Can you live ONLY with your cell phone DATA plan?

[prestonjb]

I've gone totally cord cut a few years ago. it takes some thinking and working to make sure it works for you. some comments like shared connection and bing watching can break the deal. for example it took me a few years before I could ditch cable while the rest of my world ran through my phone.

however with covid and finally decided to kill cable to add extra tethering to the plan and now I'm happy to say the only wires to my house is power.

being I've been working on this for several years there are things to consider.

1 do you have a stable fast phone connection? for me att built a tower closer to my house several years back and as I bought better phones my but rate kept going up. covid seems to impact but at the turn of this year I was seeing peek rates of 210mbps. with covid I see loaded rates of 30mbps which for me still works

2 plans. when I first started I disconnected landline, internet and switched cable provider to put into my phone plan. it wasn't all I need but it was 90gig per month (2 phones and one tablet) and 30gig tethering. still had to keep cable. and had to make sure no one device went over 30gig or had to pay overage.

later with att unlimited 22gig w 10 gig tethering we were able to drop to two phones and tether the tablet. again provider and area is key. because loading on the tower was low when either or both phones exceeded their 22gig we never saw a slowdown. tethering was still a bit low.

now we are on the 100gig/30gig tethering unlimited plus with free HBO. this with covid we are seeing is about right for us. my work laptop averages 1gig/day and if I can keep away from it on the weekend then it will live in the 30gig full speed tether window. it's close but it's working. wife uses her phone to tethering her work laptop so she is in her limit also. so far so good.

I am sure others having only 30 or 60gig a month for their computers will still be a deal breaker

3 entertainment. this is the tough one and can easily be one of the first deal breakers. for us because we are already Amazon prime and Netflix users, rewiring our cable to add data to the phones made sense however then trying to play a smart TV (tethering) didn't work. we lowered video quality which helped but still a tethered tv burns that precious tethering plan quick. we had DirecTV as our new alternative cable provider and their phone app would allow playing videos away from home and I found a Chromecast like dongle that would wifi direct cast the screen and that would bypass tethering! however that won't work with movies on Amazon or Netflix with the HDMI style protection. my new phone has the ability to do HDMI over usbc and it is compatible with some of the USB to HDMI connectors that will work with Netflix and Amazon. so for now that works. the downside is I can't use my phone like to search info on the movie I'm watching while it's showing the movie. the work around is I tether a tablet to the phone while it's serving the movie.

4 home devices. while I can tether then when I'm there or she can while she is there, ring and others can't work while we are not at home. this is an issue but I'm still not a fan of 'i need the cloud to turn on your lights while you're at home' solutions. I do miss not being able to look at my cams. but in the 3+ years I've been working on this for me it's almost perfect.


in conclusion it's not there for everyone and it's not perfect even for me, but it's getting there. there are still lots of problems such as coverage, speed, plans. but I'm paying less now for my current plan than when I started down this path and I've got more total data!

I think in a few more years for me I may be able to just take an older phone or LTE tablet and add it to the plan and just use it as an LTE hotspot for home equipment and have all the bases covered. still probably not be perfect still... but good enough for all of my needs

 

[henhen59]

Those crappy unlimited plans are crappy.. Mainly because they are not unlimited... I'm on a plan that gives me unlimited data 200gb per month but at 5Mbps.. But its a mifi plan.. Pay as you go.. For my family it's perfect.. YouTube, internet browsing, games etc.. No slow downs.. We don't do the Netflix crap so that may be a deciding factor for most... But we stream videos to two tvs at 1080p and we have Skype calls etc all at once and never have a bump. I would say that those how have 85Mbps etc. don't really need it unless you are downloading files and huge files.

 

[dang1]

I have Verizon's grandfathered unlimited data; it's my primary data source. I have slow dsl at home for the home security monitoring.

 

[Lee_Bo]

I’d get throttled.....or canceled.....after about the first 20 minutes.

 

[mustang7757]

I’d get throttled.....or canceled.....after about the first 20 minutes.

