How much mobile hotspot does each plan include?
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The largest fixed high-speed hotspot allowance among the 29 budget and cable plans on file is 50 GB a month. The least expensive plan with it is US Mobile Unlimited Premium, at $32.50 a month with tax, paid yearly. US Mobile is my own carrier; it is listed by the same rule as every row.
- 4 plans share that 50 GB: US Mobile Unlimited Premium, Xfinity Mobile Plus (requires home internet), Cricket Wireless Supreme Unlimited and Spectrum Mobile Unlimited Plus Premium (requires home internet). On some networks the allowance is higher; the table notes where.
- Another group makes hotspot unlimited but holds it to a fixed speed, at most 15 Mbps on Visible+ Pro.
- Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile's own postpaid plans aren't in this comparison; the T-Mobile and AT&T pages cover theirs.
Those are different things. A high-speed allowance is fast until it runs out; a speed-capped hotspot never runs out and never gets fast. Which is better depends on whether you tether a laptop for work or keep a tablet on maps.
How much does a hotspot cost per month?
On 25 of the 29 plans on file, hotspot costs nothing on top of the plan: 13 include a high-speed allowance, 6 give unlimited hotspot at a fixed speed, and 6 let you share the plan's own data. Cricket Wireless Select Unlimited sells hotspot as an add-on. Cricket Wireless Sensible 10GB, Cricket Wireless 12-Month Unlimited and Cricket Wireless 3-Month Unlimited include none.
So what hotspot costs is the price of a plan with enough of it. No plan here includes 60 GB of high-speed hotspot on every network it uses; the most that holds on every network is 50 GB, on US Mobile Unlimited Premium, Xfinity Mobile Plus (requires home internet), Cricket Wireless Supreme Unlimited and Spectrum Mobile Unlimited Plus Premium (requires home internet). US Mobile Unlimited Premium includes 100 GB on Dark Star (50 GB on its other networks), at $32.50 a month with tax. T-Mobile's own Experience More 2.0 includes 60 GB, at $85 a month for one line with AutoPay, before its per-line fee and taxes (T-Mobile cost per line).
The cheapest plan for each amount of hotspot
- 10 GB or more: Tello Everyday (10GB), at $17.70 a month with tax. Its hotspot comes out of the plan's data.
- 15 GB or more: Mint Mobile 17GB, prepaid and Tello 20GB, at $23.60 a month with tax. Their hotspot comes out of the plan's data. US Mobile Unlimited Starter includes it on Dark Star only, at $22.50.
- 20 GB or more: Tello 20GB, at $23.60 a month with tax. Its hotspot comes out of the plan's data. US Mobile Unlimited Starter includes it on Dark Star only, at $22.50.
- 50 GB or more: US Mobile Unlimited Premium, paid yearly, at $32.50 a month with tax.
Plans with a high-speed hotspot allowance
| Plan | High-speed hotspot | Regular price |
|---|---|---|
| US Mobile Unlimited Premium | 50 GB 100 GB high-speed on Dark Star, then 8 Mbps, then 600 Kbps | $32.50, paid yearly |
| Xfinity Mobile Plus | 50 GB then slowed | $53.10 |
| Cricket Wireless Supreme Unlimited | 50 GB | $55 |
| Spectrum Mobile Unlimited Plus Premium | 50 GB then slowed | $59 |
| Mint Mobile Unlimited | 20 GB | $35.40, prepaid |
| Xfinity Mobile Select | 15 GB then slowed | $35.40 |
| Cricket Wireless Smart Unlimited | 15 GB | $45 |
| US Mobile Unlimited Starter | 10 GB 20 GB on Dark Star | $22.50, paid yearly |
| Tello Max (Unlimited) | 10 GB | $29.50 |
| Total Wireless STARTER | 10 GB Total's grid lists 10 GB of premium hotspot on STARTER; its footnote says plans have unlimited hotspot at up to 5 Mbps. | $35 |
| Spectrum Mobile Unlimited Plus | 10 GB then slowed | $47.20 |
| US Mobile Unlimited Flex | 5 GB | $17.50, paid yearly |
| Spectrum Mobile Unlimited | 5 GB then slowed | $35.40 |
Plans with unlimited hotspot at a fixed speed
| Plan | Hotspot speed | Regular price |
|---|---|---|
| Visible+ Pro | unlimited at up to 15 Mbps | $37.50 |
| Visible+ | unlimited at up to 10 Mbps | $31.25 |
| Total Wireless ALL ACCESS | unlimited at up to 10 Mbps | $60 |
| Visible | unlimited at up to 5 Mbps | $22.92 |
| Total Wireless MAX 5G (bring your own phone) | unlimited at up to 5 Mbps | $25 |
| Total Wireless MAX 5G | unlimited at up to 5 Mbps | $50 |
Plans where hotspot comes from your data, or not at all
- Mint Mobile 23GB: hotspot uses the plan's own data allowance.
- Mint Mobile 17GB: hotspot uses the plan's own data allowance.
- Mint Mobile 6GB: hotspot uses the plan's own data allowance.
- Tello 20GB: hotspot uses the plan's own data allowance.
- Tello Everyday (10GB): hotspot uses the plan's own data allowance.
- Tello Starter (2GB): hotspot uses the plan's own data allowance.
- Cricket Wireless Sensible 10GB: no hotspot.
- Cricket Wireless Select Unlimited: hotspot is a paid add-on.
- Cricket Wireless 12-Month Unlimited: no hotspot.
- Cricket Wireless 3-Month Unlimited: no hotspot.
From each plan's row in the site's plan table, read from the carrier's own page. "Regular price" is the cheapest price once any intro ends, with an estimated tax added where the carrier advertises before tax; see taxes by state. For the full plan-by-plan price comparison, see the price cliff table or the calculator, which can filter for plans with hotspot.