On Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:42:59 Andrew McGlashan wrote:
Yes on WiFi hotspot using Android, but most 2.x devices are too old to support 4G or new, but too budget to have all the right radios. The biggest problem with older gear is the radios that are supported -- that's the biggest reason to /need/ to update mobile phones too.
Kogan was offering 6G per month before Telstra stopped them from being too competitive. Aldi offered 5G per month for a reasonable price then 2.5G when Kogan wasn't competing and have since made their offerings even worse value for money. http://etbe.coker.com.au/2014/04/01/comparing-telcos-again/ Last time I investigated these things the best value for money on a phone plan was 4G of data per month for a $40 per month plan. There were some slightly better offers for data-only plans but the difference wasn't great and the charges for SMS and calls were unreasonable. I find it difficult to stick within the 2G per month limit of my phone plan on 3G. I don't have problems with transfer speed, any transfer that is large enough for 3G speed to be a problem is going to be a quota problem first. A test with the speedtest.net app says that I'm getting 1.98Mbps download and 0.54Mbps upload speed. That compares to 6.4Mbps/0.8Mbps for my home ADSL connection. 3G downloads on my phone which has a 2G quota are 1/3 the speed of my home ADSL which has a 150G quota. If my phone quota was 50G per month then I MIGHT have a problem with 3G speed, but otherwise I won't. Every Android phone I've ever owned has been able to play Youtube at normal speed over 3G, that includes the Xperia X10i and Samsung Galaxy S. It seems to me that Youtube is the only common use of Android phones that involves large time sensitive data transfers.
Still, I think it is better to run a dedicated router, such as a Netgear WND3700 or newer, just make sure it is supported -- of course this is less good when you are out and about, but great for fixed locations -- you can use an inverter in the car, but it will be more hassle than just using WiFi hotspot.
Of course an Android phone can be considered a "dedicated router". -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/