I’m looking for opinions or options or even factual answers. I’d like to have hotspot capabilities to access the internet remotely, but only on occasion (about 2 days a month). I don’t want to spend a pile of money on a device, nor do I want a ‘monthly’ plan since I’ll only use it for about 12 hours a month.
My phone doesn’t include a hotspot, I’m locked in for a while and don’t want to change my plan as it will be more expensive.
Ideally, I think (?), I would buy a used device for cheap, then buy X amount of GB that I can use over several months, and then when I run out, purchase some more.
So, a couple of different issues here, but you have some options. You’ve already ruled out changing your phone/carrier, so I won’t push on that, but when you’re no longer locked in, it would be my advice.
A second issue to consider, is that you’ll need a stand-alone device for the hotspot, using T-Mobile prepaid which I’m most familiar with, that’s a pretty big chunk ($198) though you can find them for far less used, but that’s it’s own risks.
Even then, they offer their data as a monthly plan, rather than a fixed number of GB data, though at least it’s reasonably cheap at $10/month (plus taxes and fees) for 2GB of data a month. Most of the other prepaid carrier options I checked quickly were similar or more expensive.
Again 2G of data can be a lot or a little depending on how/what you’re doing online for that 12 hours per month. The rest of the plans are in the link above. If cost is an issue, I’d probably roll the dice on a used hotspot from a reputable reseller, and go with $10 a month until your current carrier options open up.
ETA - I did find one option for pay as you go, but it requires using their device and I’ve heard nothing about them. So service levels, dependability, speeds, etc. are all huge unknowns, but it is what you asked for:
Also, did you want to use this hotspot at home, or on the go? Does it have to be battery powered or is it OK if you plug it in whenever you want to use it?
Thinking this through, it’s probably easiest to just buy an old used unlocked phone and throw a prepaid plan on it and use that as the hotspot… it might even be cheaper to add a line at your existing carrier. Might be worth asking them.
I have not looked into this in quite some time, but I used to have a iPhone which I jailbroke and was able to install a tethering app. which allowed me to create a hotspot without the service. While I would no longer suggest Jailbreaking iOS (not the same as it used to be, far smaller community, far less options and support), as I understand it rooting Android is another subject and may still be viable.
What exactly do you need? Time or Data? Yes you said you need it maybe 2x per month, but how much data do you use per month. It is a big difference if you need a small amount or a major amount, as if it’s small you are just looking a small monthly data package. If it’s on the smaller side, less than 1 gb month I would look into Google Fi, described more below.
For Traveling I have used Maya.net which allows you to buy data for a time period in a world area. This requires a phone that does e-sim This may work for you. Looking it’s about $9 for 3GB in the US which you have 3 consecutive days to use it. This seems like the smallest package and sometime is is discounted. There is also a unlimited option with a min of 5 days (consecutive) for about $20. Different areas have different plans.
This is a thing to consider and most likely your best option, but this would require your phone to be unlocked. If so you can have 2 services, and some like Google Fi allows you to turn them on and off as needed. With low data usage this can be fairly cheap as unused data carries over (from their $10/gig plan), but on occasion there is a higher than expected bill that comes in. But over all if your data usage is small, this may be your best option, especially if you can use it on your present phone, but even buying a cheap/used second phone which can run Google Fi would work. Though you have to turn it on and off via the app (which you can install and use from your main phone), to start/stop billing.