How well does the mobile hotspot work?

[Lord Vadger]

I'm going to get one of these next week and I'm looking to get the 4gb + Mobile Hotspot plan for $50 (upgrading a dumbphone on the Nationwide 700 minutes plan, so not quite the Share Everything plan, I guess). Ideally, I'd like to get the phone and this plan and drop my home internet altogether (paying $51/month just for ~12mbps down/1mbps up). So how well does the mobile hotspot work? It's 4G, correct? and while it's sharing it's connection can I still receive calls, texts, data on the phone and use it as I normally would? Any limitations I should be aware of?

 

[blg923]

The hotspot works great. While your phone is acting as a hotspot, obviously your phones wifi will be turned off. The speed is going to depend on your connection, it's not like it is instant 4G when you activate the hotspot. Yes, texts, calls, etc still work. Why are you getting a hotspot plan? This service is included in the normal data package...or maybe that's what you're referring to.

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[Lord Vadger]

Well that's kind of another question I have... I'm on a family plan--the family plan is their Nationwide 700 Minutes thing from years ago. 2 other individuals plus myself have feature phones on it (I haven't upgraded my phone in nearly 4 years) and another individual has an iPhone with the old Unlimited data that's no longer offered.

When I go through the steps to upgrade my phone, whether on VerizonWireless.com or Amazon.com, it says I have to upgrade my plan from my current $10/mnth for the line to a data plan, which makes sense. The two cheapest options I have are 2gb (without hotspot) for $30/month (including the $10 line access) and 4gb with hotspot for $50/month (including the $10 line access).

My guess is that since I'm still on this Nationwide 700 thing that it's not the same as the Share Everything plan where hotspot's included? Or is Verizon trying to upsell me to 4gb to get the hotspot when the 2gb option also does hotspot and they're just not telling me?

 

[blg923]

I have the 2gb plan and ever since Verizon was sued, they are no longer allowed to charge for hotspot access unless you keep that unlimited plan. IMO, switch to the unlimited talk and text and get the 4gb of shareable data. I gave up my unlimited plan when I jumped ship from ATT and I've never looked back. In short, yes, looks like they're trying to force you into their new plan structure somehow.

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[blg923]

Reading your post again, it appears you might actually get a better deal with those options, might want to compare though depending on your charge for unlim text if any and how much unlimited calling means to you. From a data standpoint however, def appears a bit cheaper than the shared data plans.

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[Lord Vadger]

Yes, unlimited txt is still on the plan and I believe it would continue with any of the above options. Unlimited calling isn't important at all as we usually only use ~75% of the 700 minutes in a given month.

I guess I could get the 2gb or 5gb plan without hotspot and use a program like FoxFi (?) for mobile hotspot? I feel like I'd probably blow through 2gb between a phone and laptop in no time, and it looks iffy right now on how long FoxFi will be out of the game on Jelly Bean if I went with the 5gb option. The 4gb + hotspot is probably the safest bet.

Good to hear that the mobile hotspot works as it should on the phone, thanks for that information.

 

[whoover]

Yes, unlimited txt is still on the plan and I believe it would continue with any of the above options. Unlimited calling isn't important at all as we usually only use ~75% of the 700 minutes in a given month.

I guess I could get the 2gb or 5gb plan without hotspot and use a program like FoxFi (?) for mobile hotspot? I feel like I'd probably blow through 2gb between a phone and laptop in no time, and it looks iffy right now on how long FoxFi will be out of the game on Jelly Bean if I went with the 5gb option. The 4gb + hotspot is probably the safest bet.

Good to hear that the mobile hotspot works as it should on the phone, thanks for that information.

What people are telling you is that even that 2GB plan must allow you to use the phone's built-in hot spot (tethering) feature for no additional charge. You are looking at data plan options only available to existing Family Share Plan customers. That plan (and these data plans) are not available to new customers, and I suspect that relabeling them to account for Verizon being forced to allow customers to use their byte allocations any way they want (including tethering) slipped through the cracks. The new data plans for their current (Share Everything) plans have been so adjusted, but the suit didn't say anything that would allow them to charge more for hotspot usage on these old plans, as far as I know.

You should call and confirm that the 2GB data plan, used with your grandfathered 700 minute Family Share Plan and a 4G phone will allow the use of the phone's wifi tethering. I don't think they can say no legally.

 

[whoover]

BTW, getting back to your original question, if you have good 4G coverage at home this should work fine. The main thing I'd be wary of is total bandwidth. I don't know about you, but I probably use close to 100GB/month at home. If you really only need a couple of GB, the move should be ok. But no Netflix, no Hulu, no Roku on your TV, etc. Assuming you're not doing any of this stuff today, you have to ask yourself if you're really not going to want to in the future.

