We really want to get rid of cox. We have unlimited nationwide hotspot on both of our phones. Do you think it would be enough to supply wifi for amazon firestick tv, a computer and ipad?
Userlevel 7
+8
I would check your plan carefully to be clear on what that really means. I believe they allow up to 10 different devices but you need to test and know how much bandwidth the phone can access to be sure. The plan you have and features are pretty easy to access when you check your account on t-mobile
I have a note 20 ultra 5G and my husband’s is an S21 ultra 5G
Here’s what the account says:
Unlimited Nationwide 4G + 5 GB Smartphone Mobile HotSpot
Unlimited 4G LTE data, includes up to 5 GB of Smartphone Mobile HotSpot (SMH) Recommended for streaming as much media and downloading as many apps as you want on our network.
Userlevel 7
+15
5GB of HotSpot data goes by incredibly fast. That isn't a lot, especially when it comes to streaming.
Userlevel 7
+8
I agree with syaoran you can burn through 5 GB in no time flat. I had one of their little hotspot devices when we first moved here. I picked up one with 30 GB / month trying to keep the cost down as that was all we had. In testing initially I streamed a movie and in the background my daughter was doing a video call with one of her friends. Well, we burned through 10 GB in no time and I did not even watch the entire movie. So, you can stream all you want but beware if you exceed the data allowance then it gets expensive or it is throttled to such a low level it is useless.
If you want to try to keep your costs down look into the T-Mobile home internet gateway solution in your location. That is $50/month prepaid and no data cap, no additional fees and no contract. You can try the phone as a hotspot but I think you will be disappointed. The gateway is a very good solution in most locations. If you are in a location where a strong, clean signal is not possible then cellular is not a good solution. Just my opinion. I did the mobile hotspot and it is way more expensive than the home gateway. It ends up being roughly $10 per 10 GB per month
I don’t know why that says 5gb because we supposedly have unlimited. Here’s what it says on my bill:
Your plan includes:
2 PROTECTION PLANS = $29.03 |
2 OTHER SERVICES = $40.00
• Text and unlimited data at up to 256Kbps in 210+ countries
• From 2GB to 22GB of high speed data for Mobile Internet plans
“Unlimited data” is a different category than “hotspot”
The unlimited data is for apps on the phone itself that are streaming data. With a hotspot, other devices (such as an Amazon Fire Stick) are using the phone data connection to provide data streaming to them. So T-Mobile (as did AT&T and Verizon, when I had phones with them) counts the hotspot data use as something separate. The info from your account that you posted above shows that the plan you have limits mobile hotspot data to 5GB per month.
As others have said, 5GB goes very quickly. Popular Science had an article earlier this year that showed how much data various streaming services used. Here’s a quote:
“Netflix: Netflix provides specific estimates for each of its streaming settings. Standard definition uses up to 0.3 GB per hour. High definition (720p) uses up to 1 GB per hour. Full HD (1080p) uses up to 3 GB per hour. UHD (4K) uses up to 7 GB per hour.” [source: https://www.popsci.com/reviews/how-much-data-does-streaming-live-tv-use/]
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