Hi all. I'm staying with a friend to attend grad school for a couple weeks and just found out upon arrival that she does not have any Internet other than her smartphone. This leaves me with only my iPhone to connect to the Internet. It will be necessary, in the course of my work here, to connect my desktop pc to the Internet.
I'm wondering if anyone has advice on temporary solutions for this. Is it possible to rent or prepay for a 3G USB key? I know that a lot of cellular data providers want to lock you into a long contract. Any other ideas would be appreciated.
In the meantime, I have attempted to tether my phone to my computer, and it is working, so long as I don't get caught by AT&T. Shhhhhhh.
Posted by Ecthalion (Member # 8825) on :
in my area you can get a high speed connection for $30 or so. in the end this seems like it would be more useful than just an Iphone hookup.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
Verizon, T-Mobile, and Virgin Wireless all provide 3G services without a contract. The problem is they usually charge upwards of $200 for the USB adapter. Then you need to purchase pre-paid hours/data.
Here in Vegas I saw a brochure for Verizon. It was $194 for the adapter, and $60 for 5gb of data or 30 days, whicher you hit first.
If you have Cox cable in your area, go for that. They don't require a contract on their internet plans.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
keep trying the tethering.
I use mine with AT&T all the time.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Keep tethering, and learn to make use of internet cafes. These are by far your cheapest options.
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Thanks for the help, all. I found out about Virgin Mobile's plans that didn't require contracts, and the USB key was actually priced at about $70, which isn't too bad. But in the meantime, I'm just going to keep tethering. Campus has wifi, so Internet cafés and Starbucks aren't necessary, and don't particularly help with the question of getting Internet onto my desktop PC. Though I do recall an Improv Everywhere in which the participants all brought their desktop pcs and CRT monitors into Internet cafés...