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Verizon 4G Mobile Hotspot Rumored to be $29.99 for Unlimited 4G (Wireless Tethering)

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The Verizon 4G Mobile Hotspot feature on the HTC ThunderBolt is currently free, but the promotion will end on May 15th when it will be available for a yet to be announced price. We just heard from a source close to Verizon that the Mobile Hotspot Feature will cost $29.99 for an Unlimited amount of bandwidth when bundled with your $29.99 4G data plan.

The $29.99 price is pretty amazing if true, because it is much cheaper than the $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB plans that Verizon has for their 4G mobile hotspots like the MiFi. On the other hand, it isn’t impossible. Verizon currently offers a $20 2GB 3G mobile hotspot plan, which is cheaper than the 3G MiFi plan pricing.

The HTC ThunderBolt is currently the only 4G LTE phone on Verizon which would be able to take advantage of this offer. The Samsung Droid Charge is launching soon and will come with a free trial of the 4G mobile hotspot, but will eventually be able to use the same plan.

Users of 4G LTE phones would be able to use the 4G mobile hotspot to connect at high speeds when in 4G areas and when in 3G areas, the phone would connect as a 3G hotspot as part of the same plan. This is a much better value than the current 3G mobile hotspot plan, but we aren’t sure if 3G only phones like the Droid Incredible 2 will be able to use the new 4G plan pricing.

How likely is the $30 price to be true? Even though Verizon has been hinting at tiered 4G connectivity for some time, the combined $60 pricetag would be what many consider a sensible price. With May 15th just over a week away, we’ll know soon enough.

If the price is $29.99 for unlimited 4G wireless tethering, in addition to your $29.99 smartphone plan, will you be signing up? Or is this still too expensive.

17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. Paulpfau

    05/06/2011 at 6:38 pm

    If only they had a family plan. $60 x 4 = $240 would be a lot for a family of four.

    • Zachary Myers

      05/25/2011 at 7:53 pm

      What I don’t get, is if I’m already paying enough money for Unlimited Data, why should I be charged extra for how I’m using it?

      • Verbosity

        06/14/2011 at 7:39 pm

         Makes sense to me.  If you charge by usage, then there should be no fee for tethering (example: $50 for 5 GB whether in-phone or tethered, $80 for 10 GB whether in-phone or tethered, etc) – but when you give “unlimited” date, you need to consider how people will consume it.  With a hotspot phone, it is not just the phone using the data but a phone and up to 8 laptops (more if you use a cradlepoint router).  I don’t know about you, but when I use a tethered laptop I tend to go to a lot more websites, download a lot more content, and remain online longer.  (For example, I may download an open source program or need to get a large patch for an application while on the go – something that would never happen with the small apps I download for the phone itself).  Thus, If I get unlimited in-phone, I should not be able to apply that to hotspot/tethering unless I pay for my expected extra usage.

        • Stephen

          04/28/2012 at 9:58 am

          So make it so you can only use 1 for free……I only want it to use for my tablet, not for others to use.  I pay for UNLIMITED DATA FOR ME, therefore I should be able to USE MY UNLIMITED DATA!  I am not the kid in the commercial selling wifi time at the airport!

        • David A Breaux

          10/07/2013 at 2:25 am

          I would say you have some position in relation to a service provider?!

          And from personal experience service providers for cellular, to land lines, to internet, who all happen in some way seem to have relations that offer one or all those services.

          That have been screwing me and many many other customers over, by over billing and every imaginable way possible to stick myself and multiple others with charges that are not agreed upon, or services not even used!

          Voice Stream, now TMobile, Qwest, Centurylink, Sprint, AT&T, currently Solavei are among the phone, cell, and internet/data providers that have methodically over charged me so much at one point I caught over $2000 dollars worth of BULL SHiT charges with QWEST, and the refund was credited, and the credit was actually never even close to being fully applied, maybe $200, and back to screwing me!

          I understand how things become abused such as there billing, after a while greed takes over, and they actually believe the over charge is really money there owed!

          They all suck!

  2. Guest

    05/07/2011 at 7:32 am

    there has to be a catch or an error because if true, i (and many others) would buy one, ditch my mifi and my dsl, configure it to go straight to voicemail, and never ever ever use it as an actual phone (since it cannot do voice and data simultaneously) and never have to worry about bandwidth limits again

    • Guest too

      05/07/2011 at 3:47 pm

      Actually, you can do voice and data on this phone simultaneously. The questions is how else will they limit this? Tiered plan? Data limits? Diminishing bandwidth? other?

