Sandwich shop free WiFi messes up. Need advice on getting mobile hotspot.

[jcr]

Hi. I go to the Subway sandwich shop near me a lot and like to use the free WiFi there, using my Nexus 10 tablet. It all worked fine for months, but the last two months, videos and other sites will freeze and stay frozen until I turn the WiFi connection in my tablet off and on. This will happen several times a visit. The owner says he needs a new router but a woman working there said that he said my tablet must be having problems. 

 

He uses Comcast but I tried the free X-finity trial connection I can get there that lasts an hour and you can get once a month and it always worked fine. No freezing. Plus, my tablet works fine with my home WiFi too. He says he has a lot of expenses with his two restaurants but will replace the router when he can. After two months I'm starting to doubt he will. 

 

I have ATT U-verse and should get ATT hotspots for free but don't have any near me.  I found out that ATT sells mobile hotspots and a has monthly service charge that's really reasonable, like $6.00 or $10.00 a month. I think I'll get one of them, but am not sure about all the details.

 

Would the mobile hotspot work good at the restaurant, and let me see videos and do all the other things I want to do on the net without freezing over and over? And how many hours a day would I get for the prices I mentioned? How many hours a month am I allowed before I get charged extra? I tried to find out all this at the ATT site but couldn't find out. How long do mobile hotspots work before being needing to be recharged?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

 

[nigsy]

Surely a mobile hotspot is just a 3 / 4 g tethering device? Like tethering from your phone. It's not actually a wireless system so the speeds are going to be dependant of the "phone" signal.

 

Just checked the website and it makes no mention of $6 a month, you might have seen an introductory offer but there cheapest plan  is for $25/month and that gets you 3gb data - Sounds expensive to me.

[Tx Redneck]

I agree w/nigsy, the hotspot deal is just a mobile internet device that creates a wireless signal for other devices to connect to and if the service from the provider is poor, the speed(you video buffering problems) won't be suitable for video streaming. That said, video gobbles up data allocations real quick, so if you're to go that route, you're probably better off getting a cheap cell phone and a cell plan that's labeled as "unlimited" so you can just watch the videos on that device and not worry about incurring overages.

[jcr]

I should have mentioned I don't have a cell phone to use to tether my tablet to, just a landline at home. This page at att.com shows their mobile hotspots for sale and what I'd have to pay a month.

https://www.att.com/global-search/search?q=mobile+hotspot&catField=Shop&group=false&secFilter=~Shop~Wireless~Wireless%20phones%20%26%20devices~

Now I find out that not every tablet is compatible with them and can't find out if my Nexus 10 would work with them. 

 

[nigsy]

My suggestion is...read the reviews and save your money.

Follow Tx's suggestion - get a cheap phone with a decent data plan (Unlimited is what you need) and just tether the Tablet to the phone.

 

The site is really ambiguous about how much data you get for your bucks - But a full 1080p movie will eat through 4gb data easily so if you have a 10gb plan that's only 2 films and a bit of Spotify. 

[jcr]

OK. I should have a cell phone anyway, I guess. I'll look into getting one and an Unlimited Data Plan. Thanks for the help, nigsy and TX. It's greatly appreciated.

[Tx Redneck]

15 hours ago, jcr said:

I should have mentioned I don't have a cell phone to use to tether my tablet to, just a landline at home. This page at att.com shows their mobile hotspots for sale and what I'd have to pay a month.

https://www.att.com/global-search/search?q=mobile+hotspot&catField=Shop&group=false&secFilter=~Shop~Wireless~Wireless phones %26 devices~

Now I find out that not every tablet is compatible with them and can't find out if my Nexus 10 would work with them. 

 

Yeah, those prices are to pay for the device itself, it doesn't include the cost of service.

 

If Tmobile serves your area, they're about the best deal in wireless right now. You can get a smartphone and service w/unlimited data, text and calls for $80/month, they do discounts for service members and seniors alike. 

[jcr]

Oops. You're right. I was in a hurry. Thanks for the info about Tmobile. I'll look into it.