photonut4 wrote:
I am researching new internet options. I am done with the mifis, as I had nothing but trouble with them. Which would give me a more reliable internet connection: tethering a cell phone or a 3G air card in a cradle point router? I currently just use a trac phone, so I would have to sign up with a carrier, if I go the cell phone route. I would go with Millicom if I go the air card route. Thanks for any info. Liz
In general, there is no difference in signal quality between tethering a phone and using a USB modem in a router. If one will take an external antenna and the other does not, then you would see a difference in a marginal signal area.
That said, I reliably get faster throughput tethering my Droid Bionic than I do with my USB modem and Cradlepoint router. I suspect that the radio technology simply improved in the four or five years from when the USB modem was made and when the Bionic was made. I travel in almost exclusively 3G areas. I am a Verizon subscriber.
I see a lot of unfavorable reviews of MiFi-type devices. I wonder if that has to do with the devices themselves or with the limitations of 4G service as it currently exists.