newbie questions

[framers8]

Hello all, first of all, my only experience with a smart phone has been seeing my neighbors motorola android on Verizon and I was impressed. we live in the mountains of NC and service has always been sketchy , but this thing surfs the net amazingly fast. ( we are in a 3G network I think)
I read that this can make itself into a mobile hotspot and serve 5 other devices. I am wondering if it would be feasible to use this at home to replace our full time internet connection. We also travel in an RV and had previously tethered our laptop to the Alltel celllphone (pretty slow) for $25 a month, but last time out they had increased the fee to $40, way too much.
I am looking for any advice or suggestions as to equipment and which service to use. Karl

 

[sonofaresiii]

I've not done it myself, but I've *heard* that 4G LTE will run 'nearly' as fast as a standard internet connection. Meaning if you want to use it as a hotspot... assuming you aren't someone who's CONSTANTLY connected to the internet, you could probably get by.

But on 3G?

Almost no chance of you making that work successfully. It's good for the every-now-and-then being out and not having the internet but you want to do some stuff on your computer... but a full time internet replacement? I don't think so.

If you're on Verizon, you're going to want a 4g phone, and if your area isn't going to have it for a while... best to just stick with your current internet provider.

(there's also some question as to how "unlimited" unlimited data plans are going to be...)

note that this is all second hand information, so take it with a grain of salt