Cell phone as hot spot

[JAvendan]

I must be the last person in the US that does not own an i anything….and I want an iPhone…I really do. But after looking at the specs it looks like Android offers just as many apps and has the 4g.
Am I over simplifying?
Or are there just as many Andrioid users as there are iPhone users out there?
Everywhere you look its I this…I that…is it the ikoolaid?

Couldn’t you for instance download a movie from iTunes on to an Android and watch it on a plane?
Or would you have to have iphone to do this?

Seems to me having 4g potential (understanding it is not available everywhere…particularly as you get in to the boonies) is a significant advantage. (4g is something like 4x the speed of 3g?) As this is an office issued phone (I am free to use it for personal use also) I do travel domestically for business and that travel would be around major metropolii with 4g service…

i had a droid x and root'd it. i installed an app that allowed my phone to be a hotspot for free and charged all data against my unlimited data plan. all was good. but after installing different apps tinkering... the phone became real slow. i redid my phone from scratch and root'd again and reinstalled the hotspot app and a few others that i really liked - torque. well, it just wasn't stable any more.

i swapped to my wife's "old" iphone 4 and am paying the $20/months to be a hotspot so my little kid can use her itouch or our ipad when we're out and about.

the iphone with the apps i like is very stable and, i guess, that's what is more important for me! for example, i have the tunein app and listen to local hawaii radio stations. i had it on the droid x, too. the quality and consistency is better with the iphone.

oh, we're verizon people... while the hotspot option is enabled ANY/ALL data is charged to the 2gb hotspot plan. it is NOT charged against my unlimited data plan. so, no video streaming until the end of the billing cycle - ha!

joel

 

[Gooseberry]

by the way my Iphone is 4g

I use my iPhone as a hotspot for our iPads and it works pretty good. I have AT&T though and have a repeater when out in the back country


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BillTex]

by the way my Iphone is 4g

Really?
Which provider do you use?

I was under the impression Iphone was 3g...regardless of service...

 

[ThomD]

Really?
Which provider do you use?

I was under the impression Iphone was 3g...regardless of service...

This gets complicated. ATT rolled out a "4G" network that is really more like 3.5G. Since it was faster than 3G, they called it 4G. LTE networks are much faster than AT&T's HSPA+ "4G" networks. ATT is starting to deploy LTE, but Verizon is way ahead of ATT in coverage. No iPhone has LTE, but the 4S does HSPA+.

Answering your earlier question - "Can I download movies and play them on an Android device?" Yes. I pull things from my Tivo all the time. You can d/l from Google's play store, but I doubt that you could d/l from iTunes and play them on an Android. Not sure about that though. As far as I can tell, Amazon video on demand does not work on Android devices other than the Kindle.

Today the market share is about 50/50 split between Android and iOS. One thing to watch is that the Android world is full of semi-crappy cheap devices that should be avoided. Samsung and HTC are the two companies I think about as the top level suppliers.

 

[BillTex]

This gets complicated. ATT rolled out a "4G" network that is really more like 3.5G. Since it was faster than 3G, they called it 4G. LTE networks are much faster than AT&T's HSPA+ "4G" networks. ATT is starting to deploy LTE, but Verizon is way ahead of ATT in coverage. No iPhone has LTE, but the 4S does HSPA+.

Answering your earlier question - "Can I download movies and play them on an Android device?" Yes. I pull things from my Tivo all the time. You can d/l from Google's play store, but I doubt that you could d/l from iTunes and play them on an Android. Not sure about that though. As far as I can tell, Amazon video on demand does not work on Android devices other than the Kindle.

Today the market share is about 50/50 split between Android and iOS. One thing to watch is that the Android world is full of semi-crappy cheap devices that should be avoided. Samsung and HTC are the two companies I think about as the top level suppliers.

Thank you...good info.
That was my understanding about the whole 4G speed also...

Can you get Netflix on Android?
We already have an account...

It sounds like if you want to play in the Apple world (itunes for movie, etc) then you have to go Iphone...

