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Does anyone else intentionally have no ISP-provided Wi-Fi at home and instead ration mobile data for Internet access? (programming.dev)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by Flagstaff@programming.dev to c/frugal@lemmy.world

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I've had no ISP-provided Internet access since Feb. 2023 or so and, while it's been a pain at times, I still haven't caved into returning to the evil monopoly that is Spectrum, so far, and probably won't for as long as I can't land a remote job. ArrowDL, while not perfect, has been pretty good at download management for the most part in conjunction with mobile data-hotspotting.

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[–] CrayonRosary@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Rationing? In today's day and age? I have unlimited mobile data with Visible for $25/mo. It even has unlimited (slow, 5 Mbps) tethering.

If you use a cheap VPN (I use Mullvad), your video bitrate doesn't get throttled. But the tethered device also needs to be signed in on the VPN because WiFi tethering on the phone doesn't use the phone's VPN, at least on Android.

If you use Android, and you're clever, you can USB tether to a properly-configured Raspberry Pi using EasyTether, and have that give WiFi to all your devices at full speed. I have a 4k Apple TV, and I get 4k video on my $25/mo plan.

For a single device like one PC, all you need is EasyTether on that PC, and then you can USB tether your phone to get unthrottled tethering. EasyTether costs a one-time $10 payment for the phone app. The PC app is free. You need both.

Looks like they have a new $35 plan that doubles the WiFi tethering speed (to a whopping 10 Mbps) and allows 1080p video without needing a VPN. That sorta seems like a sweet spot for price vs. hassle.

[–] Flagstaff@programming.dev 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Nice strategies. I used to use EasyTether when it had a free plan. For some time I more recently used TetherFi as it's free and open-source. I generally prefer FOSS nowadays even if it presents a greater hassle.

[–] CrayonRosary@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I'm all for FOSS. Thanks for letting me know about TetherFi. However, what do you mean about an EasyTether "plan"? Do they no longer charge a flat $10 for the app?

[–] Flagstaff@programming.dev 2 points 5 days ago

Oops, maybe I'm thinking of something else or mis-remembered; my bad!