Question Hot Spot feedback please

[ShaggyKids]

HI there,

We have no cable/internet where we live that we can afford anyway. So, our internet runs off my phone's hotspot. I'm trying to determine if adding a stand-alone hotspot would be a good idea for us or not. We use Cricket as our cell provider.

Years ago I was told a cell phone hotspot is better than a stand alone because a phone is faster than a hotspot. So, for quite some time I had a spare phone I used that way. Still true?

Are hotspots on phones pretty much all the same or do they differ with the brand/variety of phones? I have some old phones I could use as a stand alone hotspot if the technology of hotspots hasn't changed which would save me the cost of buying a stand alone hotspot. I think I even might still have an old VZW MiFi but haven't checked VZW's monthly costs yet.

Anything else you'd like to comment on/add I absolutely would love to hear it. I do understand that whichever way I go, this will not give us enough juice to do the tv and we'd have to stick with DISH for tv which is what we do anyway.

Thanks!

 

[Madd62]

I used a Hotspot / MiFi device for a few years in the UK. I just use my 5G phone now. In recent years data only sim plans or on PAYG are more expensive than a phone sim, and with less data allowance. I have a 120gb phone plan which does me for 3 - 4 hours streaming a night and regular phone use. I couldn't stream to my old TV until after I purchased this phone due to my previous PC not playing ball.
Speed has been good with no buffering for several years.
(No home wifi either)
So you are looking at an extra sim plan, I would assume.

 

[ShaggyKids]

I used a Hotspot / MiFi device for a few years in the UK. I just use my 5G phone now. In recent years data only sim plans or on PAYG are more expensive than a phone sim, and with less data allowance. I have a 120gb phone plan which does me for 3 - 4 hours streaming a night and regular phone use. I couldn't stream to my old TV until after I purchased this phone due to my previous PC not playing ball.
Speed has been good with no buffering for several years.
(No home wifi either)
So you are looking at an extra sim plan, I would assume.

I believe you are correct on the extra Sim idea. Not crazy about adding another line due to they always charge for another line and even then you are still limited to X data.

I just remembered my new Samsung S25 Ultra has an eSim and a physical sim. I have no experience with an eSim. Would I need a new line/number to use it as my Hotspot? I put the sim from my old phone in my new one. Does an eSim work better/different than a physical Sim?

 

[Laura Knotek]

Do you have coverage with T-Mobile where you live? They have a 5G home Internet service. https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet

 

[spARTacus]

I'd think constantly serving up a wifi or tethered hot-spot from a phone is going to stress it. I don't know if too much, but I'm guessing it'll probably run warmer and consume battery faster than what the manufacturer expected for typical use. Perhaps no issue if one replaces their phones every year or so. However, perhaps it'll shorten the overall expected life of the device? Would love to hear what others think.

I'd think it would provide enough connectivity to stream for a TV (perhaps not at highest resolutions). I lived with less than 5MB/s for an entire house for a while and we were able to made IPTV work as part of it, with ditching the dish. Sometimes some stuff would buffer (interestingly, normally stupid videos via FB or other social apps, as opposed to any of the core TV streaming services) but I'm not unconvinced that wasn't an issue with the ISP or the apps, and it did later also seem to improve.