Confused about Smartphones

[Animorph]

I have Ting. Ting is happy to let you use your phone as a WiFi hotspot. Your pay for the data you use, so they don't care how you do it. That makes it easier to use a big screen. Although the S3 should be a usable size.

 

[target2019]

I said vacant, not remote. It is an empty property in a development, not some mountaintop.There is no phone, no router, no nothing on the premises. But the major telcos do serve the area.

If you have cable service at home, you may be able to piggy back on public WiFi in that development. Comcast, for instance.

As for tethering your pnc or tablet to a phone, most providers do not allow that. They have other solutions to the problem, requiring more money.

 

[target2019]

I have Ting. Ting is happy to let you use your phone as a WiFi hotspot. Your pay for the data you use, so they don't care how you do it. That makes it easier to use a big screen. Although the S3 should be a usable size.

If ting service is good in the area, then that is the solution I'd try.

Going to mickey d or sbux is also viable. Hang out for an hour, meet some folks.

 

[Meadbh]

As for tethering your pnc or tablet to a phone, most providers do not allow that. They have other solutions to the problem, requiring more money.

Mine does allow it. Amethyst, I suggest you list your needs and talk with some Wifi providers to see if they can meet them.

Neat thing I recently discovered: share photos with your friends' devices and show the slideshow on their TV.

 

[FUEGO]

I have a Galaxy S3 and love it. Fast enough to get the job done for the casual user and the battery lasts forever (much better than the past few smartphones I've owned). Camera is decent, gets good signals, lightweight, etc.

I paid $100 almost 2 years ago on ebay. So that link in your OP seems expensive. For reference, I can buy the Galaxy S3 from my provider (freedompop) for $70 right now. My cell and data are free each month too.

 

[HFWR]

On iphone, go to Settings, personal hotspot...

 

[REWahoo]

Mine does allow it. Amethyst, I suggest you list your needs and talk with some Wifi providers to see if they can meet them.

Did you mean cell phone providers?

 

[REWahoo]

Yes it is possible, if the service you buy allows you to use them as a hotspot AND if the phone you use can function as a hotspot. Galaxy S3 won't.

I'm really not stalking you but once again your information is in error. Perhaps some models/options of the Galaxy S3 don't have the capability but some definitely do.

I can and do use my Galaxy S3 as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Note the second option on the photo of my phone I attached below.

 

[jimbee]

I'm using a Moto E second generation LTE phone on Tracfone. I bought the smart phone (AT&T Gophone) for $50 from Best Buy, popped in a Tracfone SIM, and it works well. It will cost me about $6 to $7 a month for my normal phone use. If I need to use more data, it costs $50 for 4GB, that doesn't expire as long as the account is kept active. If I need more SMS texts, it costs $10 for 1000 texts.

I performed data rate tests with a LTE signal, and measured ~25 Mbps down/5 Mbps up. This is on AT&T's network, via Tracfone. If you want to use Verizon's network through Tracfone, you can do the same thing, but Verizon throttles data to ~5 Mbps to MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operator).

One disadvantage is smart phones do not roam when using Tracfone, you only get Verizon's or AT&T's native network.

I find that this type of smart phone service works well for light phone users like me.

 

[Meadbh]

Did you mean cell phone providers?

Yes.

 

[Cobra9777]

...In addition, rather than post-paid (you get a bill every month after you used the service), you may want a pre-paid plan (you pay for the month in advance, like Ting among others, if you don't pay the next month, you lose your account and phone number). Less expensive than post-pay, but sometimes limited in terms of roaming when you can't access your carrier's cell tower...

Bolded part is not correct. Ting is post-pay.

 

[Chuckanut]

Used properly a smart phone can certainly help one use time more effectively. I really like the Notes app on Apple (or Evernote for other devices) since notes, reminders, measurements, etc, are then easily available at home on the computer or out and about on the phone. Comparison shopping is a lot easier when I have photos of the table, chair, lamp, etc complete with price tag and measurements. And the traffic apps have saved me hours of time in our now congested city.

There's a lot more to a smart phone than watching cat videos on YouTube.

 

[target2019]

For posterity, an iPhone 4 on Verizon let's me establish a personal Hotspot. Since the network is 3G, it will not be my net of choice.

 

[kcowan]

If your iPhone and iPad are both connected to the same wifi, you can answer incoming calls to your iPhone on your iPad. We discovered this when our landline was out. Phone in DWs purse, iPad on her lap. Very handy.

 

[mpeirce]

If your iPhone and iPad are both connected to the same wifi, you can answer incoming calls to your iPhone on your iPad. We discovered this when our landline was out. Phone in DWs purse, iPad on her lap. Very handy.

In iOS 9.1 (still in beta) there's a new setting for AT&T users:

Add Wi-Fi Calling For Other Devices [ ]

Which will allow calls to you Mac, iPad, etc. even if the phone isn't around. The calls gets routed over the internet, not a cell tower.

Basically, your number gets associated with a variety of devices, your mobile phone just happens to be be one of them.

This uses a new AT&T feature (NumberSync), so it may well also show up on non-Apple devices too.

AT&T Announces Plans for NumberSync and Ability to Use One Mobile Number Across Multiple Devices

At home I usually place my iPhone in a dock in my office. But I also have an older, decommissioned iPhone sitting in a dock upstairs. This also rings when I get a call and I can pick it up and talk. So it's all sort of the reinvention of extension lines.

 

[donheff]

Just a caution about using your phone as a mobile hotspot Amethyst - be careful about how much data you use. Streaming movies from Netflix would burn up your monthly data allotment pretty quickly. Routine browsing and email, even occasional streaming music, would generally be OK.

