If you’ve seen my other posts then you know I’ve been looking for a simple, on demand, wifi hotspot that doesn’t cost a huge investment either with a contract or expensive equipment.
I believe T-Mobile was listening. They’ve started a new plan that allows a customer to buy “Data Passes”. It allows a person to buy, on demand, 1 GB covering a week for $10 (current rate), with no more than your existing smart phone as a wifi hotspot.
I’ve been searching for this for a long time, but why do I bring this up now? Because I needed it.
My current ISP (also my cable provider) was impacted by a major fiber cut in my area. Since I’m a telecommuter, it was imperative that I get an internet connection to be a contributor.
So I used my phone and did an internet search. I found the process to buy a data pass through the T-Mobile app and inside of 20 minutes I was on line.
Why is this different from several years ago? Because I no longer get threatening messages telling me that I’m not paying for the wifi hotspot feature. I’m not being sold a monthly charge for something I need very rarely. I hear of people that pay a continuous subscription of $20 a month equating to $240 a year. And I’m making do with $10.
And, in spite of all my experimenting, a smartphone is incredibly energy efficient and much lower profile than any other form of hardware for a hotspot. And it doesn’t hurt that it is one less thing to carry. I make sure the phone is on continuous charge thru a USB connection to either my laptop or a USB charger.
In fact, I’m typing this while using the “Data Pass”. The current memory count is half a megabyte for a full day of working. That includes personal emails and minor web browsing, but no streaming of media of any kind. At that pace, I have plenty of bandwidth to spare for the entire week of work and some play.
The connection quality for me is fine. This is what I’ve been hoping for. Kudos to T-Mobile. Keep up the good work.
21 Buzzards 