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I just got back from several weeks in New Zealand. There, you pay a LOT for internet. (Think NZ$30/day (US$26ish) in your hotel for 100MB per day, and no that's not a typo).
So, it's cheaper to use cellular data. I got a USB stick from Vodaphone with 2GB of data for about US$70. That came with a sim card. I also borrowed a Huawei E585 (something comparable to this.) I simply popped the SIM card into the e585, and voila! I had wifi.
The really cool part is that I could carry it around in my pocket and my iPhone was almost as useful as it would be in the US. It made data SOOO much more accessible to me, and my iPhone was actually useful instead of being something that I was ticked about because someone from wherever called the wrong number in the states and cost me (well, my company) $3 for a wrong number.
I don't know that I would use it here in the US simply because I have my iPhone with tethering. If you were to pop your smartphone's sim into this, AT&T would immediately notice that it wasn't a supported device for your plan and take action. Unless of course you were trying to replace one of those Sierra Wireless USB dongles - then this would be ideal.
how does this work? can I just stick the sim card on my phone in this thing
Not sure, but the Veriz 3g and 4g ones work quite well in most places.
#1: Here's my experience:
I just got back from several weeks in New Zealand. There, you pay a LOT for internet. (Think NZ$30/day (US$26ish) in your hotel for 100MB per day, and no that's not a typo).
So, it's cheaper to use cellular data. I got a USB stick from Vodaphone with 2GB of data for about US$70. That came with a sim card. I also borrowed a Huawei E585 (something comparable to this.) I simply popped the SIM card into the e585, and voila! I had wifi.
The really cool part is that I could carry it around in my pocket and my iPhone was almost as useful as it would be in the US. It made data SOOO much more accessible to me, and my iPhone was actually useful instead of being something that I was ticked about because someone from wherever called the wrong number in the states and cost me (well, my company) $3 for a wrong number.
I don't know that I would use it here in the US simply because I have my iPhone with tethering. If you were to pop your smartphone's sim into this, AT&T would immediately notice that it wasn't a supported device for your plan and take action. Unless of course you were trying to replace one of those Sierra Wireless USB dongles - then this would be ideal.