dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
1207
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Is It Time To Switch?

For the last year or so, I've been on the Millenicom BYOD plan associated with Sprint's Wimax service (provided by Clearwire). It has a soft cap of 50 gigs. Throughout the recent period, I've been quite happy, with 50 gigs being more than enough for me (I've averaged 30 to 40 gigs a month).

But I've bumped into an operational challenge which is causing me to rethink whether or not to stay with Millenicom.

In October my hard drive crashed and I lost most of my files. Since I had most of them stored remotely on a cloud service, I wasn't that concerned about it at first.

But over the next few months I obviously started to accumulate additional files on my hard drive. Which eventually led to a traffic crunch.

You see, every so often, I needed access to one of those old files now only available from that remote storage area. I was constantly downloading large files I needed from that remote storage. Which means that I've had to be picking and choosing constantly, deleting files on my hard drive in order to make room for other old files in my remote storage area that I then need to download to work on locally, etc. etc. With the result that my download average per month has zoomed up, and now hovers around the 50 gig per month level far more often than is comfortable.

Getting an extra external hard drive is not an option, since my USB ports are all totally booked. Besides, I'm a retiree on a fixed income and I really can't afford one large enough to solve this problem.

All of which means that I'm in the market for another wireless high-speed Internet connection, one with a cap that's higher than 50 gigs. Anyone know of such an animal? The only one I know of is Wireless 'n' Wifi. While I have no reason to believe that's not perfectly good (it also uses the Wimax network), the upfront price is a little steep, about $200.

Does anyone else here have, or know of, a high-speed wireless Internet connection with a cap higher than 50 gigs that they recommend?

And, before anyone says anything, I need a wireless connection since I'm always on the road, so it doesn't pay for me to have a home Internet connection as well.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

Guess you could get a Sprint Smartphone with unlimited data and add the tethering option.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Nope; can't do. The largest tether is 6 gigs a month.

Hopefully someone out there is familiar with a high-speed wireless Internet with a higher monthly cap than 50 gigs, but that doesn't cost $200 to set up, as the Wireless 'n' Wifi does. I'll keep an eye on this thread for a few days, hoping someone comes up with something.
applerule
Premium Member
join:2012-12-23
Northeast TN

applerule

Premium Member

You could try to 'buy' someone's Verizon grandfathered unlimited data plan, activate a 4G LTE phone on it, and move the SIM card from the phone to a modem/hotspot...but that's going to be a pain in the ass.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Here's another possibility which sounds too good to be true.

T-Mobile claims that for $30 they offer unlimited 4G on some of their 4G smartphones. They also say that for an additional $15 a month I can purchase the tether hotspot option on the phone, which they claim is not capped or throttled.

So I'd be paying $45 a month for unlimited 4G. In addition, they say that there is no upfront charge for some of their phones, that they're free.

As I say, it sounds too good to be true, and I'm sure that, among the knowledgeable folks on this forum, someone will be in a position to explain the real skinny on T-Mobile. Thanks again for this help.

beck
MVM
join:2002-01-29
On The Road

beck to criggs

MVM

to criggs
Get a disk as big or bigger than your old one and find some free wifi. Start downloading your files. Eventually you'll have them all there and you can live within your cap.
dplantz
join:2000-08-02
Bradenton, FL

dplantz to criggs

Member

to criggs
A 2 TB external drive is 108 from Amazon.com. How much local storage do you need to backup your files?
kevnich24
join:2006-04-19
Mulberry, FL

kevnich24 to criggs

Member

to criggs
Find a cheap wire based internet for your home usage that has either a higher cap or no cap and keep your wireless for when your on the road.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

said by kevnich24:

Find a cheap wire based internet for your home usage that has either a higher cap or no cap and keep your wireless for when your on the road.

That may be what I wind up doing.

So no one knows whether there are strings attached to the T-Mobile deal then?

haresear_ano
@myvzw.com

haresear_ano

Anon

I use the T-mobile $30 "unlimited" smartphone plan, but it is only 5 GB of 4G data then is throttled to Edge speeds (2G). They do have a $70 plan that is supposed to be unlimited 4G, but not sure what "unlimited" really means in this case. Don't know about the terms of the tethering add-ons.
stenman
join:2007-03-07
Salinas, CA

stenman to criggs

Member

to criggs
Why spend more time and money on a much more expensive plan when you can buy an external 1TB hard drive with USB 3 for $69? Move your actively used data from the other drives to the new 1TB one.

There are also personal cloud boxes that have up to 3TB drives and provide USB, Ethernet, and 802.11 wireless connectivity for computers and these are less than $150. Many will act as a relay to automatically back files up to a remote cloud server.

Fixed income or not you need to think about the value of the data that is vulnerable and the cost to replace it. I would only put high value data that I do not need to access on a regular basis on a remote cloud server.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Thanks for the suggestion. I may go that route, if I can figure out how to free up one of my USB ports (DVD drive, printer, etc. etc.; it's Grand Central Station).

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna to criggs

Member

to criggs
No such thing as "unlimited" data usage.......

jferris33
Comcast Extreme TG862G Gateway
join:2003-04-09
Lusby, MD

jferris33 to criggs

Member

to criggs
Why not buy a USB hub that will allow you to connect multiple USB devices to a single USB port?

You can buy one from Amazon for about $8...
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Actually already done! And yet the ports are now filled (printer, external hard drive, DVD burner (two ports), sound card).
decifal7
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN

decifal7

Member

said by criggs:

Actually already done! And yet the ports are now filled (printer, external hard drive, DVD burner (two ports), sound card).

That is the good thing about usb, you can always add more hubs.. If you some how max out the usb capability, then my god I have to wonder what your room looks like! Lol...

Seriously though, buy the external HD, another hub, count your blessings

LumbermanSVO
@myvzw.com

LumbermanSVO

Anon

If I have learned anything about hard drives over the years, it's to ALWAYS have a local backup. Once you buy a replacement for the dead one, save up to buy a backup for the new drive. Then when the new one fails(they all do eventually) you wont lose your data again.

USB hubs are cheap too, just by searching "USB Hub" on Amazon I found a 12-port hub on the first results page for under $30.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Thanks for the all the suggestions; appreciated!