Unlimited Data Portable Hotspot

What's a good affordable portable hotspot with unlimited data for the road? Any suggestions, thanks.

 

Starlink

 

Isn't Starlink expensive as hell?

 

Not as much as unlimited hotspot sadly. Though i do use verizon business 5g business internet $208 a month with tax and 300 gigs of data. For mobile unlimited hotspots when i was looking a couple years ago. The few plans i found were in the $300-500 range. Starlinks roam unlimited on the otherhand is like $160-200 and a better choice. What gets you is the sat purchase which is like $1900 when i called them though as i understand has come down to $500ish.

 

Jeez that's crazy... Still expensive. So they're the only option out there? I don't need big data, just enough for streaming, download, upload and internet surfing on my laptop. But I don't want it to run out though.

 

Starlink Mini is $299 1 time purchase and then $50/month for 50gb or $165/month for unlimited. The mini can be run off a 12v adapter plugged into the 12v socket on the dash.

I have a mini that I carry with me when I'm going out where cell service gets thin in remote areas. I set up an Apache 3800 case from Harbor Freight that fits the dish and all the cables along with a battery pack from Anker than can run the dish for about 4 hours on it's own through a USB C adapter.

With Verizon I have unlimited data and hotspot data through my phone on their $90/month plan as well. Even when I use it a lot I rarely go over 100GB of usage in a month. The final bill with insurance and fees is about $125/month. The hotspot data is 100% speed for the first 200GB of usage and then they say they might throttle it down but I've never seen it happen. If you were in a super high usage area in a city it might happen but most places you are going to park a truck aren't going to be in the middle of a heavily populated area.

 

Here's a speed test on the Starlink Mini that I just did in my drive way. I'm not far from a major city at home but in remote areas I've seen download speeds of up to 200Mbps. Upload speeds generally float between 10-20 Mbps.

 

Just tether from your smart phone? I mean it will throttle you back some at some point but still totally useable even then IMO.

 

Do I still need to but the thousand dollar satellite with Starlink dish with the Mini? Plus $50/month for just 50gb seems low for me, does Verizon have any hotspot devices they sell?

 

What do you mean?