Lol

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

My husband uses around 100GB a month data. He has truly unlimited and unthrottled data on the 3 network.

 

[mustang7757]

My husband uses around 100GB a month data. He has truly unlimited and unthrottled data on the 3 network.

 

[the_boon]

The thing is even if you hotspot all day, the phone's gonna be draining battery much faster than normal and will constantly be warmer which also takes a toll on battery health.

But as a last resort it can technically be done if you have an unlimited data plan.

Maybe even throw in that sim card in a burner phone that sits around all day plugged in, serving as a hotspot machine.

 

[avinash agarwal2]

Ok, so I live in India, where a plan with 125 GB data a month costs the equivalent of USD 12. We did try this for 3 months, and as long as the networks are strong, this is perfectly possible. However, we don't use smart devices apart from a Chromecast. People using other devices may face a problem

 

[Morty2264]

My husband uses around 100GB a month data. He has truly unlimited and unthrottled data on the 3 network.

That is cool beans!

 

[Phd21]

Hi Everyone,

I have read this good post and some of the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

The answer is yes people could use their phone and phone provider's carrier for phone and home internet service because I have been doing this since last year. Keep in mind, I am one person with a lot of internet connected stuff.

But, there are various things to consider depending on what you want or need the internet for.

I am a power user that uses around 100 gb or more per month and I have 2 computers, a desktop and laptop, various Google Home devices, various video streaming devices including a Roku streaming stick plus, etc...

I think it is very important to have a good reliable phone unlimited data plan. But, It is in my humble opinion IMHO very difficult to find a truly unlimited phone provider plan at a reasonable cost especially for one or two people. Most phone providers are misleading people claiming unlimited data plan when in fact, as has been stated, most plans only have a certain small amount of high speed data at 4G or 5G then the speed drops to 3G or 2G or even less. As far as I'm concerned, 2G speed or less is unusable. Anything less than 25 GB per month can easily and quickly be used up especially if you are streaming video.

There are a couple options for using your phone provider for internet service that obviously depends on the phone provider plan and your phone hardware, simply turn on the phone's hotspot or use USB tethering. Depending on the phone provider, you may not have hotspot or USB tethering available, then you'll have to find another phone provider that supports it. And, the phone provider may limit hotspot or USB tethering in various ways like only one hotspot connection and limited speed to something like 5 Mbps.

In order to really use a phone provider as a home or business internet, you will probably need and want to connect it to a fast dual band router that supports connecting to a WiFi hotspot or wireless router using repeater mode, bridge mode, wisp mode, etc... and or USB tethering and not all routers support these connectivity options. I got an Asus ac1900 router that does support these connectivity options and works really well. Most open source routers will also support these connectivity options. I prefer using the USB tethering because it keeps the phone charged and it's easy to set up a private secure network for everything else to connect with, but then the phone is not portable anymore because of the USB cable to the router. If I use the phone's WiFi hotspot, then the phone stays portable, but my Asus router must be in repeater mode making network management a little more difficult. Some routers like open source routers have a wisp mode for connecting to other WiFi routers or hotspots making that easy to setup and manage.

I really like having a portable internet that is not affected by power outages like cable or fiber or satellite internet is, I can take it with me to wherever I go, etc...

I decided that it would be better for me to get another Android phone using another phone provider with some data or unlimited data as my carry around phone and just leave the one Android phone with unlimited everything connected at home. This is advantageous because I have a backup phone number and provider if something happens to my one phone and or it's service.

Although I would love to have the best Android phones and fastest internet options, I currently cannot afford that. I have two relatively low cost Android phones, a Nokia 6 and a Moto E6.

So, I found Visible phone provider running on the Verizon network for $40 per month with truly unlimited everything including data which if you use their cool and great Party Pay plan is now only $25 per month. But, its hotspot or USB tethering is limited to 5 Mbps and only one hotspot connection which using a good WiFi router allows me to connect everything to my home network through the one hotspot or USB tethering connection. I have been able to use Netflix and other streaming video services without issues using the 5 GHz band or Ethernet while doing other computer related activities. Of course that's not 4K or higher video streaming quality or fast downloading and I don't have other multiple users doing gaming or video streaming, but it works fairly well until I can find a better alternative.