 

[Lord Vadger]

What people are telling you is that even that 2GB plan must allow you to use the phone's built-in hot spot (tethering) feature for no additional charge. You are looking at data plan options only available to existing Family Share Plan customers. That plan (and these data plans) are not available to new customers, and I suspect that relabeling them to account for Verizon being forced to allow customers to use their byte allocations any way they want (including tethering) slipped through the cracks. The new data plans for their current (Share Everything) plans have been so adjusted, but the suit didn't say anything that would allow them to charge more for hotspot usage on these old plans, as far as I know.

You should call and confirm that the 2GB data plan, used with your grandfathered 700 minute Family Share Plan and a 4G phone will allow the use of the phone's wifi tethering. I don't think they can say no legally.

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. But still, I can't imagine Verizon charging the same $50 for either the 4GB w/ hotspot or 5GB w/o hotspot and hoping the 5GB users never flick the switch on their phones to turn it on.

 

[edistopre]

What people are telling you is that even that 2GB plan must allow you to use the phone's built-in hot spot (tethering) feature for no additional charge. You are looking at data plan options only available to existing Family Share Plan customers. That plan (and these data plans) are not available to new customers, and I suspect that relabeling them to account for Verizon being forced to allow customers to use their byte allocations any way they want (including tethering) slipped through the cracks. The new data plans for their current (Share Everything) plans have been so adjusted, but the suit didn't say anything that would allow them to charge more for hotspot usage on these old plans, as far as I know.

You should call and confirm that the 2GB data plan, used with your grandfathered 700 minute Family Share Plan and a 4G phone will allow the use of the phone's wifi tethering. I don't think they can say no legally.

I am confused by these posts about the Mobile Hotspot. I am on the 2 GB plan, not family share (have only one phone). If I try to use Verizon's built-in hotspot app I get to a screen that says I must subscribe to their hotspot service for $20. Are you saying that Verizon is not actually allowed to ask me to subscribe to the service? If that is the case, how do they get by, asking us to subscribe anyway?

 

[Lord Vadger]

Do you get to give your mobile hotspot an SSID and any kind of security like WPA?

 

[blg923]

Do you get to give your mobile hotspot an SSID and any kind of security like WPA?

Yes and yes

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[troglodytez]

It's good...I supported two work laptops for a couple days with it. Uses a lot of power, but that's fine.

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[jamal540]

So . . . I'm not sure there was a final verdict: can you use a hotspot without paying extra for it?

If so, what is required to set this up? Just a USB connector? Any software?

Will hotspot work on a 3G phone?

 

[Dr Steevil]

So . . . I'm not sure there was a final verdict: can you use a hotspot without paying extra for it?

If so, what is required to set this up? Just a USB connector? Any software?

Will hotspot work on a 3G phone?

I'm using Foxfi (available from Google Play). The free version will time-out and you'll have to log back in so that's a mild annoyance. It works great! I often times have to work in the field but need access to my computer at the office. I have Team Viewer for that (which also works on the phone but is a bit cumbersome). So with Foxfi on my phone and Team Viewer on my laptop, its like having my office right in my truck. And the best part there is it's the computer at the office that's doing all the work and therefore eating bandwidth. And yes it works with 3G just fine although I do switch my phone to 4G just because. Oh and one more thing, Foxfi doesn't require you to root your phone but it might not yet work for Jelly Bean.

Good luck!

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[RMHDLove]

I have quite the dilemma... I am going to be moving into a house that is in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. I've checked with several ISPs and internet is not available at the house. Considering it's 2013, that alone is pretty infuriating. But regardless... I am incredibly limited on my options. In fact, I'm not so sure I have any options. But the following thought crossed my mind - Cell phone reception is pretty poor there. Calls go in and out, and data is hardly ever available. I have Verizon, and I wonder if I bought the network extender that they offer (the newer model that also provides extended data usage) and then used my phone as a mobile hotspot, would I be able to browse the internet on my laptop/desktop and still not have interruptions when sending/receiving calls, texts, etc? Anybody have any insight on this? I've never heard of it being done so I don't expect to hear too much feedback, but anything would help. Thanks.

 

[cadence06]

I believe you need an internet connection to use the network extender. Sorry.

 

[Eclipse2K]

A network extender runs off of your home Wi-Fi connection so without one you wouldn't be able to take advantage of it.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[blg923]

Dish Network and Hughes Net (satellite) sound like they are your only options for internet then. Does your phone company not offer DSL either?

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[anon24860]

If you are rooted, you can use the SQLHack. It works. Of course, I would never do it. Of course, it's dependent on your 4G reception.

Wireless Hotspot hack procedure *Working* - xda-developers