Anybody using their phone as a "mobile hotspot"?

[xrMike]

How you like it?

I understand it costs more (or at least it does with a Droid on Verizon) than your regular data plan. They tack on some kind of extra fee and limit you to "X" number of gigabytes, then you pay extra for overages I think. I don't know what the cost is on Verizon, but I'm gonna find out.

So if I understand it correctly, it basically turns my phone into a interweb router?

For example, I'm wondering if it makes sense to cancel my ISP at the vacation home and have all the family members (with laptops and nooks) use my hotspot instead to get their Facebooks and Twitters on. I won't know for sure until I talk to Verizon, but it might save me some money.

And it would for sure be more useful to have the capability on me, all the time, rather than having a perfectly good router go unused 95% of the year at the vacation home... right?

Anybody doing this? What kind of performance are you seeing, and with how many users? Thanks.

[Flyin Brian]

My wife and I both have Verizon and both needed to be able to use our laptop/tablet online so she got one of those Samsung 4G mobile hotspot boxes. That thing is awesome!! It's as fast as using our home router and I have been shocked at how it can get a good signal when my cell phone can't even get 3G in outlying areas, like up in Sonora for example.

I called verizon and had the hotspot feature turned on to my phone and it is not very impressive. First off, it eats the phone battery in no time, plus the phone is unavailable for calls when using it as a hotspot, so I don't turn it on very often. All in all, I think the non-phone solution is best, if it is worth the expense to you.

[five.five-six]

I have used my Samsung Droid as a WiFi HotSpot in a pinch, normaly I prefer to use Homeless people as WiFi HotSpots

[JDay]

For example, I'm wondering if it makes sense to cancel my ISP at the vacation home and have all the family members (with laptops and nooks) use my hotspot instead to get their Facebooks and Twitters on. I won't know for sure until I talk to Verizon, but it might save me some money.

No way will it save you money. Verizon only offers a 2GB ($30/month), 5GB ($50/month) and a 10GB ($80/month) plan and they charge $10 per GB you go over. You also have to pay a separate fee to use the hotspot feature that is already built into your phone (major rip-off, you already pay for the data). And I guarantee your family can eat through the 10GB plan in 2-3 days max, Netflix can eat through that after a few movies (1GB an hour or so in high-def). Much cheaper just to pay for cable/DSL for the months you are there.

[Exile Machine]

You can 'root' your Droid and enable the hotspot functionality for free. The rooting process is not for the faint of heart though, you can fubar your phone if you don't know what you're doing, and if you get caught the Verizon "Can you hear me now" guy comes out in person to kick you in the crotch.

I wish Verizon offered the hotspot functionality on a per-day basis for infrequent use. For instance there is probably one day every couple of months when I'd gladly pay $5 to get hotspot access for 24 hours. Just isn't worth paying the $20 / month all the time since I mostly don't need it.

-Mark

[JDay]

You can 'root' your Droid and enable the hotspot functionality for free. The rooting process is not for the faint of heart though, you can fubar your phone if you don't know what you're doing, and if you get caught the Verizon "Can you hear me now" guy comes out in person to kick you in the crotch.

Rooting is easy to do (usually just run a 1-click-root app) and Verizon cannot say anything about it (although they will deny warranty if they know). However they will likely detect you tethering with your phone and display a page telling you to pay for the tethering plan.

[therealnickb]

I've been using a palm pre that works just OK. 5MB hotspot included in the $29 per month charge for the smart phone. I still have the unlimited data on the phone included, but I don't think I can keep this plan if I upgrade the phone, and you can't buy the plan any longer.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth upgrading phone and giving up the plan. So far I've never come close to using the 5MB in a month.

[xrMike]

My wife and I both have Verizon and both needed to be able to use our laptop/tablet online so she got one of those Samsung 4G mobile hotspot boxes. That thing is awesome!! It's as fast as using our home router and I have been shocked at how it can get a good signal when my cell phone can't even get 3G in outlying areas, like up in Sonora for example.

I called verizon and had the hotspot feature turned on to my phone and it is not very impressive. First off, it eats the phone battery in no time, plus the phone is unavailable for calls when using it as a hotspot, so I don't turn it on very often. All in all, I think the non-phone solution is best, if it is worth the expense to you.

