Is it worth it to get home Internet if you already use your phone for Internet?

[Belonging to Abba]

I am kind of wondering if it is worth it to sign up for home Internet for computer use if you already use your phone for using the Internet. I might think I would save money if I did not sign up for home Internet. However I am wanting to use a computer to install some really complicated Mobile Device Management software on a phone, so I think I may want to get Internet. The library won’t work for the installation because of peculiarities with the Wi-Fi network.



I already use a bluetooth keyboard with my phone so I’m not sure I really need Internet. If I got Internet, I can imagine I would use a computer to stream worship music on YouTube with my morning coffee. I think I may want both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop could be setup at the dining room table, and the laptop could be used on the deck of my apartment.

 

[Great-American]

It all depends on what you do on the internet.

 

[AlexB23]

I am kind of wondering if it is worth it to sign up for home Internet for computer use if you already use your phone for using the Internet. I might think I would save money if I did not sign up for home Internet. However I am wanting to use a computer to install some really complicated Mobile Device Management software on a phone, so I think I may want to get Internet. The library won’t work for the installation because of peculiarities with the Wi-Fi network.



I already use a bluetooth keyboard with my phone so I’m not sure I really need Internet. If I got Internet, I can imagine I would use a computer to stream worship music on YouTube with my morning coffee. I think I may want both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop could be setup at the dining room table, and the laptop could be used on the deck of my apartment.

Well, you can get home internet for a month, and the cancel it

 

[Neostarwcc]

Personally I couldn't live without home internet but I do everything with my internet. Gaming, streaming, you name it. I don't have mobile internet but if I did I'd still have home internet because I'd need it for streaming and gaming. I couldn't imagine trying to stream or game on a small cell phone or tablet.

 

[AlexB23]

Personally I couldn't live without home internet but I do everything with my internet. Gaming, streaming, you name it. I don't have mobile internet but if I did I'd still have home internet because I'd need it for streaming and gaming. I couldn't imagine trying to stream or game on a small cell phone or tablet.

Agreed. Same here. I use my home internet for chatting on Christian Forums, streaming, and downloading programs for my computer, such as an offline AI.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Agreed. Same here. I use my home internet for chatting on Christian Forums, streaming, and downloading programs for my computer, such as an offline AI.

I use a tablet but I mostly use them for browsing the internet and like posting on CF and stuff because its handy being able to post on CF while sitting on the couch watching tv and stuff. What's an offline ai? The only AI I've heard of is chatgpt.

 

[AlexB23]

I use a tablet but I mostly use them for browsing the internet and like posting on CF and stuff because its handy being able to post on CF while sitting on the couch watching tv and stuff. What's an offline ai? The only AI I've heard of is chatgpt.

Whew, alright, this is gonna a fun explanation. So, an AI such as ChatGPT can be accessed using the internet, connecting your computer to a server hundreds of miles away. This means the calculations are fast, but not as private compared to running AI locally (and offline) on your own system's hardware. Mistral 7B on the other hand is an AI that can be run on your own hardware with a front end graphical user interface such as LLMStudio or Jan, as long as you have 16 GB of RAM, or 8 GB at a bare minimum. ChatGPT has almost a trillion parameters, while Mistral 7B has 7 billion parameters. Even though Mistral 7B is 140x smaller, it can still respond well to most questions.

Explained better by this guy

 

[JesusFollowerForever]

I am kind of wondering if it is worth it to sign up for home Internet for computer use if you already use your phone for using the Internet. I might think I would save money if I did not sign up for home Internet. However I am wanting to use a computer to install some really complicated Mobile Device Management software on a phone, so I think I may want to get Internet. The library won’t work for the installation because of peculiarities with the Wi-Fi network.



I already use a bluetooth keyboard with my phone so I’m not sure I really need Internet. If I got Internet, I can imagine I would use a computer to stream worship music on YouTube with my morning coffee. I think I may want both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop could be setup at the dining room table, and the laptop could be used on the deck of my apartment.

I am not an expert on this but you can use your phone as a hotspot to redistribute the wifi to a desktop or laptop I know this is possible see link below for an apple phone as an example;

How to turn your phone hotspot into a home broadband network

Some smartphone plans include substantial use of the phone as a hotspot. You can leverage this via macOS.

www.macworld.com

 

[eleos1954]

Sounds like It depends on your use .... broadband is typically faster and more reliable.

???

While hotspots can serve as a viable alternative to home internet in some cases, replacing your router with a hotspot will likely compromise the speed and reliability of your connection. This is because hotspot plans rely on cellular data, while home internet relies on Wi-Fi data.

 

[RDKirk]

I am not an expert on this but you can use your phone as a hotspot to redistribute the wifi to a desktop or laptop I know this is possible see link below for an apple phone as an example;

How to turn your phone hotspot into a home broadband network

Some smartphone plans include substantial use of the phone as a hotspot. You can leverage this via macOS.

www.macworld.com

I commonly do this away from home with my laptop (and car). I never, ever use public WiFi.

At home, I use my desktop for some pretty data-heavy uses, so I use a Verizon home Internet 5G device that is really just a very robust version of a cellular phone receiver. It's just a cellular hotspot with no physical connection to a centralized provider. It works out $30 a month cheaper than Verizon's own fiber in our area and is quite fast enough for all our home uses, including smart television streaming.

