Wi-Fi Service Provider Comparison

[vovillamor]

I'm looking at subscribing to a Wi-Fi hotspot service from T-Mobile, Wayport, Boingo, etc...to use with my Wi-Fi capable PocketPC. I'd like to see if anyone in this forum has had any experiences with any of them.

I've considered using a GSM/GPRS phone in conjunction with my PocketPC for wireless internet access. Although being able to connect from anywhere that has an acceptable cell signal is nice, the price of unlimited data is just not quite affordable right now [except for T-Mobile...hope competition will bring prices down]. It just seems that most service providers have data plans designed around cell phone data usage, not for laptop or PDA usage. The web browser and e-mail client on a laptop of PDA is simply much more capable of consuming more data than a cell phone can.

Anyways, T-Mobile has the best price and coverage in my area in Southern California. They have Wi-Fi access points in almost all Starbucks coffee houses, and there seems to be a Starbucks on almost every block around here. I don't travel a whole lot, so I really wouldn't use Wi-Fi access in places like airports or hotels. These are the places where most Wi-Fi service providers (like Wayport or Boingo) have been targeting their services.

As far as pricing, T-Mobile's monthly unlimited Wi-Fi rate is $29.99 (or $19.99 of you're already a T-Mobile cell phone subscriber). This price is comparable to what some other wireless providers charge for only 10 or 20MB of data. Also, I've seen unlimited data plans from other service providers ranging from $50 to over $90 a month. What a big difference!
I think since T-Mobile has invested in a rather large infrasture [at Starbucks], they are in a better position to support their users and drive the price down.

So I'm looking for opinions about Wi-Fi service providers; particularly about specific service providers, pricing, and Wi-Fi access point availability.

[Pat Logsdon]

I've had problems with using T-Mobile Hot Spots with my Axim/Socket WLAN combination. Their software doesn't allow you to "log off", and you have to trust that their software will do it automatically when you unplug your WiFi card.

In my experience, this has NOT been the case. I've purchased 120 minutes on 3 separate occasions, and have not gotten my money's worth. The first time, I only used it for 15 minutes, pulled the card, came back 2 days later, and all of my time was gone. The most I've gotten out of it has been 90 minutes, on two separate days.

When you call T-Mobile, they flat out didn't believe me when I told them that I hadn't used the service. The most I was able to get out of them was a "free credit" of 20 additional minutes.

Unless you want to pop for an unlimited plan (where logging minutes doesn't matter), I'd stay away from T-Mobile until they implement a "log off" feature.

[vovillamor]

When you call T-Mobile, they flat out didn't believe me when I told them that I hadn't used the service. The most I was able to get out of them was a "free credit" of 20 additional minutes.

Unless you want to pop for an unlimited plan (where logging minutes doesn't matter), I'd stay away from T-Mobile until they implement a "log off" feature.

Were you (or anyone else) able to take advantage of T-Mobile's Free Day Pass?
https://accounts.hotspot.t-mobile.com/promo/STDAYPASS0802/signup.jsp

I'd probably only go for an unlimited data plan. The "pay-as-you-go" plans seem so much more expensive to use on a usual basis. And I think just this would be as expensive as the overlimit data charges on other wireless data plans. AT&T charges 0.6 cents per Kilobyte after the first 8 Megabytes (that's $6 each additional megabyte) regardless of how long it takes to use up the megabyte. So whether I use up the megabyte in 2 minutes or two weeks, I would only have to pay for the 1 megabyte. The flip side is that T-Mobile charges 10 cents a minute on their Pay-As-You-Go plan (with a minimum of 60 minutes, or $6 of use). With this in mind, you could consider it unlimited data for the 60 minutes and $6.

At first, the per-megabyte plan didn't make sense to me...I was so used to counting minutes of usage on my cell phone. But when you think about it, price per megabyte makes more sense. If I download an 100Kb e-mail or webpage one minute, and spend 5 minutes reviewing, then I'd only be charged for 100kb. Whereas if I were charged by the minute, I would have burned up 5 minutes of access time while the internet connection was was actually idle.

What do other users think? Would you rather be charged by the megabyte, or by the minute?

[don dre]

http://www.hotspotzz.com/locations/hotspotzz_search.asp

[vovillamor]

http://www.hotspotzz.com/locations/hotspotzz_search.asp

Good link!!!

Hotspotzz charges $16.95 a month for unlimited service, and with no contract. Best price I've seen so far...I just hope that they can increase the number of access points.

By the way, Verizon in New York City is offering free Wi-Fi access to access point at their payphones in certain areas of the city for their DSL subscribers. Has anyone in that area had any experience with this offering?