Internet access on the road and at home

ed6713 wrote:
I don't think you will be able to find any 4g unlimited internet plans, especially on the VZ network. There are, or used to be, a few unlimited 3G plans on the very limited Sprint network.

We had the Millenicom 20 gig plan ($90/ month) but gave it up because we also wanted to stream movies. At home we went with a Century Link DSL plan for $30/month unlimited data. On the road I use the iPhone as a hotspot with the VZ 4 gig plan. No streaming on that plan. Just basic e-mail and surfing. We can download large files, like movies, using WiFi access when available.

High speed, unlimited on the road internet is about history.

Yes, unlimited cellular internet is pretty much gone unless you have a grandfathered plan, but that doesn't mean that you can't stream video if you do it sensibly. Millenicom will let people buy an additional 20GB on their 20GB plans so for $180/mo you can have 40GB. Streaming video is typically 0.5-2.0GB/hr so that 40GB is roughly equal to 20-80 hrs of video a month (assuming that was all you used it for.)

Even though we have an unlimited plan and stream a lot of video we normally use no more than 40-50GB/mo so we could live on 40GB if we needed to. For several weeks this month we've not been able to access satellite TV because of trees so our usage for the month has been extremely high because we've been streaming everything we watch and our total usage was only 64GB for the month.

IMHO we're getting very close to the point where it will be feasible to stop paying for satellite TV and go only to streaming. If I took the >$100/mo I'm paying DirecTV and applied it to my cellular usage I'd be able to afford a 50GB/mo Verizon plan and there would be little difference in what I could watch. If I could figure out how to get HBO and Showtime streaming without a satellite TV or cable subscription, everything I watch could be obtained via streaming.