Some more Internet issues

The internet went out at my step-mom's yesterday. Usually it's pretty reliable here but it seems even the most reliable systems go down from time to time.

It did get me thinking. One of the items that didn't survive our shipwreck was my AT&T hotspot. Hotspots, at least all the ones I'm familiar with, are rather expensive ways to connect to the Internet. On average people use about 35 gig of data on their home system. That seems about right, but I'm sure my home usage is higher. Netflix movies and Spotify add up. That's not a problem with the average home plan. On the road it's different. Mobility doesn't come cheap. My hotspot was costing me $75 for 10 gig. Sometimes at the end of the month I'd add another $10 or $20 worth.

That's expensive, I know, but since I do a lot of business on-line, it was worth it. Say what you want about AT&T, they have an extensive and reliable system. Since it was a pay as you go plan it didn't cost me anything the months I was home not using it.

Recently, someone gave me his old Netzero hotspot. Anybody have any experience with them? It doesn't get a signal where I am now, so I wonder how useful it will be while traveling. Often the cost of a hotspot is minor compared to the price of monthly data usage. Anybody up on what the best deals out there are?

For the next month I might just live with sketchy Internet. In another month or so we'll start heading northward anyway.

-Sixbears