Cheapest phone with wifi tethering.
February 3, 2011 1:05 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for the cheapest, unlocked GSM phone that will let me wifi tether to my locked iPhone so I don't have to pay the obscene AT&T roaming charges outside the US.
I travel to Mexico a lot and have a Telcel prepaid plan running on an old Sony Ericsson phone. It has rudimentary web browsing but I've been spoiled after using the iPhone. So what I'm hoping to find is a phone that I can use to wifi tether to my iPhone. The iPhone should just see a hotspot and attach to it like it would any other hotspot.
I'm less interested in the features of the actual new phone and would just use it voice/sms and quick and dirty web use. I'm not up to speed with wifi tethering on Nokia or Blackberry but maybe there's a model of that out there that could do this cheaper than an Android or mifi.
The other option is a mifi-like device but they're a little spendy and means I'd still need to carry my SE phone for voice and texts.
The reason I'm trying to do this is to save $ on data. Without buying a package from ATT, data roaming is $20/mb. I could spend $100 watching a silly cat video on YouTube. I can get the viva Mexico plan to get it down to $4/mb but that is still obscene. On my Telcel Amigo plan I can get 100mb over 24 hours for about US$3.50. If I need it longer, I can buy other packages up to 6GB for 30 days for US$45.
The other option, of course, is to unlock my iPhone4 which from what I gather isn't possible and with 4.3 coming within the next few days, I'm guessing it will be a while. Depending on who I've spoken to at AT&T they will send the carrier unlock to unlock my iPhone if I pay them off ($275). That way I could just swap out SIMs when I cross the border.
I'm not down Mexico way enough for a more elegant solution, I'm just trying to get my iPhone data fix w/o breaking the bank. I'd like an unlocked phone so I can use this trick when I travel to other countries I visit as well. I'm trying to do this for <$150. If I spend much more, it might seem better to keep with my current method and taking a taxi to a Sanborns to use their wifi (which really sucks if I need a map w/GPS)
I travel to Mexico a lot and have a Telcel prepaid plan running on an old Sony Ericsson phone. It has rudimentary web browsing but I've been spoiled after using the iPhone. So what I'm hoping to find is a phone that I can use to wifi tether to my iPhone. The iPhone should just see a hotspot and attach to it like it would any other hotspot.
I'm less interested in the features of the actual new phone and would just use it voice/sms and quick and dirty web use. I'm not up to speed with wifi tethering on Nokia or Blackberry but maybe there's a model of that out there that could do this cheaper than an Android or mifi.
The other option is a mifi-like device but they're a little spendy and means I'd still need to carry my SE phone for voice and texts.
The reason I'm trying to do this is to save $ on data. Without buying a package from ATT, data roaming is $20/mb. I could spend $100 watching a silly cat video on YouTube. I can get the viva Mexico plan to get it down to $4/mb but that is still obscene. On my Telcel Amigo plan I can get 100mb over 24 hours for about US$3.50. If I need it longer, I can buy other packages up to 6GB for 30 days for US$45.
The other option, of course, is to unlock my iPhone4 which from what I gather isn't possible and with 4.3 coming within the next few days, I'm guessing it will be a while. Depending on who I've spoken to at AT&T they will send the carrier unlock to unlock my iPhone if I pay them off ($275). That way I could just swap out SIMs when I cross the border.
I'm not down Mexico way enough for a more elegant solution, I'm just trying to get my iPhone data fix w/o breaking the bank. I'd like an unlocked phone so I can use this trick when I travel to other countries I visit as well. I'm trying to do this for <$150. If I spend much more, it might seem better to keep with my current method and taking a taxi to a Sanborns to use their wifi (which really sucks if I need a map w/GPS)
Xcom Global offers a Mexico friendly MiFi for $18/day with 7.2Mbps speeds and no data usage caps. Engadget gave them a very favorable review.
posted by Remy at 1:19 PM on February 3, 2011
posted by Remy at 1:19 PM on February 3, 2011
Just spitballin' here, perhaps you could combine a MiFi-like device w/ SkypeOut. That should cover you for voice telephony and SMS.
posted by adamrice at 2:03 PM on February 3, 2011
posted by adamrice at 2:03 PM on February 3, 2011
Response by poster: Remy: That Xcom solution seems great but I'm more spontaneous in my trips and may not have the time to wait for delivery. However, I'm bookmarking it for my next trip overseas where I'm actually making reservations and planning.
nickrussell. That's great. I completely forgot WM existed. Getting an older model there might be worth a shot.
adamrice: Huawei makes a mifi-like thing and I see it online from $100-250 I may check out. Skype isn't super great in that calls to Mexican mobiles are more expensive than if I just used my MX SIM. Calls to the US from the MX SIM aren't too bad, but Skype could be cheaper. I don't get a lot of voice calls so that is something I might be able to work on over time. Right now, it is about getting that damn data/mb rate to something manageable.
posted by birdherder at 2:29 PM on February 3, 2011
nickrussell. That's great. I completely forgot WM existed. Getting an older model there might be worth a shot.
