# cell phone wifi instead of home internet



## swoop_ds (Mar 2, 2010)

Just wondering if anyone is using their cell phone imternet as a WiFi source for their house instead of paying for normal home internet? How is it working?

My cell plan gives me 10 gigs a month and then the speed slows down. (There isn't extra cost though)

This seems like a way to save some money but my wife is worried about giving up home phone and internet. (Most of our calls are long distance)


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

I'm not doing it (yet) but a friend does it at his cottage. He has an android phone and says that it is excellent for his and his wife's needs. They aren't doing any online gaming or big movie downloading as far as I know. I've been trying to get my wife to drop the land line for quite awhile but she isn't up for it (yet!).


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

We have friends who do this with their iPhone, and my son also does it. Both at their cottages. But 10 mb does not go far if you are streaming youtubes or downloading software.

And when you give up the landline, who calls your house? My son and his wife both have cell phones and no landline. So I always call him and never talk to her. With a landline I would talk to whoever ansered, including their son.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

This can get annoying if you're living with someone and have to share. What happens when you go out? You take your phone with you, and the other person is left home with no internet.. that's not practical. I think 10GB is very little, it's not meant to replace fixed line internet, and don't forget the throttle returns you to dial up speed and you can't even watch YouTube videos after

Can someone still do it? sure, if they limit themselves to email and basic web surfing. but then you're missing out on what it means to be on the internet in the 21st century.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

If you don't care too much about speed and throughput, then perhaps this would make sense. I haven't tried tethering through my phone but I suppose it would be useful at a cottage (where you would not necessarily want to pay full bore for a decent internet connection) or when visiting friends/relatives.


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

It's fine if all you do is web browsing, maybe a little bit of youtube, etc.

Not good if you're a heavy downloader, you'd blow past your bandwidth cap too quickly then you'd be throttled down to an almost unusable speed. If you do any multiplayer gaming it wont' work, the latency can't handle it.


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## Lephturn (Aug 31, 2009)

Some of the modern versions of LTE are higher bandwidth and less latency than traditional broadband connections such as cable. As very fast LTE becomes more available, this will become a better solution and you will see more people move to it. The providers will want to go this route as well - they can build broadband high speed networks without worrying about any "last mile" infrastructure. I think I'll be moved over to some wireless connection for my home within the next 5 years based on what I am seeing now.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I see your LTE and raise you Google's fibre service in Kansas City.


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## RustyDatsun (Jun 7, 2012)

You might want to see exactly how slow it gets if you go over the 10GB limit. You wouldn't really be saving money if the internet is unusably slow.


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