Verizon, AT&T and Sprint Mobile Hotspot on iPhone 4S Comparison

Now the iPhone 4S has been available at Sprint, which carrier among the three US carriers  to pick when it comes to using it as a portable mobile hotspot? If you opt for a smartphone-cum-mobile-hotspot instead of a dedicated Wi-Fi hotspot iPhone 4S is among the many ubiquitous smartphones with mobile hotspot capabilities to choose from. However choosing the right carrier can be a tricky dealing given the so many things to factor in. This post tries to give an insight into and comparison of  Verizon, AT&T and Sprint mobile hotspot features on the iPhone 4S.

iPhone 4S Hardware And Price

The iPhone 4S, unlike its predecessors has a dual GSM-CDMA chips, enabling it to use over  CDMA-based and GSM-based providers’ networks, so basically Verizon, AT&T and Sprint sell iPhone 4S come with exactly the same  hardware specifications, however it’s still unclear if the unlocked version of an iPhone 4S is interchangeable between the three carriers. All the three sell  the iPhone 4S 16GB for $199,9, iPhone 4S 32GB $299.9 while the 64GB model costs $399.9. Each models comes with two-year contract and requires an activation fee , the same pricing across all carriers are not uncommon anyway.

Data Plan

Verizon and AT&T charge a tiered pricing and have separate plans for web access while Sprint -the last US carrier to carry the iPhone- has unlimited data plan. Sprint’s unlimited data plans starts at $69.99 and is tied to its calling plan. See the bellow table for details:

Verizon iPhone 4S Mobile Hotspot

Verizon uses CDMA Rev A technology with max speeds of 3.2 MBps. As seen in the above table on top of the voice  plan , if you’re a Verizon customer  and want to use your iPhone 4S as a mobile hotspot you need to buy data plan starting at 30/month for 2GB of data and a separate mobile hotspot plan that costs $20 per month.

For $20.00 per month, you can use your iPhone 4S as a portable  Wi-Fi hotspot and connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices to it wirelessly. In case  you go over  the 2GB allotted data, you will be charged an additional $10.00 for additional GB.

Sprint iPhone 4S Mobile Hotspot

The meager data cap imposed by Verizon is obviously one of the drawbacks to  Verizon iPhone 4S mobile hotspot. As the iPhone 4S does not support the carrier’s 4G LTE network, you can not also take advantage of Verizon blazing fast wireless internet. Furthermore, given the data limits,  if  you are a heavy data user and regularly watch streaming media  and download a large amounts of data, Verizon mobile hotspot plans are probably not for you. Since the iPhone 4S works on Verizon CDMA, you can not use the phone to make or receive calls when using it as a mobile hotspot at the same time.
One of the competitive advantages of being a Verizon customer is you have access to the US most extensive 3G networks, excellent voice quality and unrivalled customer support. Last but not least you don’t need to be worried your connections will be dropped when using the iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot while wandering over large distances across the country.

Like Verizon iPhone 4S, Sprint iPhone 4S is used over the carrier’s 3G CDMA Rev A network and can not be used as a mobile hotspot while making or receiving calls (the connection will be disconnected when there is a phone call).

What makes Sprint iPhone 4S different from Verizon’s is that its data plans are bundled into the calling  plans which start at $69.99 per month for individual plans with a premium $10 monthly data add-on . Sprint places no data cap on web access for use on the phone , however,  as with Verizon,  in order to be able to use it as a Wi-Fi  hotspot you need to buy a separate plan costing  $29.99 per month with a 5GB  data cap. If customers exceed the data limit they will be billed  $0.25 per MB in overage fees.
The Sprint iPhone 4S  will also  have the capabilities of supporting up to five  Wi-Fi capable devices at the same time. The unlimited data plans for web access on the iPhone 4S offered by Sprint plus larger data cap for its mobile hotspot feature are an attractive choice for data-hungry customers who often watch streaming videos, play online games and download large files.

AT&T Mobile Hotspot on iPhone 4S

Starting February this year AT&T allow its customer to use select mostly Android-run smartphones  as a mobile hotspot by downloading the app from AT&T website. AT&T Mobile Hotspot on smartphones including the iPhone 4  comes with 2 GB of data cap for $20 a month and needs to be bundled with at least AT&T’s Data Pro plan starting at $25 for  2GB of data. Customers who exceed the monthly data allotment will need to pay the overage fee of $10 per additional 1GB. AT&T  iPhone 4SAT&T’s is activated on GSM network offering  you a speed advantage, considering that AT&T’s HSPA data network is theoretically faster than Verizon’s and Sprint’s EV-DO Rev. Another advantage of of mobile hotspot on AT&T iPhone is that it can be used to make and receive calls when as a mobile hotspot.

One notable drawback is , for unknown reasons AT&T only allows three devices that can connect to iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi  at the same time , while the other two devices can only connect over USB cable  and Bluetooth. It’s still unclear if this will also apply to the iPhone 4S when used it as a mobile hotspot.

Visitors who come to this post are searching for:

• are iphones interchageable between carriers
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Filed under: Mobile Hotspot

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