Tethering and SIM swapping on the 4G plan?

[Hesster]

Right now I have a Droid 3 activated on Net10 through AT&T. Yes, Verizon tried to block the phone from using the US GSM carriers, but I used a guide on the XDA forums to make the phone think it's a Milestone 3 and it's peachy. I make most of my calls from my office, so I was thinking of switching to the 100 minute 5GB plan and using a VOIP service to make calls over the wireless network. TMO does not have 1900MHz data here yet, but they say it is coming by the end of the year.

I don't have internet access at my apartment, since I don't spend much time there. Plus the high speed ISPs here want you to sign a lengthy contract or pay through the nose. So what I was thinking was maybe I could buy a damaged but still usable T-Mobile 4G phone for cheap and swap the SIM while I'm home so I can tether my computer. I already own the paid version of PDANet from when I was tethering on Cricket, so I'm all set there. I'm not planning on using doing anything bandwidth intensive while tethering, just simple web browsing, downloading patches through Steam and maybe some YouTube videos a few days a month. Once TMO gets 1900MHz data here, I would just use the Droid 3 for tethering.

Does this sound like a workable plan? I can get a damaged phone pretty cheap, and I don't see much point in switching away from the Droid 3 when it will be getting HSPA speeds in a few months.

[TheCellphoneGuy]

Right now I have a Droid 3 activated on Net10 through AT&T. Yes, Verizon tried to block the phone from using the US GSM carriers, but I used a guide on the XDA forums to make the phone think it's a Milestone 3 and it's peachy. I make most of my calls from my office, so I was thinking of switching to the 100 minute 5GB plan and using a VOIP service to make calls over the wireless network. TMO does not have 1900MHz data here yet, but they say it is coming by the end of the year.

I don't have internet access at my apartment, since I don't spend much time there. Plus the high speed ISPs here want you to sign a lengthy contract or pay through the nose. So what I was thinking was maybe I could buy a damaged but still usable T-Mobile 4G phone for cheap and swap the SIM while I'm home so I can tether my computer. I already own the paid version of PDANet from when I was tethering on Cricket, so I'm all set there. I'm not planning on using doing anything bandwidth intensive while tethering, just simple web browsing, downloading patches through Steam and maybe some YouTube videos a few days a month. Once TMO gets 1900MHz data here, I would just use the Droid 3 for tethering.

Does this sound like a workable plan? I can get a damaged phone pretty cheap, and I don't see much point in switching away from the Droid 3 when it will be getting HSPA speeds in a few months.

I wouldn't recommend it. 5GB is not really a lot, especially for a PC gamer. You will burn through it in no time. Even if you limit your data to a minimum, it's still very likely that it won't last you an entire month.

Once you get throttled, you'll get speeds of about 60 kbps for download and about 10 to 20 kbps for upload; basically unusable speeds.

Then again, if you're absolutely positive that you will never reach 5GB, it might not be a bad idea after all.

BTW, keep in mind that some markets might take longer than a few months refarming to the 1900MHz spectrum, especially if T-Mobile doesn't have a lot of it.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using HowardForums

[Hesster]

When I was tethering with Cricket I never went over 2GB a month, so I'm not too worried about hitting the cap.

I am a gamer, but I do most of my gaming offline. I only mentioned Steam because it's required for the Steamworks games I have. Like Skyrim, for instance. I've been downloading mods at my office and transporting them to the computer using my phone, but I have to download patches through Steam. Can't download patch files anymore it seems.

[TheCellphoneGuy]

When I was tethering with Cricket I never went over 2GB a month, so I'm not too worried about hitting the cap.

I am a gamer, but I do most of my gaming offline. I only mentioned Steam because it's required for the Steamworks games I have. Like Skyrim, for instance. I've been downloading mods at my office and transporting them to the computer using my phone, but I have to download patches through Steam. Can't download patch files anymore it seems.

In that case it might work, though from my own experience I noticed that if I have faster data on my phone (in your case, T-Mobile being faster than Cricket), then I also tend to use more data than before.

Make sure to buy at least a 14mbps capable phone for T-Mobile if you don't want to spend a lot, but want decent speeds and latency.

I also noticed slower speeds via PDANet than when I was tethering using an app provided with the phone.

Most T-Mobile Androids have tethering build in, but the new ones have a tethering manager installed, which needs to be frozen by rooting the phone and installing an app, such as Titanium Backup.

Latency was good for online gaming, the last time I tested it and online gaming itself doesn't use that much data. Since you won't be downloading games via Steam, you should be okay.

Phone-wise, I would recommend the Samsung Exhibit 2 4G. It's very easy to root and disable tethering manager.

Steam patches shouldn't use that much data, but make sure that you have Windows updates disabled when using T-Mobile.

There are apps such as 3G watchdog for Android to help you figure out how much data you should use on a daily basis.

One last thing. Vonage is currently offering a limited time offer for Android users where you get 3000 minutes to US and Canada via VOIP for free.

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[The Muffin Man]

Go ahead, I sim swap every day when I come home. I bought an Optimus Black because it's so sexy but I knew it wouldn't get 4g yet, luckily I have an old Comet that does.