Forum Discussion

Pineapple_Kid's avatar
Pineapple_Kid
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014

Non techie from Kauai with another question

I am tired of fighting Campground Wi-Fi connections and carrying my lap-top to Hot spots, I only need to have Wi-Fi access 4 months of the year when I RV (it is worthless to me here at home on Kauai )

I am considering buying one of the Straight Talk hot spots from Walmart to make traveling life a bit more enjoyable.

Here is the Question

Is there a way I can find out how much access I am using ? Now while I am at home and / or is their a way to keep track of what I will be using if I do buy one of these hot spots to use while I travel?

We usually just; check banking, credit card balances, E-Mail and surf the web a bit like for the next campground, we will try not to download photos etc.

If I have to get 2 or 3 of their 1G or 2G cards a month that is OK I just don't want to pay for it the other 8 months of the year.

Any Help ?

Aloha Leon
  • Pineapple_Kid's avatar
    Pineapple_Kid
    Explorer
    Apr 08, 2014
    Thanks Everyone for all the good information !

    I believe I have some direction now ??

    Aloha from Kauai
    Leon
  • MrWizard's avatar
    MrWizard
    Moderator
    Apr 08, 2014
    you can check your HOME data usage with a program like BITMETER or a similar one
    install on your PC and it will track your data use
    and give you a running total, monthly totals etc

    this will you an idea of how much data you need

    same software will tack your mobile PC data use when traveling

    more than one device , each device needs its own tracker
    or use the mode built into the mobile hotspot
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Apr 07, 2014
    The Hot spots have a web server inside them, It keeps assorted records including how much data you have used. You can access it (Without cost) any time.

    Also you can go to your My Account page on the host system (ISP, Cell provider) the info here may be a few hours out of date and you will burn bandwidth doing it.

    Millicom is now 90/month (89) for a fairly hefty amount of data. I think it may be a better deal than Wall*Mart's straight talk but have not done the math since they (Millicom) jacked their price. I was considering them till the price jack.
  • NHIrish's avatar
    NHIrish
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2014
    I just bought the straight talk wifi and am very pleased with it. Reasonably fast and works perfectly. We are fairly heavy internet users....with verizon wireless tethering we would sometimes approach 4 gb in 30 days, but usually about 3.
    I think that the 60 day 4 gb is a darn good value.
  • ReadyToGo's avatar
    ReadyToGo
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2014
    Install the free program Networx . It will keep track of what you use on the computer. I don't know if you have a tablet also, but it won't keep track of that but there are apps that will do that also.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer II
    Apr 07, 2014
    You can log into your Straight Talk account at any time and get an up to date usage report. We use a Straight Talk UMX hotspot as a fill in device when our Millenicom 20GB account comes up just a few days/GB short of making it to the next cycle.
  • Gulfcoast's avatar
    Gulfcoast
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2014
    The Straight Talk hotspot has a "check balance" feature (button to click) built into their software. A $40 card will get your 4GB over two months... that's lots of data to me.
  • Amerloc's avatar
    Amerloc
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2014
    This might well help you answer your question:

    http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-track-your-broadband-data-usage-on-pc-or-mac/

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