What about the "mobile hotspots" or "jet packs?" Has anyone used these for primary home internet? What kind of speeds can you get with these while using multiple devices?
I've been looking into mobile hotspots/jetpacks a little bit for the past few days, and it seems they are more designed for people who travel and want to make sure they have an internet connection, though it can be used for home internet. The issues with them for home internet is that it costs $20 a month just to have it on your account, then depending on your data usage, it will be the extra charge for that device. I'm not sure what the average amount of data you would use from home, but, for example, my coworker has 10 GB for her and her husbands smart phones, and the home internet. It works well for her, because of employee discounts, but I don't know how well it would work for you. If you would normally get the 4GB for just the phones, for example, moving up to 10 GB would be an extra $30 a month, (it's $10 for each 2GB increase). And then if you end up watching a lot of Netflix, playing games online, and doing high data consumption things like that, then you have to be really careful you don't go over (the overage charge is $15/GB--so you want to watch out for that). I assume you pay in the $30-$50/mo range for your current wifi, so it wouldn't necessarily save you any money, and you have to watch out for data usage. As for speeds though, 4G is going to be faster than pretty much any standard WiFi, and the jetpacks we have allow up to 10 devices to connect at those speeds. I don't have personal experience yet, I'm still trying to figure out if it would be better to cancel my internet and move to that option, but if you go to your local Verizon store, they will likely have some more experience/advice for you.
I haven't used them but most android phones can already be used to tether devices can't they? Don't see the point.
That is true as well, but you would then need to be at home with your phone for anyone to use the internet. It would work fine for someone who lives alone, but not with a family who all have their own internet needs. The jetpack works just like a router.