  3. Beasthunt

    05/09/2011 at 10:41 pm

    Yeah, if that is the case then I will get one right away. I currently have to use mywi on a 1-2 bar 3G signal. A guy had the thunderbolt at work today and it was extremely fast and that was with 2 bars. Perhaps I can finally enjoy some lag free CoD.

    • human being

      05/11/2011 at 12:50 am

      I have a verizon 4g modem and play cod with it,now i get 1-2 bars with the pantech uml 290 and its almost lag free,still goes out some times,but it is much better than the mifi 2200 that i had

      • Beasthunt

        05/13/2011 at 8:21 pm

        Sweet! I’m sure I will be in the 1-2 bar max, situation myself. I’ve been to two stores and work. Every place has only had 2 bars and they are testing at 19mbps and around 55-75 ping.

        I’m trying to get someone to stop by my house to test the signal strength but no joy. The coverage map says I literally live right on the line of coverage. I think I would poop a pink Twinkie if I could get two bars and 19mbps download speeds. But I’m not holding my breath.

      • Verbosity

        06/14/2011 at 7:44 pm

         @human being – If you game on the go with friends, be kind to them and pick up a cradlepoint router (like the PHS350, which has enough battery typically for a couple of hours of sharing) and let them in on it. ;)

  4. Jodyurban

    05/10/2011 at 6:25 pm

    $ 30 for unlimited 4G wireless tethering, plus $ 30 smartphone plan, plus $ 70 for unlimited voice, plus $ 7 for insurance, plus
    $250 for the smart phone with 24 month commitment, plus $?? taxesWith gas at $4 plus per gal and the cost of food steadily climbing, the total cost of the Verizon plan is more than I will commit to for 24 months.

    • Msalejandre305

      05/26/2011 at 9:42 pm

      I agree 1000% I have been a loyal Verizon customer for many years and they just keep hiking their prices. Just give us the free hotspot dammit!!!

    • David A Breaux

      10/07/2013 at 2:38 am

      You forgot to budget in the KY @$$hole lube for the rape ya end up taking, funny how people get used to some expense eventually?

      But the phone, cell, internet, A$$ hole lube are charges Ive never managed to accept or get use to, most likely because the lie they always sell the service with, unlimited this, endless that, till you get the bill and went over your unlimited plan and get charged down to the second!

      I cant understand people who dont have more to say than myself, they must not have been born with such a limited anus, maybe im a tight ass? but Im not so ignorant that I cant see when Im not getting what Im told, and sold!

  5. ATLWebDesigner

    07/03/2011 at 1:22 am

    I’ll gladly pay $29.95 for unlimited Verizon 4G because:

    1) I’m getting download speeds on my 4G Mobile Hotspot of 28 mbps to 34 mbsp. The slowest connection I’ve had on VZW 4G is 22 mbps.

    2) I can therefore ditch my AT&T U-Verse Internet service at home which is costing me $55 a month and only giving me 17 mbps download speed.

    I may be seeing unusually fast speeds if there are few people in my area in Atlanta (30067 zip) using 4G. Perhaps when more users are online the bandwith won’t be as generous as I’m experiencing today?

    I’m continuing to run speed tests and posting results here: https://www.atlantawebdesignga.com/use-your-pc-anywhere-with-verizon-4g-mobile-hotspot-speed-test-vs-att-u-verse-in-atlanta/

    FYI, there’s a You Tube video online where a user in Atlanta runs side-by-side downloads on Verizon ( 16.5 mbps) and AT&T ( 4.2 mbs) using similar Samsung 4G phones so presently it appears Verizon is 4 times faster than AT&T with 4G speed in Atlanta.

    If you are curious, I’m using a Samsung Charge 4G cell phone.

  6. Me.

    08/08/2011 at 8:23 pm

    Way too expensive. An unlimited data plan should come with what it promises… UNLIMITED DATA! It too simple, just give what you promise.

    • Weso18

      03/25/2012 at 3:17 pm

      I agree that when you pay for unlimited data that you should get what they promise but I also see it from there point as well. There point being that they are allowing you unlimited data on your phone, and your phone only. If your at home and you turn on your hot spot who is to say your neighbor won’t connect to it as well if you don’t have your hot spot encrypted? The unlimited data is for what your phone does, not your computer. Now back to your point….i do wish it was free or atleast it should be free to customers that don’t have an unlimited data plan and pay for each gb used.

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