I thought it might be cool to not have to find someone's free wi-fi every time I take my netbook out and about. After pricing a stick like the Rogers Rocket and all the competitors I could find at TELUS, Bell, Wind and Mobilicity, I had second thoughts.
Yeah, I could get one for free but I'm not wild about a 2 or 3 year contract. Most are $130 without a contract, with Mobilicity and Wind at $100, but Mobilicity charges $10 more per month for their plans.
It's the Plans that kill my plans. $30/month for 500MB/month which my low mobile usage would probably not exceed ($25 for 1GB/month at Wind) . Some even charge setup at $35!
Mobilicity's half price offer for their plan when you have a phone with them got me thinking. I'd probably be better off dumping my current pay as you go cell phone, even though its only a few months old, and buying a smartphone with tethering so I could just connect my laptop to the smartphone and get Internet access that way.
I wondered what that would cost: cheapest TELUS plan is $50/month, and you still only get 500MB/month. Wind is $15 + $35, which also works out to $50/month. Mobilicity is $25 + $20 (half price data plan) which is $45/month, but they don't cover my part of town with their coverage, even though I'm well within not just City limits, but a highly populated area.
For now, I'll stick with my TELUS $10/month pay as you go cell phone, which I can upgrade for $5/month to provide e-mail and web access on the phone. Not a smart phone, but, so far, it does the trick for me.