Ask HN: Is it possible to use unlimited LTE as your full-time Internet?

2 pointsZingles12y ago4 comments

I try to be as frugal as possible. With T-Mobile in the news, the thought came to me if I could cancel my $100/month Comcast, get the $70/month unlimited data T-Mobile plan, and use that as full-time Internet.

Except the unlimited is only the phone and not hot-spot compatible. Or is there a way around that? (routing traffic or something)

4 comments

loumf12y ago

If the unlimited is for the phone, then it may be illegal to circumvent[1]. Even if not, it's against the terms of service and certainly unethical.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_piggybacking

ZinglesOP12y ago

I figured as much. I wish there was a unlimited tethering with the unlimited LTE plan, but with rate limiting. Like limit me to .5-1Mbps on my non-phone devices. I'm not downloading music or videos, or streaming, I just want to browse text websites and code on my MacBook, nothing bandwidth intensive.

loumf12y ago

Unfortunately even modern webpages are very bandwidth intensive (by LTE standards) compared to what is usually served up to phones.

sp33212y ago

Does the limitation include USB tethering as well as wifi? I know my Sprint contract allows USB but not wifi.

Edit: Is $100/mo. really the cheapest Comcast option?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

Ask HN: Is it possible to use unlimited LTE as your full-time Internet?

2 pointsZingles12y ago4 comments

Except the unlimited is only the phone and not hot-spot compatible. Or is there a way around that? (routing traffic or something)

4 comments

loumf12y ago

If the unlimited is for the phone, then it may be illegal to circumvent[1]. Even if not, it's against the terms of service and certainly unethical.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_piggybacking

ZinglesOP12y ago

loumf12y ago

Unfortunately even modern webpages are very bandwidth intensive (by LTE standards) compared to what is usually served up to phones.

sp33212y ago

Does the limitation include USB tethering as well as wifi? I know my Sprint contract allows USB but not wifi.

Edit: Is $100/mo. really the cheapest Comcast option?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse