Buying hotspot device vs using existing phone as hotspot for mobile internet

Hello drivers,
I'll be starting w/ Crete Carrier at the end of this month and I'm getting all my ducks in a row. Internet for the truck. After talking w/ Verizon and AT&T, looks like the cheapest route to go is to use my Galaxy S4 as a mobile hotspot device rather than buying an additional hotspot device. I called Verizon simply to compare prices. We currently have Verizon's triple play in our home, but use AT&T as our wireless provider for our two phones and tablet. AT&T could sell me a hotspot device, like Verizon Wireless - both charge $50 for 5GB.

Since I already am using AT&T for my wireless provider, the AT&T sales rep suggested that bumping my current plan of 2GB up to 10GB and simply using my Galaxy S4 as a hotspot, would be cheaper than buying a hotspot device. After doing the math, I believe she's right. I'm just wondering if they might have a 5 GB instead of jumping up to 10GB. Would 10GB be overkill? We only use about 100 MB on average per month w/ our two phones and tablet since we're homebodies and just use WiFi from our Verizon router while at home. I noticed that the highest we used was around 500 MB during the one month I was in trucking school, I was browsing a lot on my phone during breaks and downtime. So after I"m on the road, pretty much anything over 100 or so MB a month would be just me in my truck - my wife would only be using about 100 MB herself, on average. Think we could stay on our current 2GB mobile share plan, or should we bump up?

What amount of data do you guys suggest for internet browsing on my laptop, possibly streaming videos / tv, using Skype, emailing...? Ever hear of simply using your phone as a hotspot?

 

Thanks for thread link, just read it. Can't believe some guys use 20GB and up, 80GB?! Sounds like a lot. Guess I won't know until I get out there though. I'll keep track of my usage before I go over. 10GB might not be overkill after all. Guess it depends how much video streaming I'll be doing, perhaps I'll just burn some movies to my hard drive.

 

I'm by no means a techie, so I don't know what you mean by 'rooting.' The AT&T sales rep made it sound like it was simply something I "switched on" w/ my S4 to use it as a hotspot. Wouldn't the OS of the phone stay the same, regardless of your provider? What do you mean that Verizon dumbs down the phones?