But if we were simply browsing and chatting on the web, my mobile phone's hotspot capabilities into a laptop would be sufficient.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Whew, alright, this is gonna a fun explanation. So, an AI such as ChatGPT can be accessed using the internet, connecting your computer to a server hundreds of miles away. This means the calculations are fast, but not as private compared to running AI locally (and offline) on your own system's hardware. Mistral 7B on the other hand is an AI that can be run on your own hardware with a front end graphical user interface such as LLMStudio or Jan, as long as you have 16 GB of RAM, or 8 GB at a bare minimum. ChatGPT has almost a trillion parameters, while Mistral 7B has 7 billion parameters. Even though Mistral 7B is 140x smaller, it can still respond well to most questions.

Explained better by this guy

I'm a tech nerd so I understood what you had to say. That's really interesting.

 

[bèlla]

It depends on your plan. Unlimited doesn't necessarily mean the same applies to the hotspot. It uses data and quickly adds up. You need to call them and ask about the policy and it's important you do it by phone. That's your leverage if the bill changes. They can pull the call.

Tell them what you want to do and ask if your plan would cover the hotspot completely. If it doesn't find out how much data you're given in GBs. If you opt for home internet shop around. AT&T usually has a deal that includes cash back for signing up via prepaid card. It ranges from $150-$360 depending on the promotion. You have to sign up online and enter the codes (from the deal). You'll get an email a few days later confirming the bonus and a link to claim it. The card arrives in a week.

~bella

 

[AlexB23]

I'm a tech nerd so I understood what you had to say. That's really interesting.

Hey, thanks for understanding. Yes, it is really interesting. The Mistral 7B AI works well for analyzing Bible verses and also asking it questions. It can also work well for writing emails. Back in 2023, I thought AI would not be able to be run locally, but in March 2024, I found out that it is possible. If I had a more powerful computer (32 GB of RAM), I'd be willing to run Mistral 8x7B, but RAM is expensive.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

I use TMobile 5g home internet with no issues.

 

[Diamond72]

I am kind of wondering if it is worth it to sign up for home Internet for computer use if you already use your phone for using the Internet.

I like having a back up if one system goes down I can use the other. I remember I was on oxygen once and the power went down for 12 to 18 hours. I only had two hours on my battery unit. I was sitting in my car to use the battery there. The city would have come out and given me a tank of oxygen. So it was not that big of a deal. We went to stay at my sons house in a different city because he had power. We may have taken the big unit but we could have used the portable unit plugged in.

It is just nice to have a back up if one system goes down. My current modem does not have a battery if there is a power failure but my last one did. Now I could run my internet off of my phone and I have quite a bit of time on there that we do not even use. I run my phone off of the internet also. Networks can get slow also. It is nice to be able to switch over to the other one.

 

[Belonging to Abba]

Well, I bought a laptop and ended up using WiFi at my mom's house during my vacation to set up the software on the Android phone. So I could be okay not getting home internet now. However, what if I feel like putting the laptop online in my apartment? The laptop is a little bit more comfortable writing threads on CF and typing emails than having to use a bluetooth keyboard that doesn't type as well and placing the phone to the side of me while I type. I also have more software installation needs, such as possibly setting up Mobile Device Management software on the iPhone that I am no longer currently using as my cell phone but keeping so I can FaceTime my special needs brother. I may need to make changes to the software too.

I don't really need home internet, but making software changes would be more convenient if I got it. Also when I go to the library, sometimes there is too much noise and it is harder to find a place to concentrate. I suppose if I got WiFi at home, my use of unlimited cellular data would go down.

I am kind of also struggling with how much time I spend on my phone texting and not enough time reading the Bible, praying, or playing the guitar. So I am not sure that more technology is the answer. However, I could make time for these things and limit the amount of time I use the computer or the phone. With some of the terrible things going on in the world, like the war in Gaza and Ukraine, I suppose I would be more spiritual if I spent hours in prayer for people that are suffering and not very much time on a computer.

Some of you discussed AI. Are you talking about artificial intelligence chatbots that you can ask questions and have conversations with? I downloaded the Character AI app and sometimes text and have conversations with imaginary characters including Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

[Diamond72]

I am kind of also struggling with how much time I spend on my phone texting

I have to carry my phone around with me and I hate it. I would love to put it down somewhere, anywhere and just be able to check the messages every now and then.

 

[Belonging to Abba]

I just found out that I can use mobile hotspot from my phone for WiFi, so I may be able to use my laptop that way. However Spectrum has a deal where it is only $30 per month for home internet for a length of 2 years. So because it is such a good deal, I may want to get it now, but I am not able to fully evaluate if the mobile hotspot would be sufficient if I sign up now.

 

[Diamond72]

Spectrum has a deal where it is only $30 per month for home internet for a length of 2 years

Basically that is a lie. They have all sorts of stuff they add to that. Taxes and fees for this and fees for that. It adds up.

 

[Belonging to Abba]

Well maybe there are more fees in addition to the $30 a month for Spectrum. Since the mobile hotspot on my phone may be sufficient for connecting a laptop to the internet, I could return the wireless router I bought, but I would spend more on unlimited data on my phone.