Speaking of internet.... do you still use a desktop computer?

[prairie_girl]

Technically I only have a laptop but I use an external screen, keyboard, and mouse with it. I HATE laptops and only have mine for the ‘brains’.

 

[disykat]

Haven't used a 'hotspot' on my phone in a long time, but I know in the past when I was traveling on business you had to be aware of how easily you could run up a huge data charge using those things. Perhaps phone plans are different now but make sure you know which plan you have and what the monthly data limits/charges might be.

Which you then can't check without using an APP on your phone. Sorry - I couldn't resist. It was like the thread made a full circle. I started it because I wanted to look up data charges on my current phone bill!

 

[DVCjj]

Absolutely. Have numerous ‘i’ products but nothing beats my PC. I’m been a very fast typist all my life and typing on a minuscule keyboard on an iPhone is a joke. iPad keypad (for me) is a joke.

If I have typing to do, give me a PC every single time.

 

[sam_gordon]

Haven't used a 'hotspot' on my phone in a long time, but I know in the past when I was traveling on business you had to be aware of how easily you could run up a huge data charge using those things. Perhaps phone plans are different now but make sure you know which plan you have and what the monthly data limits/charges might be.

um yea, phone plans are different, and have been for a number of years. When I first started streaming with a mifi in 2020, I had to plan how much data I was using and get a plan to cover that. When I went to using a phone as a hotspot, we were on an "unlimited" plan (which I think most are now).

Under most unlimited plans, you get full bandwidth until you reach a cap point. Then they'll throttle you down, especially during certain hours.

But, if one is using their phone for web browsing, I would expect it's the same amount of data to do the same browsing from a laptop using the hotspot feature.

 

[Imzadi]

um yea, phone plans are different, and have been for a number of years. When I first started streaming with a mifi in 2020, I had to plan how much data I was using and get a plan to cover that. When I went to using a phone as a hotspot, we were on an "unlimited" plan (which I think most are now).

Under most unlimited plans, you get full bandwidth until you reach a cap point. Then they'll throttle you down, especially during certain hours.

But, if one is using their phone for web browsing, I would expect it's the same amount of data to do the same browsing from a laptop using the hotspot feature.

When I first got online with a phone that had limited megabytes, not even gigabytes for data usage, I would scroll through a page or my emails as quickly as possible, being afraid I'd use up all the megabytes if I took my time reading. I thought I was being charged per minute too, like when talking on the phone. Then I realized that once a webpage is loaded and is a STATIC page, meaning there was no videos or ads on a page playing, which used up more megabytes every few milliseconds, I could stay on one page for however long I wanted. I wouldn't be using more megabytes until I refreshed the page or clicked on something that changed the page. So glad plans finally changed to unlimited plans though and we can watch streaming videos.

 

[kdonnel]

Which you then can't check without using an APP on your phone. Sorry - I couldn't resist. It was like the thread made a full circle. I started it because I wanted to look up data charges on my current phone bill!

What cell provider do you have that does not have a web presence?

 

[disykat]

What cell provider do you have that does not have a web presence?

They have a web presence. However, as I explained at the top of the thread, I couldn't get info from the current billing cycle on the website. It directed me to the APP. That sort of set off my "Waaaa, I want to be able to do it all on my desktop." rant.

I'm still with AT&T because I'm grandfathered in to a reasonable family plan and my adult children (plus now their partners) get a good deal by staying on my plan and VENMOing me their portion of the bill each month.

It hasn't been worth "giving them the boot" and changing providers. That could be a new thread - because I know I'm not alone in this! I could get a better deal on a senior plan for just me and DH, but..... I'm a wuss regarding my otherwise totally independent offspring.