vB Easy Archive - Cheapest possible Internet/Data Plan

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Cheapest possible Internet/Data Plan
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Posted by: jugstah

I've been doing some looking around, but I'm sure some of you may have far more insight into what works, what doesn't.

I currently own a Nokia 9300 unlocked with prepaid sim. With the recent outage of the free internet, I guess I don't want that to happen to me again since I'm highly mobile and am not in one place to stay.

That means, I gotta have a phone that I can tether to, and use the internet through my laptop. Some say the BB can, some say no you can't.

Some of my fellow friends are saying to buy the cheapest blackberry, and get the unlimited internet plan for 29.99/mo. I don't need minutes as I'm deaf and do not care for voice calls. That won't happen. :-)

Any ideas on the best possible combo? Am willing to consider other phones if they're cheaper and can be tethered. I'd prefer a qwerty if possible.

Posted by: zachy

My brother-in-law uses an older phone and tells me it costs 35 cents/day for the data plan. I'm not exactly sure, but it might cost a wee bit more as you have to buy prepaid cards and they expire over time. He told me the 35 cents per day is actually less than the minimum needed to keep the phone activated.

He tethers it to his laptop and gets 25 kbits/sec speed. But he told me that there are other models that get speeds of 100kbits. I just logged onto this forum to try to find a list of models that support the higher speeds.

Anyways, about $11/month sounds pretty cheap. I'm not sure if there is anything extra you need to do except buy a cable between your phone and laptop. Maybe somebody who knows more about this will reply.

Zachy

Posted by: DubDub

You should pick which carrier you want to use rather than the cheapest way to go or you will find yourself on the road with no service. Look at where you will use the phone, where you live, work, travel, etc. and talk to friends family, coworkers to check real world reception. Then pick a phone, BB, or whatever.

I am on the road quite a bit as well. I have a Cingular 8700c Blackberry as my primary phone and email device. I also carry a Verizon phone for those areas where I don't get Cingular service (that is also my personal cell) plus I have a Verizon air card for my laptop as they provide the best and fastest access (EV-DO).

No matter who you go with, I think you will be very disappointed at tethering speeds. And keep in mind, the speed you will get in greatly dependent upon the phone's processor and the quality of the connection, hence why I carry the air card.

You also need to make sure you have a tethering plan for the phone you plan to use, otherwise you have the potential for a huge data bill.

Posted by: DubDub

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachy

My brother-in-law uses an older phone and tells me it costs 35 cents/day for the data plan. I'm not exactly sure, but it might cost a wee bit more as you have to buy prepaid cards and they expire over time. He told me the 35 cents per day is actually less than the minimum needed to keep the phone activated.

He tethers it to his laptop and gets 25 kbits/sec speed. But he told me that there are other models that get speeds of 100kbits. I just logged onto this forum to try to find a list of models that support the higher speeds.

Anyways, about $11/month sounds pretty cheap. I'm not sure if there is anything extra you need to do except buy a cable between your phone and laptop. Maybe somebody who knows more about this will reply.

Zachy

I really question the 35 cents a day data plan. I have never heard of such a low price.

Typical tethered speeds for GSM (Cingular and T-Mobile) are in the 40-70 kbps range with the max being about 235. EV-DO speeds on Verizon and Sprint are typically 700 kbps to 1.2 mbps. 3g EV-DO is touted to approach 3 mbps. The speed is limited by the phone's processor and the wireless connection.

Posted by: jugstah

Well, as I said earlier, I'm using a Nokia 9300 and have it tethered to my laptop and using prepaid services without having to pay for data. I've been able to tether it just fine but am worried that this may not last for long, what with the recent outages the past few days which I experienced.

I'm considering sticking with TMobile and getting their 29.99 internet plan but I wonder if that's even worth it if I'm supposedly connecting with 460 Kbps speeds but I notice I'm really only getting about what seems like 5Kbps or modem speeds really. Will it be any faster if I got their internet plan using my nokia 9300 or am I better off getting a new phone with edge capability and the internet plan?

TIA,
Dan

Posted by: DubDub

The fastest EDGE speed is 236 kbps. Can't go higher. 3G should give you faster but it isn't implemented in very many places so far.

Make sure you can tether with no additional charges. As I said previously, the speed is greatly influenced buy the connection and the phone's processor.

Posted by: jugstah

DubDub,

Are any of the cheaper blackberries out there capable of doing EDGE speeds? and if I understand it correctly, not every area has EDGE capability yet, right?

I'm pretty sure my Nokia 9300 supports EDGE but not in America. It does support EDGE in Europe.

Posted by: DubDub

The Cingular and T-Mobile BBs are on EDGE. Every place I go has EDGE so I think it must be almost nationwide.

BB data plans on Cingular are 29.99 and 39.99 if you have a voice plan. I think T-Mo has a cheaper one, but I am not a T-Mo fan and can't tell you for sure. Best to check with them.

Verizon and Sprint offer EV-DO which is faster and is implemented in most major metros. Your Nokia should be on EDGE if it is implemented in your area. Where in Southern Mass are you?

Posted by: jugstah

I'm right around Middleboro if that helps.

I'm not seeing EDGE capability on my phone, but that could be maybe because it's running off a prepaid sim? I don't know.

I'm looking into the BBs and TMO. How does the speeds on EDGE and tethering go? is it decent speed for the price?

Posted by: DubDub

SLOW. Maybe a bit faster then dialup. But, speed is a function of the processor and the connection. I think it usually runs 40-70 kbps. Probably ok for downloading email as long as you do not have any large attachments. Definitely slow for surfing.

Posted by: peryus88

Quote:

Originally Posted by jugstah

I'm right around Middleboro if that helps.

I'm not seeing EDGE capability on my phone, but that could be maybe because it's running off a prepaid sim? I don't know.

I'm looking into the BBs and TMO. How does the speeds on EDGE and tethering go? is it decent speed for the price?

You might be using the older generation SIM card, since you're only picking up GPRS. If you're still going to use your prepaid account for the moment, you might want to transfer over to a 3G SIM card. Because if you were to buy a 3G enabled device, your current SIM card might not be recognized and probably won't get reception. Transferring would only cost about $10.

Posted by: jugstah

Hmm, so getting EDGE capability is a matter of switching m SIM card over to one that's put under EDGE? Hmm, okay, where would I go to find this, and how do I get it switched over? I'm prepaid so I can run down the card to 0$ if I have to, and buy a new SIM if that does the trick.

Any ideas where?

Posted by: peryus88

You don't have to deplete the amount when you're going to transfer your account to a another SIM card. Your account will carry over to your new one. You can pick one up on any T-Mobile store in your area.

Posted by: jugstah

I'll find a TMO store and go there sometime this weekend and try to get a EDGE sim. For $10, its worth a shot.

My Nokia 9300 is the RAE6 version though so I don't know how well it's going to work since it's a european phone...

Posted by: jugstah

I had my brother make a call to the nearby tmo store, and asked about a simcard replacement, and my brother asked them if replacing the simcard would get EDGE and they said no, it has to do with the phones only.

What gives? (I suspect the tmo guy at the local store is clueless, maybe?)

EDIT: If it makes any difference, my simcard did come out of a prepaid 6010 and was put into a nokia 9300