For those that use the internet through cell phone

[bcody]

The most data usage plan we can get with our internet service is 2gb per month (I assume per phone??) We need to stay with present company (at&t) because of husbands work. If we were to do away with our internet seervice and go through the phone, would this be enough usage? Do you ever go over your usage amount when hooking up pc through the phone network?

We do not presently have internet on the phones, but are trying to figure out if it would be worth giving up the land line and internet provider.

 

[ohmt]

I'm not sure what kind of plans AT&T has, i'd go to a store to find out, but I can tell you what I have with my Verizon (AT&T probably has something similar)-

My mom and I have Droids and we pay $50/month for unlimited internet usage on both. I pay an extra $10/month to use that unlimited on my computer. It's an awesome deal!

 

[Sonya]

I have verizon and use the mobile hotspot for all my internet needs. My husband and I both are on one plan. I can't remember what our limit is for the mobile hotspot, but we have never gone over. I have installed a wireless usb router ($35) on my desktop so I could use it as well. So any machine with wireless technology can connect to my phone wirelessly at 3g speed as long as the phone is within the house, up to 3 machines at once per phone. It is faster than dial up or satellite, but not as fast as cable internet (which we can't get here anyhow). My husband and I surf about a minimum of 30 minutes a day each, sometimes double that, for a total of 2-3 hours. We do not do any gaming or anything like that...things like facebook, forums, fantasy football, youtube, itunes are what we do. I do not think it would be able to keep up with gaming or netflix, etc. My husband and I pay $135/month for both our smart phones...which sounds like alot, but we have eliminated 2 house phones and satellite internet as well as a dial up account for our other house. Our plan includes unlimited text/picture messages, unlimited internet (on the cell phone), we share 800 peak minutes a month, weekends/nights/verizon to verizon all being free, and then the mobile hotspot for our laptops/desktop.

This mobile hotspot is amazing and I can't believe more people aren't using it. I know through verizon it is available for free on most smartphones as long as you pay for internet access through your phone.

It works great too, I have no complaints other than it will not work if you are talking on the cell phone.

Edited to add: just found it on my bill, we are allowed 5GB, to share between two phones.

 

[bcody]

Thanks, I will have to check to see, but I believe ATT did away with the unlimited data plan. With the I phones they were having problems keeping up. I would love to switch to verizon, but really can not right now. Where he works the only signal he can get in work is att and at time he is unreachable, so it is nice to be able to text or leave a message and know he will be alble to get it when he is able to. I like that I can connect through the phone on a wireless network.

 

[yankee_minis]

I doubt 2gb would be enough... I went with unlimited because I use it during the day at work and will later use it for watching my mares on marestare.com

 

[ohmt]

2 GB is A LOT more than people realize. My brother only pays for 2 GB and he plays World of Warcraft 24/7 (at least it seems like it). He says he rarely goes over 1 GB.

 

[bonloubri]

I am not for sure on this but I think if you don't change phones you don't have to sign a contract. You could try it for a couple months and if it doesn't work go back to the way you are doing now. Keep your landline etc till you find out if it will work for you. Also, my understanding with AT&T is that if you go over the 2gb they charge you an additional $25 which gives you another 2gb for that month then reverts back to the original amount the following month unless of course you go over again.

 

[Jill]

I have a blackberry but my internet / data plan with Verizon is unlimited. However, I don't know how to hook my (wireless) laptops up to the blackberry if I wanted to use it as the modem... My Blackberry has wireless, too, so when I'm home it actually gets on the internet that way with Verizon as a backup (at least I think that's the priority order).

 

[bcody]

Thanks. I think I will give a try on one phone and see how it goes. I have no idea how much 2gb is, but it sounds like a lot. I do need to be able to watch mare stare! Bonloubri you are right, I can upgrade and try it and dropit if I do not like it or it does not work, so thanks!