I would think for various other apps; topo, navigation, etc....it is pretty much a toss up Android vs. Iphone?

FWIW (this is not related to my upcoming choice of phones); I am still thinking of getting the Wife an Ipad for her b-day. If I get a phone w/hot spot (any phone be it Android or Iphone) she could access web via my phone hotspot (provided we are together). This being true; any reason to still get an Ipad with web access? I would rather not pay for an additional data plan...as I will have data on my office phone...

Tx, Bill

 

[Gooseberry]

att iphone 4s

Really?
Which provider do you use?

I was under the impression Iphone was 3g...regardless of service...

 

[rabbiporkchop]

I searched and was not able to find...maybe you can point me to a discussion related to using mobile phone as hot spots for internet connectivity.
Specificaly interested in Android on Verizon but also would consider iPhone..

Tx, Bill

Xdadevelopers.com in regards to technical info. Beware if Verizon catches you, they can jack up your bill. There are ways around Verizon finding out, but they are kinda technical.

 

[BillTex]

by the way my Iphone is 4g

gooseberry...I just looked at the ATT site (what a crappy website!) and I cannot find anything about hotspots (for any phone they sell).

What is ATT speak for mobile hotspot?

Just found out we may end up going ATT here at the office...I will be bummed if they are not hot spot compatible??

Tx, Bill

 

[Gooseberry]

Att call it tethering I pretty sure but in the Iphone its hotspot.

gooseberry...I just looked at the ATT site (what a crappy website!) and I cannot find anything about hotspots (for any phone they sell).

What is ATT speak for mobile hotspot?

Just found out we may end up going ATT here at the office...I will be bummed if they are not hot spot compatible??

Tx, Bill

 

[HillbillyfromAL]

For what it's worth me and my wife couldn't live without an iPhone. I got a refurbished 3G for my first one and haven't looked back. I had a BB but compared to the iPhone it was trash. I now have the 4S and will get the next one that's a big step up or whatever comes out in 2 years.

 

[BillTex]

We got a box full of various phones in the office yesterday. ATT is letting us demo several for a couple of weeks. Iphone is slick, as well as Samsung Galaxy 2. There's a few others...but these 2 are likely at the top of the list.

However...it looks like these are both limited to 4G (HSPA+) and not true 4G LTE if you look at the ATT site...and that may be a factor (for me).
I cant see choosing a phone that is (somewhat) obsolete right out of the box (what isn't nowadays?).

There is a Samsung Galaxy 2 Skyrocket that is shown as 4G LTE compatible on the ATT site.

Having said all that, it looks like ATT is very limited in 4G LTE coverage anyway...

I am still hoping we end up going Verizon for our Company cell service...we'll see...in my experience, they have the best network.

B

 

[crazyeyez]

how well do they work data plans? i like sprint for its unlimited data, and using the HotSpot like i do, i can rack up some data ussage.

 

[BillTex]

how well do they work data plans? i like sprint for its unlimited data, and using the HotSpot like i do, i can rack up some data ussage.

I think it is $30 for data plan + additional $20 to "tether"= $50/mo.
Not inexpensive!

What is the cost for Sprint?

 

[off-roader]

I have a Verizon unlimited data plan through my company and have been using an older Samsung Omnia (not Omnia II) windows phone for the past few years.:Wow1:

I too have been looking at upgrading my phone and recall reading there are older phones available that can act as a Wifi Hotspot w/out Verizon charging the hotspot fee.

Do any of you know which phones they are and if any are 4G? I take the train everyday and it would be nice to be online w/ my iPad during the commute.

If not, which of last couple of years worth of android phones are preferred? Not interested in another IOS device as I already have 2 (ipod Touch/iPad) and as has been noted they're difficult to root and keep rooted.

TIA!:ylsmoke:

 

[crazyeyez]

itis $10 extra for their premium data plans (smartphones must have it) and 30 for the moble hotspot. and its trully unlimited data and doesnt slowdown once past 2gig (t-moble)