This would be for the Arnold area mainly (not too far from Sonora). Can't get 3G at our house either, just 1 or 2 bars at best.

I have used my Samsung Droid as a WiFi HotSpot in a pinch, normaly I prefer to use Homeless people as WiFi HotSpots

No way will it save you money. Verizon only offers a 2GB ($30/month), 5GB ($50/month) and a 10GB ($80/month) plan and they charge $10 per GB you go over. You also have to pay a separate fee to use the hotspot feature that is already built into your phone (major rip-off, you already pay for the data). And I guarantee your family can eat through the 10GB plan in 2-3 days max, Netflix can eat through that after a few movies (1GB an hour or so in high-def). Much cheaper just to pay for cable/DSL for the months you are there.

That's the thing; I can't pay the ISP for just the weekends we are there. I have to pay them (our cable TV provider) for monthly internet service whether we're there or not, year 'round. At least if I got the Verizon tethering instead, than I'd have that with me all the time, which makes it a more versatile option, IMO.

We don't stream any movies at "the cabin". We mostly just email, browse, and Facebook. And we are there for weekends only, once per month, maybe an entire week once per year. So I'm thinking that 2GB/month plan should work (although $30 seems damn steep for that little amount of data).

You can 'root' your Droid and enable the hotspot functionality for free. The rooting process is not for the faint of heart though, you can fubar your phone if you don't know what you're doing, and if you get caught the Verizon "Can you hear me now" guy comes out in person to kick you in the crotch.

I wish Verizon offered the hotspot functionality on a per-day basis for infrequent use. For instance there is probably one day every couple of months when I'd gladly pay $5 to get hotspot access for 24 hours. Just isn't worth paying the $20 / month all the time since I mostly don't need it.

You know that really is a much better solution for me, and I wish they offered something like that. $5 per day, limit the data to something reasonable, sure, but I'd be all over that.

If it really does cost $30/month, it's suddenly a less-attractive option. I think I'm paying that much now to the cable TV provider. I thought tethering would cost only $15/$20 month for 2GB. Need to make some calls.

Thank you guys.

[Californio]

I bought my wife an iPad 3, she likes and has a just a phone/text message handset. The iPad has the hotspot enabled but it needs to be plugged into 110v to really work the best. 4G is an energy hog.

The plan at our second home is to use the iPad 3 plugged into 110v as our router.

[JDay]

If it really does cost $30/month, it's suddenly a less-attractive option. I think I'm paying that much now to the cable TV provider. I thought tethering would cost only $15/$20 month for 2GB. Need to make some calls.

Thank you guys.

If you have a smart phone you already have one of the data plans, you'll just have to pay another $20/month to use the hotspot feature.

[vintagearms]

My work phone (Blackberry) gets tethered to my laptop all the time. Not sure the cost, as I dont pay the bill. Some spots are better than others but its pretty good. Good for web browsing but not as good for watching You Tube videos, etc.

[odysseus]

Outside of the data plan and cost discussion, running your phone as a wifi hotspot drains the battery very fast, and performance is so-so. It is much better to tether, and of course you could tether to your laptop, and then make your laptop the wifi hotspot if it is something you must have, with better performance all around.

I never need to run my phone as a hotspot, but I tether all the time.

[njineermike]

I have a program called PDANet. No rooting required, runs as a WiFi or USB connected internet connection, costs about $5, and works awesome. Data costs apply (T-Mobile has a GB limit before they slow you down), but other than that, it works great for me.

[ElvenSoul]

I used to on once in awhile. Just Verizon is very pricey. Now I have a ClearWireless Porrable Hot Spot.

[707electrician]

You can 'root' your Droid and enable the hotspot functionality for free. The rooting process is not for the faint of heart though, you can fubar your phone if you don't know what you're doing, and if you get caught the Verizon "Can you hear me now" guy comes out in person to kick you in the crotch.

I wish Verizon offered the hotspot functionality on a per-day basis for infrequent use. For instance there is probably one day every couple of months when I'd gladly pay $5 to get hotspot access for 24 hours. Just isn't worth paying the $20 / month all the time since I mostly don't need it.

-Mark

No rooting necessary on a droid. Download pdanet