problems so far but I did notice when traveling with Liz & Tina last summer they sometimes had stronger signal on their Verizon MiFi than I did on the iPad.

[mitch5252]

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Sarah, do you pay an extra fee to be able to use it as a hotspot?
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[avalen]

Use my phone as a hotspot. Can even have others use it at the same time. Also that's all I use at home as well.

So your phone is set up as wifi? That is too cool, how do you get that up? I have AT&T.

my smart phone has a setting that says Internet sharing, I click that on and my computer picks up the wireless signal.
I can let others tap into it too, (as many as 10, ? I think) however, keep in mind its all the same gigabytes and for myself
I pay for 4 per month. I do ok on 4 as long as I stay off videos, but I do enjoy a few on occassion.

[Bethers]

Use my phone as a hotspot. Can even have others use it at the same time. Also that's all I use at home as well.

So your phone is set up as wifi? That is too cool, how do you get that up? I have AT&T.

That's what we all meant by the "hotspot" on our phones. I also have AT%T and it's easy as pie - if you have the right data plan - to use your phone as a hotspot. When I don't need the hotspot (mulitple users) I tether it (connect via USB) as that keeps the phone charged - and using the hotspot depletes the charge faster (of course, if you're hooked up to electric, you can have the phone plugged in while using it as a hotspot.

You just have to have a smart phone that can be used this way and the correct data plan. My data is 5 gb included. I set it so if I go over (which has only happened once, I watch carfully and use free wifi for downloads, etc) it will automatically charge me for each additional gb I go over. It's reasonable, but I'm on a budget and do my best to not let it happen.

[bluepinecones]

No, Mitch there is not an extra fee for using the iPad as hot spot, at least on the plan I use. There is also NO extra charge for turning it off and on unless I go more than 4 months without turning it on for at least the minimum (until the first of this year, the minimum was $20; it is now $30).

[mitch5252]

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Well, I was all set to buy an iPad mini with cellular (Verizon) and drove all the way to Paducah to hit Best Buy.

Here's what I was told by the phone center at the store. I was asking specifically about Verizon, and he (actually 2 guys ended up with me) said that AT&T does the same thing.

Let's say I am using my device (phone, iPad, whatever - anything BUT a stand-alone hotspot, like the Jetpack), and I have say a 2Gb plan. And let's say I download 2Mb of data using my device (in my case, iPad mini). My account is charged 2Mb.

Now, let's say my computer is sitting two inches away from my iPad/Phone and I download 2Mb of data using my computer connected to my device as a hotspot. In that case, my account is charged 4Mb of data - DOUBLE. What a scam they have going.

I did not buy the iPad mini. This double usage charge is not applicable with a stand-alone hotspot. Grrrrrrrr...
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[mitch5252]

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This really doesn't make any sense to me. I'm going to look into it further and see if I can get a definitive answer.
I'm on the case. (but I'm not Paula Zahn.)

ON EDIT: I had an online "chat" with someone from Verizon and she said that the double usage statement was not true. I plan to stop at a Verizon store tomorrow in Paris.
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