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Mobile Broadband or Mifi

From A Buick 8

From A Buick 8

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 16, 2010
3,114
127
Ky Close to CinCinnati
Ok so i seem to be a little dense when it comes to this. I have Internet through my local cable company at home. The speed i have is 10 mbps up and about 1 down.

I have a WiFi ipad and i am toying with getting an Mobile Broadband device (MiFi?) that i can connect the iPad too and also use with my laptop as needed.

What i am looking at is the 3G hot spot from Verizon. looks like i can get a 3gb monthly allowance for about 35$ a month.

I am not sure what that means, what will my speed be (mpbs) and what is the 3gb of data mean. I would like to surf the web and maybe stream from Hulu or netflix.
 
Your speeds would be around 1.5mbps-2mbps down. And maybe 1mbps up if your lucky.

The 3gb allowance is your cap of data per-month. It is a soft cap so if you do go over its $10 for every 1GB of overage. Maybe about 3.5-4 netflix movies or tv shows depending on quality. Would use up your 3GB allowance.
 
Ok, thanks that helps, not sure why but it was just not sinking in. Do you have any idea if you go over just a little do they normally go ahead and charge for the whole 1gb, or is there some sort of prorate (talking about Verizon).

Also (still talking Verizon), if you keep the mifi unit running but you are not logged onto it does it eat up any data. I would assume not.
 
From A Buick 8 said:
Ok, thanks that helps, not sure why but it was just not sinking in. Do you have any idea if you go over just a little do they normally go ahead and charge for the whole 1gb, or is there some sort of prorate (talking about Verizon).

.
Click to expand...

No, even 1kb over and they'll pump you to a higher plan
 
iphone1105 said:
No, even 1kb over and they'll pump you to a higher plan
Click to expand...

They wont "bump you to a higher plan" they will just charge you 10$ for every 1GB of overage. Next month if your under or at your cap then you will be charged your normal rate plus appropriate government fee's/taxes.

OP as for your question about being connected when not using the mifi, as long as there is no application backgrounding that will use data ex. "mail" then you will not be using data. There is a status light on the side that flickers when there is data activity you could watch and see for the first couple days to get a feel of how it will work out.
 
pvmacguy said:
They wont "bump you to a higher plan" they will just charge you 10$ for every 1GB of overage. Next month if your under or at your cap then you will be charged your normal rate plus appropriate government fee's/taxes.

OP as for your question about being connected when not using the mifi, as long as there is no application backgrounding that will use data ex. "mail" then you will not be using data. There is a status light on the side that flickers when there is data activity you could watch and see for the first couple days to get a feel of how it will work out.
Click to expand...

Ok great, thanks guys for all of the help. I guess the fees and taxes are similar to what you have with a cell phone plan.
 
Mifi with unlimited data?

Have you considered the mifi option with Virgin Mobile? It is month to month with unlimited for $40. It utilizes Sprint's 3G network. For essentially $5 more per month you can surf till drop. Quite honestly though, you may be fine with Verizon's cap. 3G, as good as it is, can be painfully slow with media. Nothing really beats wifi speed in the end in my experience.
 
ldburroughs said:
Have you considered the mifi option with Virgin Mobile? It is month to month with unlimited for $40. It utilizes Sprint's 3G network. For essentially $5 more per month you can surf till drop. Quite honestly though, you may be fine with Verizon's cap. 3G, as good as it is, can be painfully slow with media. Nothing really beats wifi speed in the end in my experience.
Click to expand...

Just starting to relly look around, i will look at the Virgin Mobile. So are you saying that Virgin Mobile might be slower then Verizon or that any of these types of devices struggle with media.

One of the things i was hoping to be able to do is to stream some Hulu or netflix.
 
pvmacguy said:
Your speeds would be around 1.5mbps-2mbps down. And maybe 1mbps up if your lucky.
Click to expand...

what country and provider are you basing these numbers on?

over here in australia you can nearly hit the full limit of the iPad/iPhone - which is 7.2mbps, even in the real world its quite close to that.
 
DoFoT9 said:
what country and provider are you basing these numbers on?

over here in australia you can nearly hit the full limit of the iPad/iPhone - which is 7.2mbps, even in the real world its quite close to that.
Click to expand...

As mentioned before, this is regarding the Verizon mifi (USA)
 
Ok I went for it and signed up for the verizon 3gb plan 35 a month. Th device was free with the contract. I have 30 days to return if I do not like.

The device they gave me was the 5 spot, I kind of wanted the Mifi 2200. The guy told me they could only sell that with the iPad
 
Watch your data closely.

