I have an EVDO device built in to one of my laptops. It's from circa 2007. I've been trying to do stuff with the EVDO service lately, and it sucks very badly.  Unreliable 150 kbps, if you can believe. So I want to upgrade to the modern era, and get a wifi data gizmo. Verizon won't upgrade me unless I also change the plan on my phone. Even if I pay full retail for the wifi gizmo. The phone has unlimited data. I like that. Although I don't use much data, I like the idea of having the plan. In heavy usage, I'm in the tens of megabytes per day, hundreds of megabytes per month. The cheapest plans are 1 GB per month. Also the overages are sensible now. $15/GB from Verizon. AT&T is at $10/GB. The data plan on my EVDO device has a 10 GB allowance, but the cost explodes on overages. (Yes, I've gone over 10 GB, during a period of heavy downloading, and back when I could get 2-4 Mbps on EVDO.)

So, do I bite the bullet and wipe out my unlimited data on the phone? Or do I cancel the EVDO device (assuming I can do so without screwing up the phone's plan), and get a wifi device from AT&T. (With Verizon, even if I try to add a new device to my account, it wants to revisit the contract on ALL devices on my account.) (Also, anyone other than Verizon and AT&T does not have adequate coverage.)


- mark 3-01-2013 12:16 am

according to rachel ray, you can never use too much evoo. what, not helpful? never am.
- dave 3-01-2013 1:25 am


I did figure out an honest way to have a separate Verizon account. A business account. Duh.

Rach is just a doll, and she's on top of cooking, beauty tips, interior design, etc., etc. But she sucks at IT. I stick with Martha when it comes to wireless broadband decisions.
- anonymous (guest) 3-01-2013 5:20 am


are we not men? we are EVDO
- tom moody 3-01-2013 5:56 am


I'm going download crazy on the unlimited data phone. I want to hit 5GB.
- anonymous (guest) 3-01-2013 9:37 am


I'm starting to see how they flush the system. One day that perfectly good 3G device starts to suck. Unlimited sucky 3G or sucky EVDO with a 10 GB cap loses its luster. "Why hell, we're up to 5G and a half. It's a wonder that old code works at all."

- anonymous (guest) 3-01-2013 9:45 am


I am the proud owner of a Novatel 4620LE mobile hotspot. Now when I'm wandering I don't have to seek out a Starbucks to get on the interwebs.
- mark 3-02-2013 9:13 am


A friend of mine uses Clear and likes it pretty much. Is your hotspot also a monthly plan?
- tom moody 3-02-2013 4:21 pm


Yes. Clear has unlimited data. Holy cow. I've got a 5 GB limit at $50 month, if I recall correctly. A lot of options were in the air. Clear's coverage is spotty, and is missing some places I want data. But for people who don't roam as much, unlimited data is very cool.

The thing about my data limit, is a lot of times I'm using off peak data. They oughta factor that in somehow. A download at 3 AM isn't the same as a download at 6 PM.
- mark 3-03-2013 5:03 am


Erin and I tried Clear twice, once when we lived downtown and again at the firehouse, where for a brief time our neighbor a clear office. At both locations we must have been on the edge of the hotspot because the service wasn't very good. I found out later that the office was completely outside the zone of coverage, not sure who their provider was.
- steve 3-03-2013 7:32 pm





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