franc111s

Most people know by now I'm a tech geek. My company just replaced for me, my USB broadband laptop modem with a Verizon MIFI card. It connects to Verizon's 3G network and then broadcasts a WIFI connection. It doesn't have to connect to another device to work. It's smaller than a cigarette packet.

Now, instead of using the Iphone data plan, I can use the Verizon dataplan, through WIFI.

This means, I can use the Iphone on WIFI, and bypass all of the limits AT&T place on it. I can use SKYPE, SlingBox etc., anywhere I travel. I had British TV on yesterday playing in my car driving home (no, I did not took at the screen but was listening to porridge ).

Bob

that's pretty nifty....but how much would that set back us mere mortels?

franc111s

It was $99 but the co got it free then it's about $50 a month unlimited (5gb). But I'll eventually drop the Iphone Data plan. which is about the same. The other neat thing, is when your driving, or in a hotel and your family or colleagues are with you, they can share the wifi (upto 5 connections).

it is "nifty"

USBound

unlimited (5gb)

wow - thats not so "un" limited...

still nifty.

Steerpike

Be careful! 5 GB is not that much once you start streaming video/etc.

I use a 3G cellular modem card on my laptop. In the past, I used it only for the odd night at a hotel on the road, or in an emergency, but this past few months I've been living 3 weeks out of 4 in an apartment without any cable TV or high speed internet, so I've been using the Cellular card as my primary network connection, AND to watch streaming video from my 'slingbox'-like setup at home every night (getting my daily dose of 'Daily Show' and 'Colbert Report').

Looking at the logs for the device, I see I've used 1.7 Gig in the last 7 days; 1.4 Gig the week before that; luckily I was home for a week before that so my month will probably end at just under 5 Gig, but I'm close. The cost for going over that 5 Gig is quite high.

Since your device is provided by your company, you may not see any overage charges. I review all IT-related bills for my company, including our cellular bill. For months on end, I just look at the big number and as long as it is 'reasonable' I don't dig in. But once in a while, I start reviewing usage and start noticing 'anomalies' ... like why is billy-bob subscribing to the disney screen-saver service, and why is susie paying for ring-tones every few days ... which tends to result in embarrassing questions that I relay to the user through their supervisor ...

Just find out how to review your usage logs!

franc111s

I agree. 5GB isn't huge but it'll be plenty for me and when I do get overage, my company's plan means we won't get billed.

I watched, on my Iphone, the Man City and Wolves game on the sling player over MIFI. It was an hour and a half game, never dropped ONCE and was about 370MB. I don't intend to do this everyday and will keep an eye on it (thankfully, the little Web Server built in allows you to see usage. The Quality was incredible for a soccer match on a small screen.

A lot of people don't realize, it's leaving the PC connected over night that can consume a lot of data too. Microsoft Outlook and Exhchange can really be a band-width hog even when not a lot of traffic. Just keeping alive eats band-width. When I manage that, I never have gone over.

Kar98

If we're still talking about at&t, there won't BE any overages. Once you reach 3.85 GB in one month, at&t will advise you that you are about to reach your limit. Once you do reach 5 GB, your data services will simply be cut off. Reach the limit often enough, like two times in a row, or three times a year, your contract will be canceled.

Steerpike

I don't think that is true - I didn't bother posting these extra details, but we are transitioning from Verizon and Sprint over to ATT, and I got an ATT cellular modem to try out. As franc111s pointed out, leaving it connected overnight can suck bandwidth, and after 1 WEEK I was getting the warning that I was close to the limit (I think I got it at 4.5GB). I called my new account rep and he told me that if I go over, they will simply charge me $0.x per Mbyte over the limit - there is no cut-off, just billiing. Now, I didn't want to tempt fate and force it over the limit, but they were pretty clear that no 'block' occurs - which I would be happier about. They do have a posted 'per-MByte' rate, so why would that not be applied?

anotherlimey

Are you sure you can drop the iPhone data plan? I noticed something on AT&T's website that basically said you would be charged for the iPhone data plan if you had an iPhone on the account.

Kar98

Sent you a PM.

franc111s

You might be right but I'll find out once the contract is up. I heard that by Jan, the AT&T / Iphone monopoly might be over.

I guess that gets me 10GB then, 5GB each