I have been trying many other lower cost prepaid phone providers using one of the phone's as my carry around phone for typical phone stuff like unlimited talk, text, and some data or unlimited data. I am looking for another reasonable unlimited high speed data plan provider for that phone as well.

At the moment, I have 2 phones and 2 phone providers with unlimited calls, text, and one with unlimited 4G data the other with some high speed data then unlimited lower speed data all for $40 us per month or less.

FYI - T-Mobile does have a great high speed home internet option for $50 a month, no phone service, just internet service, but it is not yet available everywhere.

I hope this helps some people. Everyone have a great day and night.

 

[marcelo_l]

Of course any of us could, unless you run a business out of your house. It's whether we choose to.

I could easily.

Everyone who is WFH is running a business from home right now. Don't be silly

No you can't because while they're decommissioning Sprint's 2.5Ghz 5G network they have even cleaned up their own coverage issues with their existing LTE. WHY in 2020 do I have to have a personal cellspot in the suburban areas of a major US city of 5+ million people and not living in the signal canyons of an urban downtown is.....STUPID.

Wise up...it's not THERE YET.

 

[anon(50597)]

Everyone who is WFH is running a business from home right now. Don't be silly

No you can't because while they're decommissioning Sprint's 2.5Ghz 5G network they have even cleaned up their own coverage issues with their existing LTE. WHY in 2020 do I have to have a personal cellspot in the suburban areas of a major US city of 5+ million people and not living in the signal canyons of an urban downtown is.....STUPID.

Wise up...it's not THERE YET.

Everyone who is working from home does not need gobs of Internet. Not everyone is you. We don’t know where this is going or how it will affect work in the future. The majority of internet usage is streaming Netflix, etc.
Trust me, I’m older and wiser than you think.

 

[dekatch]

Times are tight these days and just thinking if you are forced to cancel your Home Internet, is you cell phone data plan enough to get you by for the month?

for about half a year unlimited data plans go mainstream here where I live. we had them prior as well but very premium tier priced. I got one now for like 50eur and love the convenience you have with. streaming, watching, doing whatever all day long.. yey. just what i like/we need!

 

[Morty2264]

for about half a year unlimited data plans go mainstream here where I live. we had them prior as well but very premium tier priced. I got one now for like 50eur and love the convenience you have with. streaming, watching, doing whatever all day long.. yey. just what i like/we need!

That's awesome! Glad you have the plan that works for you! Streaming is a necessity!

 

[j higgins]

I rarely use the Data and only use WiFi so my usage can be very large. I could not survive on my 2Gb plan.

 

[Morty2264]

I rarely use the Data and only use WiFi so my usage can be very large. I could not survive on my 2Gb plan.

Thank goodness for Wi-Fi, eh?!

 

[mustang7757]

Thank goodness for Wi-Fi, eh?!

Oh yeah

 

[cardboard60]

I rarely use the Data and only use WiFi so my usage can be very large. I could not survive on my 2Gb plan.

2 GB

I got 10 or 12 GB.

The OL and me both is on it.
We went 250.00 over it the 1st month.

My wife called Verizon and ask how much is a unlimited plan.
Everything is in my name.
I got a military discount. And i'm over 65.
They said they would give me Unlimited Talk, Text and Data for 90.00 a month.
My wife said change us to it.

 

[mustang7757]

2 GB

I got 10 or 12 GB.

The OL and me both is on it.
We went 250.00 over it the 1st month.

My wife called Verizon and ask how much is a unlimited plan.
Everything is in my name.
I got a military discount. And i'm over 65.
They said they would give me Unlimited Talk, Text and Data for 90.00 a month.
My wife said change us to it.

Good for you