Truly unlimited and temporary Hot Spot

[way2roll]

I know the question has been asked in various forms before but was looking for some real-world, updated information.

My company offers very cheap unlimited company data plans for our phones through ATT. However, it excludes the hot spot feature unless I pay $85/mo.

I work remote and would like to start working on the road a bit more but as we all know, CG Wifi can's always be relied upon - nor should it.

Is there a decent plan out there for truly unlimited data, and further one that could be turned on/off monthly without the need for a new sim every time?

[Tom_M1]

I have had Visible for 4 years. It's my only phone and my only source for internet. So far it has worked very well. It's about the closest to "unlimited" as you can get. They do prioritize during high traffic but speeds return to normal when congestion lightens. The hotspot data rate is capped at 5Mb/s but there are ways to disable the limit. Visible only sells phones. If you have a phone you are not using and it is compatible you could use that. Otherwise you could purchase a cheap Visible phone. They start at $80. If you need 5G the price jumps to $168. For 5G mmWave it goes to $240. I'm paying $25/month with no added fees or taxes.

[LouLawrence]

T-Mobile has a mobile hotspot (not the Home internet version) that is $50/month for 50 GB of high speed data.

[way2roll]

Thanks for all the suggestions. What are you paying monthly for a hot spot? Is it possible to get a plan with a stand alone hotspot and no phone (as I already have a plan with our phones on it).

[NamMedevac_70]

So far AT&T has been very good to me for many years with their phone, phone service and their Mobley modem I can use anywhere with an adapter.

I recently returned a defective T-Mobile Home Internet modem/router and cancelled brand new service after spending day and half with their phone trouble shooting (useless folks) and activation unit. Not worth the hassel as I have good reliable service from Spectrum and AT&T. Win some lose some.

[dedmiston]

My "unlimited" plan through AT&T works pretty well for us.

I rarely hit the advertised cap. And even when I do, they notify me that they're going to throttle my connection if I'm in a high demand area, but usually our boondocking spots aren't high demand. I've never noticed a drop in the speed when we're streaming.

It's been a good solution for us. I use it for work on the road. We also use it for streaming in the evening and simultaneous surfing on all of our devices. (Oh and moderating the forum and booting the spammers.)

[haddy1]

I've had Visible for over two years and it's been great while on the road. Dropped only a couple of times while streaming but was back up in a few minutes. Also, that phone provides a backup to my Tmobile plans.

[ktmrfs]

we have Verizon and plans with no monthly data limit on the phones or hotspot.
The hotspot plan can be turned on and off if we want to do that.

At least with the hotspot, if your data useage goes above a certain amount/day or month, like constant streaming they can throttle your data rate down. But since we don't stream, I've never had the hotspot throttle down even though when camping it gets pretty constant use between all the family members.

[bob_nestor]

jcpainter wrote:

way2roll wrote:

LouLawrence wrote:
If you can add a hotspot option to an unlimited AT&T plan, that might be your best option. Pay it when you need it and turn if off when you don't.

Yeah, I have thought of that. Easy enough to turn on and off and doesn't require a new SIM each time. Expensive though. $80/month. This is the easiest option though.

I see visible plans for $45 but I don't think you can just get a hot spot, I think requires an existing phone plan.

Be sure to read the fine print. Many plans that have "unlimited" data have a very finite amount of data that can be used when using a hotspot.

Yeah, "truly unlimited" is an oxymoron - it would require infinite bandwidth and depending on how you interpret "unlimited" possibly infinite speed. Both would violate the known laws of physics. There's only so much bandwidth that has to be shared with other users and only so much data that can be crammed into any given frequency used. But that doesn't keep a lot of people from expecting "unlimited" to mean as much data as I want delivered as fast as I want for as long as I want.

[DancinCampers]

The Visible plans are all inclusive for the price. I have one I use just for internet. I used it via its hotspot for about a year, now have it tethered to a router and I get faster speeds. There is a thread in the tech section on irv2 dot com on unlimited internet for $25/month. All the Visible info you need.

[jcpainter]

way2roll wrote:

LouLawrence wrote:
If you can add a hotspot option to an unlimited AT&T plan, that might be your best option. Pay it when you need it and turn if off when you don't.

Yeah, I have thought of that. Easy enough to turn on and off and doesn't require a new SIM each time. Expensive though. $80/month. This is the easiest option though.

I see visible plans for $45 but I don't think you can just get a hot spot, I think requires an existing phone plan.

Be sure to read the fine print. Many plans that have "unlimited" data have a very finite amount of data that can be used when using a hotspot.

[way2roll]

LouLawrence wrote:
If you can add a hotspot option to an unlimited AT&T plan, that might be your best option. Pay it when you need it and turn if off when you don't.

Yeah, I have thought of that. Easy enough to turn on and off and doesn't require a new SIM each time. Expensive though. $80/month. This is the easiest option though.

I see visible plans for $45 but I don't think you can just get a hot spot, I think requires an existing phone plan.

[LouLawrence]

If you can add a hotspot option to an unlimited AT&T plan, that might be your best option. Pay it when you need it and turn if off when you don't.