 

[Amethyst]

I have a question, after parsing through everyone's posts.

When talking about "generations," I get the feeling that there are generations of phones, of data types, maybe of data speeds?

For Example: Can I use 4G data with a 3G phone?

Thanks!

Amethyst

Agree. Tablet's are easier and more enjoyable to use when navigating the internet. My old Nook tablet is on it's last leg so have been using my smartphone more for internet use when out of town. It's ok for light stuff like checking emails and viewing a website or two.

I have a question concerning speed. Is the 4G data plans significantly faster than 3G? I'm on a 3G Pageplus plan and have thought about upgrading to the 4G one. To do so I would also have to upgrade phones according the their website. Don't care to bother if there is not a big difference though.

 

[Gotadimple]

I have a question, after parsing through everyone's posts.

When talking about "generations," I get the feeling that there are generations of phones, of data types, maybe of data speeds?

For Example: Can I use 4G data with a 3G phone?

Thanks!

Amethyst

There are generations of phones and generations of speeds. You can use a 3G phone with 3G or LOWER data. 4G data will still be delivered at 3G speeds to a 3G phone.

So, if you want to avoid obsolescence (for at most a year or two), pick a phone that can deal with today's technologies - or at least the ones that are important to you.

 

[Rustic23]

3g begat 4g begat LTE, (simply put)

Like most things in tech, newer generally recognizes old, but old didn't now about new so usually can't read. This was true in the software world as say Microsoft kept changing the file format for things like Word.

I recommend, if possible, you go with LTE.

 

[mpeirce]

Just to add more complications...

When you get LTE data, not only is it faster for data transfer, but depending on the phone and the carrier, you can get higher quality voice too.

For example an iPhone 6S (having the latest LTE data) calling another 6S on AT&T sends the call over LTE instead of the older cellular voice network, giving you a much higher voice quality. If you call an older phone with this new one, the voice quality will still sound awful

Don't know if this matters to you, but the new phones have lots of enhancements that really are better in lots of ways.

 

[Amethyst]

What I'd really like to do is get a phone and service that will get the job done now, for not too much money, and then decide later if I want to spend $$ to upgrade.

It is looking like:
*the Motorola G 3d Gen 2015, for $180 from TING (1 Gb/8 Gb with option to double storage for $40 more) or from Amazon for $220 (2 Gb/16 Gb), or
*the Samsung Galaxy S3 I747 16GB 4G LTE Unlocked GSM Android Smartphone, for $230 from Amazon.
Either one can be used with TING. I think TING's lowest tier data/voice plan will probably do the job for now, supplemented with available wi-fi.

But I'm still confused :-( [and it's obvious that's the way the sellers want it!]

Edit: My budget will allow for more $$, but as a card-carrying forum member, I hate paying more for something I don't really need.

 

[REWahoo]

*the Motorola G 3d Gen 2015, for $180 from TING (1 Gb/8 Gb with option to double storage for $40 more) or from Amazon for $220 (2 Gb/16 Gb), or
*the Samsung Galaxy S3 I747 16GB 4G LTE Unlocked GSM Android Smartphone, for $230 from Amazon.
Either one can be used with TING. I think TING's lowest tier data/voice plan will probably do the job for now, supplemented with available wi-fi.

Either will do the job.

 

[calmloki]

...
Edit: My budget will allow for more $$, but as a card-carrying forum member, I hate paying more for something I don't really need.

Isn't it funny? I have $625 coming my way because I signed up for a Citi Premier credit card and spent only the required amount on only items we needed to spend the money on anyway - so $625 for free. But for weeks now we have been stewing over what replacement phones to get and the cost/value just has me in a dither. I'll probably go for the Motorola E, maybe G as pocket-ability and cost are a concern, she will either go with the Iphone 6s or Samsung Galaxy5 as a great camera, storage space, battery life, and app software are high on her list.

 

[Hermit]

I ordered a smart phone from Ting, thanks to this thread. So far, it has not been a cake walk. Their system validates addresses against a USPS database. My address is not in the USPS database. Got by that hurdle by using a friend's address in the nearest town. Ordered the phone yesterday. Today I got an e-mail saying the billing address did not match. It took my PO Box, but that credit card had my physical address and the credit card company would not let me use a PO Box. Finally had Ting cancel that order and I ordered using a card that had my PO Box as a billing address. Hope it goes well and I get this phone before I leave for the East Coast. If not, it will sit outside for a week. FedEx is not very good at putting packages in the open garage at my unfinished house.

 

[ERD50]

What I'd really like to do is get a phone and service that will get the job done now, for not too much money, and then decide later if I want to spend $$ to upgrade.

It is looking like:
*the Motorola G 3d Gen 2015, for $180 from TING (1 Gb/8 Gb with option to double storage for $40 more) or from Amazon for $220 (2 Gb/16 Gb), ....

Lots to consider, but I would (and will, I need to upgrade DW's phone), go for the 2 GB RAM over 1 GB. The 1 GB versus 2GB number is RAM - that is what the phone uses to run its operations. The "/8GB" versus "/16GB" isn't such a big deal IMO. That is storage memory, mainly for songs, pictures, etc. These phones take SDCards, so if you need more storage you can add it at very low prices (< $.50/GB).

But you are stuck with the RAM you buy in a phone. And if it is too little, the phone will run slower while it has to adjust and move memory in/out. So it is not a good place to scrimp, if you can avoid it.

-ERD50