Have you experienced connecting to a slow and unsafe public Wi-Fi network? Well, there is a solution, a mobile hotspot can provide an online connection that is powerful, quick, and secure just about anywhere.
There’s an alternative to buying a mobile hotspot, of course – and it’s just using your smartphone. Most of today’s smartphones (and tablets, if they have LTE) can be turned into a temporary mobile hotspot.
If you intend to use your phone as a hotspot, you can choose from many prepaid hotspot plans. Verizon Wireless, which has the most mobile phone subscribers in the U.S., provides prepaid hotspot deals. Details are up next.
What is a Verizon Prepaid Hotspot?
If you’re planning to use a hotspot every once in a while, like when you’re on a personal trip or business trip, Verizon’s prepaid hotspot plans can be the right choice for you.
Although Verizon’s prepaid plans aren’t advertised much, they do provide some good options. Hotspot lets users share a Verizon Wireless network connection with other users, enabling them to access the Internet.
The devices can connect via Wi-Fi to your hotspot. Once devices are connected, you’ll be paying with any data they use according to your monthly data plan.
The biggest problem with its prepaid plans for customers who own an unlocked phone is that not all of them run on Verizon’s CDMA-based network. Consumers of these phones must ensure they are supported by Verizon’s network.
How Much Does It Cost?
For individuals who own LTE-based tablets or stand-alone mobile hotspot devices, prepaid plans are available. You can sign up online for a prepaid plan, or visit a Verizon store or authorized retailer.
They start at $35 a month for 6 GB of high-speed data. The high-speed data cap climbs to 16 GB for $45 a month. You can also pay $65 per month for the 30 GB data. If you don’t sign up for Auto Pay, you’ll increase all payments by $5.
These plans are perfect for people on the road or anywhere who want to use their laptops or mobile hotspot but don’t want to sign a contract to use the Verizon network.
Verizon also offers Jetpack devices that are exclusively mobile hotspots. You can visit their Mobile Hotspot shopping page to see which ones are available today or go to their Verizon Jetpack FAQs for more information.
How to Use a Verizon Prepaid Hotspot
Although it differs among smartphones, using your smartphone as a personal Wi-Fi hotspot is pretty easy. First, go to the Settings app, click mobile, then set up a personal hotspot.
You’ll be brought to a screen display with the name and password of the hotspot’s network to access it. The mobile hotspot feature that can be located from the Settings or App menu is usually integrated into most smartphones and tablets.
The feature may have a different name on your device. It can be Personal Hotspot (iOS), Internet Sharing (Windows®), or Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot (Google™ Nexus devices); however, they all get the job done.
Now that you’ve got your hotspot casting, you can connect your device to Wi-Fi. Just follow the steps you would typically follow to connect your device to the Internet.
Conclusion
Verizon Prepaid Hotspot is beneficial when you want to use your phone’s data connectivity to connect a device, say a laptop, to the internet.
This lets users connect to the internet remotely without relying on public Wi-Fi networks, which are potentially unreliable. A hotspot is an easy way of enhancing performance, with the ability to connect several devices to one host.
No matter what monthly rate you wind up paying, there’s no prepaid hotspot contract. If you only need it for a month or two, or if it does not work as well as you would have expected, you won’t be locked in.