Wifi VS 3G

[digmydroidx]

I have a WIFI Xoom that I have had for a few months..... at the moment I use the wifi hotspot widget and get away with it on my charge...no gingerbread or root(still on froyo). so I can wifi to the xoom. with out Big red knowing

Verizon is now offering the 3g xoom for 199 and my friend will buy my wifi for 199 so its a wash ... just I will get the 2gig $30 bucks a month 3g bill and not have to hotspot or look for wifi.

is it worth doing? what does the 3g version have over the WIFI version? besides internet? is there any other reason to do this or should I stay the path I am on?

I am worried that when my charge goes Gingerbread.... there goes any way of free wifi hot spot without big red tracking it and getting on me about it.

 

[Zman1001]

I would say it depends on how much time you spend away from home or office wifi spots. If you depend quite a bit on your phone wifi connection, I personally would go ahead and get the 3G/4G version (they are already upgraded to 4G from what I read).

I got the Xoom when it came out and opted for the 3G version, knowing I would pay the monthly fee, just to make sure I had internet wherever I needed it. I personally think it is a great idea. (of course, I got it when I could get 1GB for $20, so the cost was a little bit better of the 2 years).

I have actually been thinking of getting another Xoom on this deal for my wife.

I do not think the Xoom wifi is any different than Xoom 3G/4G, except the wifi version gets updates quicker.

Good luck

 

[slwerner]

I am worried that when my charge goes Gingerbread.... there goes any way of free wifi hot spot without big red tracking it and getting on me about it.

In this regard, your worry is misplaced. Prior to getting my Xoom (3G then, LTE now) I used PDANet to tether to my laptop (extensively), and still do on occasion. What Verizon and the other carriers managed to clamp down on was the availability of of tethering apps. They cannot tell, from their end if all the data being transmitted to and from your phone is due to another device tethered to it or not (they may suspect that you are doing that, but that's still largely irrelevant).

The thing that you really do need to consider is that when your current phone contract is up, you will be forced into a tiered data usage situation (unlimited data is going away, at least for the moment; unless you wish to pay $80/mo plus additional fees for Sprints unlimited data package). At that point, the carriers won't give a crap about what device is ultimately using the data being transmitted, because you will be paying for it based on how much you use, total.

Once the tiered data plans are in effect, it will actually make sense to have a phone which can also serve as a WiFi hot-spot for a tablet or notebook, as you will not end up paying extra for multiple devices. For example a guy in my situation with both a phone and Xoom under separate Verizon contracts might use 200 Mbytes on my phone (over the 75Mb for $10, but under the 2 Gb for $30), and (as I actually do now) 2.5 Gb on my Xoom (over the 2Gb for $30, but under the 5Gb for $50). My total data usage will be under 3Gb, yet my bill will be $80. On the other hand, the same amount of data usage on a phone and WiFi tethered Xoom would have been just $50.

Unless they rethink things, wireless tablets will be come passe, and users will all be opting for the 4G WiFi hot-spot phones instead. In my opinion, they need to offer a family-plan data package based on total data usage for all devices (like the shared minutes for multiple phones, and they need to bill for data on a more incremental basis (i.e. $10/Gb) rather than the 75Mb:2Gb:5Gb:10Gb tier that they are now going to be using.

 

[PensHockey]

Biggest thing is, if you travel anywhere you go you wifi. So when do you plan on using 3g? Wifi tether is the way to go. Already have unlimited data.

 

[bigslam123]

In this regard, your worry is misplaced. Prior to getting my Xoom (3G then, LTE now) I used PDANet to tether to my laptop (extensively), and still do on occasion. What Verizon and the other carriers managed to clamp down on was the availability of of tethering apps. They cannot tell, from their end if all the data being transmitted to and from your phone is due to another device tethered to it or not (they may suspect that you are doing that, but that's still largely irrelevant).

The thing that you really do need to consider is that when your current phone contract is up, you will be forced into a tiered data usage situation (unlimited data is going away, at least for the moment; unless you wish to pay $80/mo plus additional fees for Sprints unlimited data package). At that point, the carriers won't give a crap about what device is ultimately using the data being transmitted, because you will be paying for it based on how much you use, total.

Once the tiered data plans are in effect, it will actually make sense to have a phone which can also serve as a WiFi hot-spot for a tablet or notebook, as you will not end up paying extra for multiple devices. For example a guy in my situation with both a phone and Xoom under separate Verizon contracts might use 200 Mbytes on my phone (over the 75Mb for $10, but under the 2 Gb for $30), and (as I actually do now) 2.5 Gb on my Xoom (over the 2Gb for $30, but under the 5Gb for $50). My total data usage will be under 3Gb, yet my bill will be $80. On the other hand, the same amount of data usage on a phone and WiFi tethered Xoom would have been just $50.

Unless they rethink things, wireless tablets will be come passe, and users will all be opting for the 4G WiFi hot-spot phones instead. In my opinion, they need to offer a family-plan data package based on total data usage for all devices (like the shared minutes for multiple phones, and they need to bill for data on a more incremental basis (i.e. $10/Gb) rather than the 75Mb:2Gb:5Gb:10Gb tier that they are now going to be using.

Um, no.

 

[digmydroidx]

Biggest thing is, if you travel anywhere you go you wifi. So when do you plan on using 3g? Wifi tether is the way to go. Already have unlimited data.

After reading thru these it does make sense to stay with the wifi. I guess if it gets to the point of having to actually pay for a wifi tether it will be 40 bucks on my 4g charge.

And what I read else where is as long as your unlimited now it will stay that way...but if you get a new line or are new to verizon that's when the tiered plan comes into effect.

What is the preffered way to get wifi on gingerbread now?
I really like the hotspot widget...works great but heard it wont work on gingerbread....I will root tje phone if needed once I get the update


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[slwerner]

Um, no.

I take it to mean that you disagree with what i stated about being forced to go with a tiered data plan after current phone contracts with unlimited data are up?

digmydroidx added:

"And what I read else where is as long as your unlimited now it will stay that way...but if you get a new line or are new to verizon that's when the tiered plan comes into effect."

Okay, can one of you provide a citation to where you are getting this information? I have heard from multiple sources (including a Verizon rep [yes, I know all about their reliability, or lack thereof]) that current unlimited data plans will be continued until the contracts expire, and then unlimited data goes bye-bye, and you will have to go with some other pay-for-use plan.

It would be nice if current unlimited plans would be continued indefinitely, but I'd like to see something definitive in that regard.

 

[PensHockey]

Iam sure the Charge will go through the same process as my X. Gingerbread update will take away your free wifi tether EVEN IF ROOTED. You will have to use bootstrap recovery and install the wifi tether patch zip. Then you will be allowed to wifi tether no problem.

 

[digmydroidx]

I hope that's not the case... I would hate to do all that. But if that's what's needed I will lumber through the bootstrap process.

I do have to say that the droid x I had was so much easier to root and bootstrap than my Samsung charge


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