adamrice: Huawei makes a mifi-like thing and I see it online from $100-250 I may check out. Skype isn't super great in that calls to Mexican mobiles are more expensive than if I just used my MX SIM. Calls to the US from the MX SIM aren't too bad, but Skype could be cheaper. I don't get a lot of voice calls so that is something I might be able to work on over time. Right now, it is about getting that damn data/mb rate to something manageable.
posted by birdherder at 2:29 PM on February 3, 2011
Best answer: For my recent bike trip to Belgium I got an unlocked, rooted T-Mobile G1 off Craigslist for $80. I used it for quick things - texts, toots, brief emails, and contacting the "magical sky lady" to route us to our destination through (literally) the backwoods of Wallonia. When we needed the full experience, I and my travelling companions were able to use the "WiFi Tether for Root Users" application to share this connection to our iPhones and netbook. Other than somewhat anemic performance as an actual smartphone (spoiled by the horsepower of the 3GS), I had no complaints.
posted by lantius at 2:31 PM on February 3, 2011
posted by lantius at 2:31 PM on February 3, 2011
Best answer: I have one of those Huawei devices and it works great; I often connect both my iPhone and laptop to it, and I've also shared it with friends who used iPads and other laptops. I got it as part of a mobile broadband plan with SFR in France.
posted by helios at 2:33 PM on February 3, 2011
posted by helios at 2:33 PM on February 3, 2011
i'm gonna second nickrussell on the wmwifirouter. it works pretty well but it burns up battery pretty quickly (like i think i can deplete my year old battery on my htc diamond with 2 hours of use)
currently you can unlock an iPhone 4 with the 01.59.00 modem firmware. the unlocks for the newer firmware apparently exist but aren't planned to be released until iOS 4.3 comes out. but you probably gathered all that.
posted by sammich at 2:52 PM on February 3, 2011
currently you can unlock an iPhone 4 with the 01.59.00 modem firmware. the unlocks for the newer firmware apparently exist but aren't planned to be released until iOS 4.3 comes out. but you probably gathered all that.
posted by sammich at 2:52 PM on February 3, 2011
Depending on who I've spoken to at AT&T they will send the carrier unlock to unlock my iPhone if I pay them off ($275). That way I could just swap out SIMs when I cross the border.
This is not true. There are some people that would pay for an unlock (myself included) but this has never been an option, and if it was, it would be advertised in some fashion. There are unlocked phones, but you can't get them in the US (with any sort of ease).
Just checking that off your list.
posted by darkgroove at 3:02 PM on February 3, 2011
This is not true. There are some people that would pay for an unlock (myself included) but this has never been an option, and if it was, it would be advertised in some fashion. There are unlocked phones, but you can't get them in the US (with any sort of ease).
Just checking that off your list.
posted by darkgroove at 3:02 PM on February 3, 2011
Response by poster: darkgroove: This is not true. There are some people that would pay for an unlock (myself included) but this has never been an option, and if it was, it would be advertised in some fashion. There are unlocked phones, but you can't get them in the US (with any sort of ease).
I know, I was speaking to 611 at ATT just last week and when she said that I was incredulous. But she said they'd be doing that for a while. Had a credit card on me, I would have paid the quit fee. It isn't like I'm going anywhere since the only 3G I could get in the US is with ATT. What dicks. And Ralph de la Vega even said it they'd unlock it. And the fully priced iPhones ATT sells are still locked to ATT. It is shit like that that makes me want to get a Verizon iPhone. Then again, that's technologically locked to their network.
posted by birdherder at 4:20 PM on February 3, 2011
I know, I was speaking to 611 at ATT just last week and when she said that I was incredulous. But she said they'd be doing that for a while. Had a credit card on me, I would have paid the quit fee. It isn't like I'm going anywhere since the only 3G I could get in the US is with ATT. What dicks. And Ralph de la Vega even said it they'd unlock it. And the fully priced iPhones ATT sells are still locked to ATT. It is shit like that that makes me want to get a Verizon iPhone. Then again, that's technologically locked to their network.
posted by birdherder at 4:20 PM on February 3, 2011
Response by poster: lantius: The G1 idea hadn't occurred to me. The only negative I could see is since it was made for T-mobile it will be T-mobile's special snowflake frequency which means I couldn't use it at 3G speeds. But fore the cost savings, it is worth it.
helios: Thanks for the experience with the Huawei. The E5 does look like it would serve my needs. The do seem harder to find in the US but Telcel sells them and I could pick one up in Mexico the next time I'm down there if the price is right.
posted by birdherder at 9:32 AM on February 4, 2011
helios: Thanks for the experience with the Huawei. The E5 does look like it would serve my needs. The do seem harder to find in the US but Telcel sells them and I could pick one up in Mexico the next time I'm down there if the price is right.
posted by birdherder at 9:32 AM on February 4, 2011
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posted by nickrussell at 1:17 PM on February 3, 2011