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Mobile Hotspots and WiFi Alternatives?

V

Visionblue

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 16, 2013
70
7
Hey all

I recently moved into an apartment that's on a shared property with the landlords house. Part of my utilities include wifi which is installed in my landlords house and is in his name. About two weeks after moving in, the Internet was shut off for nonpayment. It's now been close to a week that the Internet has been down and I have now gone a gigabyte over my IPhones AT&T 3GB plan as I require data not only for work but also for entertainment. As I've just barely moved in I don't feel like I want to get any further involved in this guy's Internet situation and would rather be responsible for my own connectivity. I don't want to sign a contract with an ISP as I'm on a month to month lease and don't know how long I'll stay in the area.

What are my alternatives? AT&T charges quite a premium for data so I wouldnt do their mobile share plan with a mobile hotspot even though their data is blazing fast. it looks like Id get Tmobiles 3G here if I were to purchase a mobile hotspot from them; but i dont know if its as fast as ATTs.i want something along the lines of unlimited; or at least 10+ gigs/ month. I would be using it for emails web browsing and occasional video streaming on my MacBook. Any and all advise would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
2

2298754

Cancelled
Jun 21, 2010
4,890
941
Call your local broadband provider and ask if you can sign up for service without a contract? Most of them let you. You just pay a little bit more.

There is no real replacement for a quality broadband connection sadly.

If that's not an option, why not pick up a cheap TMobile phone and sign up for the unlimited plan. You can add tethering as a package. Not sure if that's unlimited though. (Of course, you have to be in an area with good TMo service)

An AT&T and VZW MiFi are always a solid option, but they charge way too much for them.
 
tbayrgs

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,343
4,867
AutoUnion39 said:
Call your local broadband provider and ask if you can sign up for service without a contract? Most of them let you. You just pay a little bit more.

There is no real replacement for a quality broadband connection sadly.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. My provider (Verizon FIOS) offers month-to-month billing rates. What you'll pay to have unlimited data use on a landline based connection would only get you maybe 5-8 GB/month via wireless hotspot/tethering.
 
0dev

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Make sure you keep a record of how long the internet is down and when it goes back up try and get some money taken off your rent. If your rent includes utilities such as WiFi and those aren't being delivered to you, you should be compensated.

As for what to do for now, a temporary ISP account or maybe a MiFi (not sure of the pricing of those in the US though) could work. I use tethering on my phone but it sounds like you don't have that option.
 
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