Geek Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 <div class="KonaBody"><p>You have probably heard by now that <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/25/verizon-iphone-wireless-hotspot-cost/">Verizon will charge an additional $20 per month</a> to use the wireless hotspot feature of iOS 4.3 on their iPhone 4. Is this fee worth it? I think that depends, but here’s my opinion on the matter…</p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">Who should pay the Verizon hotspot fee</h2> <p>If you’re too lazy or don’t want to deal with a <a href="http://osxdaily.com/tag/jailbreak/">jailbreak</a>, or if you’re setting this plan up for your grandma, or if you want an absolutely hassle free nontechnical experience to use a wireless access point, just pay the Verizon hotspot fee. It’s another $20 per month and it’ll certainly be simple to use, just realize that what you’re really paying for is the convenience and super easy setup. </p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">Who should jailbreak and get MyWi tethering</h2> <p>If you’re already familiar with jailbreaking or you’re one of the more technically inclined folks out there, I think you should jailbreak your iPhone and pay for a generous data plan instead. </p> <p>My view is this, you already pay for data usage, why pay more to use it how you want? Let me remind you that anyone can setup an <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2010/12/19/iphone-wifi-hotspot/">iPhone Wireless hotspot</a> right now, you just need to <a href="http://osxdaily.com/tag/jailbreak/">jailbreak</a> your phone, and then pay a one time fee to purchase the MyWi app from Cydia.</p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">Jailbreaking + MyWi vs Verizon’s Hotspot Data Plan</h2> <p>Let’s do some quick math comparing the two options:</p> <ul> <li>Jailbreak your iPhone + buy MyWi once = $20</li> <li>Verizon iPhone Wireless Hotspot Plan * 12 months = $240/year</li> </ul> <p>Is the $220 difference over the course of a year worth the convenience to you? Not to me, but for some it definitely will be. </p> <p>The only uncertainty here is that we don’t know when a CDMA iPhone jailbreak will be available, but let’s hope it comes quickly, then you’ll be able to use MyWi on the <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/25/verizon-iphone-4-data-plan-pricing-unlimited-for-30/">Verizon unlimited data plan</a> (the unlimited plan is a good thing to get if you plan on using the iPhone hotspot).</p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">What about AT&T?</h2> <p>We still don’t know what AT&T will charge for <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/12/ios-4-3-to-add-wireless-hotspot-to-iphone/">accessing the iOS 4.3 hotspot</a>, or if they’ll even offer it, but hopefully they’ll just decide to include access to the wifi feature for free. Is this likely to happen? I doubt it, but including the hotspot in their standard data plans would be a strong reason to stay with or sign up for AT&T vs Verizon, what other competitive advantage are they going to have? Now, considering AT&T charges $20 a month right now to use your iPhone as a tethered modem, well, the outlook is bleak.</p> <p>Did I mention that <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2010/07/26/is-jailbreaking-your-iphone-illegal-not-anymore/">jailbreaking is not illegal</a>? It’s your phone and your data, do what you want with it. For me, that’s MyWi.</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ti0so57q607HzBkGOUhXnLXWAY4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ti0so57q607HzBkGOUhXnLXWAY4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ti0so57q607HzBkGOUhXnLXWAY4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ti0so57q607HzBkGOUhXnLXWAY4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=_BtpOzR1Pak:hws9pDGwyOg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/osxdaily/~4/_BtpOzR1Pak" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article
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