Verizon Thunderbolt: Wireless tethering on LTE status report

[TheForce]

In the past I announced that I was forced to take the latest upgrade OS but I still have free wireless tethering. On Saturday, for the first time I tried to use the tethering while away on a trip and got a popup stating that my wireless tethering is no longer free. It can be reactivated by going to my account and and adding it to my monthly bill for $30 a month.

So, it looks like my tethering days are over with the Thunderbolt. I will now re-examine options for wireless tethering for my ipad. Absent any good solutions, I will consider upgrading my 5 spot to an LTE version. I already pay for that so just need to upgrade to LTE.

My requirements are wireless tethering and I want an optional LTE capability. Don't need more than one IP at a time but two would be convenient at times.

 

[diogen]

Root it.
Try ICS.

Diogen.

 

[TheForce]

Wish there was an easier way, Diogen. But a very brief read tells me this is OK for experimenters, not someone who needs a tool.

I discovered a new account feature I didn't know existed before. I found out that I can move my "new every two" specials from my wife's LG phone that became available in the beginning of the month to our old 5Spot 3G and this allowed me to get a LTE Myfi for FREE. Funny that last month when I checked this was not permitted and Verizon said I had to pay $299 for the upgrade. But earlier this evening I was able to make the switch and and upgrade the 5spot to a Myfi. The cost is the same per month and as a family we will have LTE service. The old 5Spot was at a 2Gb limit but my Thunderbolt was at unlimited. The new Myfi is at 5Gb limit so now using tethering I will have a limit but I doubt I will use it enough to exceed 5Gb per month. The bottom line is only that now, my wife and I will be sharing the device as she uses it mostly every day for her ipad a I only tether when I travel. I will need to carry two devices to use the ipad now.

I believe this will be a good temporary solution but will keep my eyes open to a really good Thunderbolt "Free" solution in the future. Thing is we planned all along to do the upgrade to LTE for the 5spot anyway. For the record- I'm not totally against Rooting, just that I like to research the bad and the good of doing it and make a risk benefit judgement. So far the risks of device feature failure and bugs is too great for my liking.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Yup, Big Red bit you in the behind. I am surprised it took them so long.

I have a Virgin Mobile MiFi card (3G) which I got used, and grandfathered witht he 5GB/$40 pay as you go - and it works really well for when I need it. But I am lucky in that most of the time I am able to get wi-fi for my iPad, and it is not a critical need. And now I have that short-lived "tether" app on my iPhone, which still seems to work, and I might not even need the MiFi.

 

[TheForce]

Yes, looks like I got the tethering service on the Thunderbolt for 8 months free. But now they want $30, not worth it when they offer better options. How does pay as you go work?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Yes, looks like I got the tethering service on the Thunderbolt for 8 months free. But now they want $30, not worth it when they offer better options. How does pay as you go work?

Virgin Mobile Mi-Fi card. You purchase data in 2GB amounts good for a month. (I got grandfathered in because the guy I bought it from on Amazon gave me his account, so I get 5GB for $40). No auto-renewal, if you don't want it. Which I don't, so I buy it when I know I am traveling. They probably have other options, but the one I have is a sweet deal, so I am happy with it. I don't use it all the time. But I keep the Mi-Fi card in my computer bag.

 

[TheForce]

To get the myfi LTE for free ( MSRP is $299 ) I had to sign up for a 2 yr monthly service for 5Gb of LTE/3G. I'll get my money's worth from it since my wife wants LTE for Netflix and sling box on the ipad. Over 5Gb is $10 per Gig. They also offer a discount got 10Gb for $80. My wife uses 2.5 Gb average now with the 3G card so with video I think the 5Gb service should be about right. Just got confirmation it will arrive here tomorrow. I also plan to study our minutes too to see if I can downgrade to a less expensive plan. They are very slick in how they price it. Seems like I could downgrade but then I would lose my weekends free feature and that would put me over the lower plan. My wife's phone is not really a smart phone. It's a retarded LG that can see web pages ad e-mail but the plan is a light weight data plan I recall costs $5 a month. I think it allows for 500 Mb of data. The only grandfathered in unlimited plan is my Thunderbolt now.

 

[mdram]

as an fyi

if you have the unlimited data plan you can get unlimited hot spot on an lte device for $30 a month

of course this may have been a promotional plan, but last i heard it was still active

 

[TheForce]

mdram- Hotspot is actually called wifi tethering. "Unlimited hotspot" has no real meaning as the wifi tethering is either on or off and is limited to 5 ip tethered devices at a time. The data plan is either priced per Gb plus base rate or unlimited. The cost of wifi tethering is $30 per month in addition to what data plan you have. eg, I pay $30 a month for unlimited data on my Thunderbolt. Adding wifi tethering would increase my monthly bill to $60 per month for unlimited data plus wifi tethering.

In the case of a myfi Hot Spot device, the one I just bought, the base rate for this for LTE/3G is now $50 per month for 5Gb. + $10 a Gb. or $80 for 10Gb ( 2 plans offered ).

 

[Hall]

Root it.

diogen, please stop :

 

[Hall]

So far the risks of device feature failure and bugs is too great for my liking.

You remind of a guy I used to work with.... He could read 99 reviews for a product, all great, but that one person who had something negative to say (and usually user-error related) would stop him dead in his tracks. Needless to say, he looked at and considered a LOT of things and NEVER committed !!

 

[diogen]

diogen, please stop

Sorry.
I missed the extensive discussion on this earlier...

Diogen.

 

[TheForce]

You remind of a guy I used to work with.... He could read 99 reviews for a product, all great, but that one person who had something negative to say (and usually user-error related) would stop him dead in his tracks. Needless to say, he looked at and considered a LOT of things and NEVER committed !!

I'm nothing like that! I read the reviews and evaluate the risk / reward. I consider inside and outside the box. I have too much experience with failure of fanboy claims made and am not one to ignore that one negative review if the complaint is typical of what I might run into. But in a case of a limitation that will not likely affect me, I go for it.

What matters most to me is that in the end, I am happy with what I end up with. But, I will continue to follow the developments as having a free wifi tethering for LTE that doesn't cripple other unrelated device capability is still an ultimate goal.

 

[TheForce]

Got the new MiFi Verizon device activated today. It was not so easy because I tried to activate during one of 3 days the 4G LTE service was down. As expected the wait time to speak to a tech CSR was long, about 3 minutes! Normally they pick right up. Anyway I did the transfer online at 9AM and it didn't register until 3PM, after 2 tech support calls to see if it got stuck. The CSR's were very helpful in checking the status during the day. Once I got activated, I checked speed and got 14.12MBS down and 12.2 up. Was able to access sling box HD channel on ipad and Netflix HD on the laptop and a second sling adapter on HD channel all about 20ft from the MiFi. The MiFi gets a bit warm but sustained those three IP's for a half hour test with no buffering or frame drops.
Negative comment- The charger is a bit awkward in physical design. Most modern chargers have prongs that fold away and the basic box is low profile but this one is not making packing in an ipad carrying case awkward. I will test some other chargers to see if any of those better designs will work. Uses a micro USB charge connection. Comes with a USB adapter cable but a warning says not for charging, just for firmware updates.

Since I called CSRs today, I got a call back requesting my survey on Verizon performance. When asked whether I had any suggestions for improving satisfaction, I suggested they drop extra charges for wifi tethering for LTE. Just tier the usage per Gb like they do and that would be fair.