Tethering? Phone as Modem? Data? Prepaid?

A

Ad Steiny

New member
So I am thinking about getting a prepaid Cricket for use solely as a wireless broadband modem for a laptop or UMPC.

I would just get a regular broadband card but chances are I will only use it here and there.

I already have the AT&T PDA data plan on my phone, but I am thinking I need a backup. This would only be used if i was using a lot of data on AT&T (they don't like you going over 5 gigs per month). So it would be used at most for a day or 2, here and there, at the end of the month. And that is only if I hit my 5 gigs on AT&T first (which is not very often).

I am about to be out in the field more than in the past (for the next couple months) so I don't want to run out of data.

Having said all that- what is the best Cricket phone to tether? USB, WiFi, Bluetooth, would all be aceptable to connect to the laptop (and the more options the better).

Which cricket phone has the fastest internet and is the easiest to tether? And can I use it on pre pay?

Would it have to be a Cricket phone or could I use a Sprint or Verizon phone? What specs would I need to look for to make it work on Cricket pre pay?
 
"So I am thinking about getting a prepaid Cricket for use solely as a wireless broadband modem for a laptop or UMPC."

just get a Cricket Broadband card :)

it is faster and easier! Still no contract/credit hit!
 
Yeah but I would have to pay $40 for a full month everytime I used it. I would likely only use it one or 2 days out of the month, so I would rather pay the prepaid per day rate. No sense paying for a full month if I will only use 2 days out of the month.
 
Cricket prepaid does it, lol. If I can't get prepaid on a mobile broadband card, that is why I would want to tether a phone.
 
Do either one of those have the broadband data? That is the main thing I care about.

Also, do I need the $3 plane if all I care about is data? Or can I get a cheaper plan ($1 or $2) and only pay for data on days that I use it?

On that note, what happens if I never use voice or messaging, and only use data- how much would it cost per day then?
 
You would need the Jetset to tether at EVDO SpeeRAB, the Messager is 1X only. You would also need the $3 a day plan as its the only prepaid plan that offers data, feel free to pm me with any questions you have.
 
Yup, I'm not sure if you have to call customer service to add the web or if it jut registers the usage day by day. Either way it's not going to cost you more than two bucks a day.. On a side note, when you are activating it DO NOT tell the service rep that you plan on tethering. My local corporate rep said that if they hear too many instances of people using EVDO phones to tether rather than buying our broadband they will block it. (I don't know if this is possible but I'd rather not find out:))
 
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