Since you expressly said you wanted to be able to stream Hulu and Netflix, I think you'll soon find that 3GB is nothing.

I hit 7GB on my iPhone 4 a couple of months ago from streaming 1 season of a TV show while I was on a trip from Netflix

The Virgin Mobile $40/unlimited is a MUCH better deal...

Of course, if you have an iPhone with unlimited data grandfathered in, JB and MyWi would be the best bet (because it would be FREE)
 
Weiser878 said:
Watch your data closely.

Since you expressly said you wanted to be able to stream Hulu and Netflix, I think you'll soon find that 3GB is nothing.

I hit 7GB on my iPhone 4 a couple of months ago from streaming 1 season of a TV show while I was on a trip from Netflix

The Virgin Mobile $40/unlimited is a MUCH better deal...

Of course, if you have an iPhone with unlimited data grandfathered in, JB and MyWi would be the best bet (because it would be FREE)
Click to expand...

7GB from one season? Ahh, you must have been streaming Comedy Centrals Stand Up season. Ya know, the one with 230 episodes. Seriously though, I just barely reach 150MB's of data after streaming 2012.
 
kdarling said:
OP, are you close enough to Cincinnati to get LTE reception?

Verizon showed off an LTE MiFi today at CES. Something to consider in the near future.

Wish they'd announce prices for it.
Click to expand...

Yes close enough, i will keep an eye out for it.

What is the best was to check speed on the ipad. I geabed the speed test ipad app and so far my speed has not been above 1 MBPS down. I was hoping for something between 1 and 2
 
If you have CLEAR in you area, you may want to check them out. You can get an iSpot for $25 a month with unlimited 4G. Obviously, it depends if CLEAR is in your area.
 
I have the MIFI for with VZ and it works great. At home I use wifi from my desktop and MIFI on the road. I use it for my iPad and Mac Laptop. When my wife gets a Pad, she can use it too so it is a nice device. I got the 5 Gig plan.
 
From A Buick 8 said:
I have yet to find that deal on their website. Might not be available in my area.
Click to expand...

The iSpot costs $99 if I'm not mistaken. Sometimes they have it on sale for only $20 but the service is $25 a month unlimited.

They have the 4G and the 4G+ which you can actually lease instead of buy. The requires a 2 year "contract" but the termination fee is only $40 but can be less depending on when you term. I prefer to lease because then I can upgrade to new equipment when it comes out. A little back and forth with customer service waives the term fee on the original device.

I have a few people in my family that are using the 4G but I chose the 4G+ because I go some places that I would need the 3G failover. Again, it depends on where you are going and such.
 
reckless2k2 said:
The iSpot costs $99 if I'm not mistaken. Sometimes they have it on sale for only $20 but the service is $25 a month unlimited.

They have the 4G and the 4G+ which you can actually lease instead of buy. The requires a 2 year "contract" but the termination fee is only $40 but can be less depending on when you term. I prefer to lease because then I can upgrade to new equipment when it comes out. A little back and forth with customer service waives the term fee on the original device.

I have a few people in my family that are using the 4G but I chose the 4G+ because I go some places that I would need the 3G failover. Again, it depends on where you are going and such.
Click to expand...

I spent a few minutes on the Clear webite and chatting with one of there folks. The ispot has been discontinued (no big news there other threads about that). They also said that the $25 plan is only avaliable with the iSpot, and that they no longer sell them on their website. The rep told me to try and find an iSpot from a local clear retalier, some sotres still have the devices.
 
From A Buick 8 said:
I spent a few minutes on the Clear webite and chatting with one of there folks. The ispot has been discontinued (no big news there other threads about that). They also said that the $25 plan is only avaliable with the iSpot, and that they no longer sell them on their website. The rep told me to try and find an iSpot from a local clear retalier, some sotres still have the devices.
Click to expand...

I looked it up after reading this and am surprised that they ditched their best selling product. Hahaha. Ironically, I and my family only ever got the 4G and 4G+ because of connecting devices other thatn just iOS and 3G failover. Few extra bucks which is comparable to other offerings was well worth it to me to have 4G versus 3G. But I do have 4G in my area. You can always go to one of their stores and speedtest one of the devices. That's what I did as well as test overall performance. I took my 3G iPad and tested and was pleased enough to get a CLEAR device. I now have 2 other people on my account which drives down all of our costs by plan grouping. I might be adding a 4th shortly. I don't know if I can do that but I'll see. Right now I've got my 4G+ ($40), 4G ($30), and a home wifi ($20). My in-laws have 2 4Gs at $30 each a month. Gets some friends or family and drive down your cost. Haha.
 
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