Using 3G as main ISP?

I'm looking for a cheap cell phone / Internet plan to use in the future. I'm currently on a Verizon family plan. I'm thinking about switching to AT&T's $50 unlimited everything GoPhone plan. My plan is to buy the cheapest GoPhone there is (that supports 3G and web browsing), activate the SIM card using that phone's IMEI, then putting that SIM card into an iPhone and use that as my primary phone. (Before someone says "That won't work", it does, I've done it before.) As for my home Internet, I'll get another GoPhone, activate it with the same $50 unlimited plan, then buy a used AT&T USB modem off eBay or something, put the SIM card in that, and use that for my primary Internet at home. AT&T's network in my area is about equal to most DSL services, except a lot cheaper. Instead of paying $100 for a cell phone plan from Verizon (for 450 minutes and 2GB of data), I can get unlimited Everything. Does this sound like a good idea? What are your thoughts?

verizon att sim internet 3g card plan

asked Sep 11 '11 at 13:45

DnyWlsh
316●21●23●30

One Answer:

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None of the cellphone providers offer true unlimited, (even sprint)

Their loophole is the fact that they never said they would give you unlimited service as the speed you paid for. What they tend to do is slow your connection down significantly after you use a certain amount of bandwidth, (some companies will do it at 2GB some at 5GB and others such as sprint at 10GB)

3G also has a higher rate of packet loss and higher pings and lag spikes, this makes online gaming nearly impossible to do.

And if you are in motion, the speed significantly slows and packet loss skyrockets as the phone renegotiates it's connection rate with the cell tower. (an easy way to demonstrate this is to hold a skype call or a group skype call over a 3G or 4G connection)

answered Sep 11 '11 at 15:42

Razor512
15.6k●34●80●242

edited Sep 11 '11 at 19:22

avrgboy
1.6k●141●153●183

I'm fine with all that. I don't do online gaming, or video chatting. And actually Verizon's 4G network has a very low ping, so video conferencing an gaming would be fine.

(Sep 11 '11 at 15:56) DnyWlsh

It won't....

(Sep 11 '11 at 15:58) Jackster1337

even with low pings, you get packet higher rates of packet loss which makes services like skype hard to use.

But worst of all is the low bandwidth, when you start using the mobile network for desktop relates tasks, you will quickly find your self having issues with the bandwidth caps (where the ones that are unlimited slow your service to a level where it still works but you wont want to use it).

(Sep 11 '11 at 16:20) Razor512

Again, I'm fine with all that. My question is just if the whole swapping SIM cards thing will work.

(Sep 11 '11 at 18:21) DnyWlsh

Not to troll or anything, but it makes twitch gaming almost impossible. Other typess of games that have a higher tolerance for lag are perfectly playable. Take World of Warcraft for example; a ping time of 600-800 on dialup is still playable, and typical.

(Sep 12 '11 at 14:01) djmoore711

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Asked: Sep 11 '11 at 13:45

Seen: 1,133 times

Last updated: Sep 12 '11 at 14:01

Using 3G as main ISP?

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