Hotspot Data by Plan: All 51 Compared

First: hotspot is priced in two different currencies

Before the tables, the distinction that makes most hotspot comparisons useless. Some plans give you a generous allowance of full-speed data. Others give you genuinely unlimited tethering, but throttled to a fixed ceiling — often 5 Mbps. These are not the same product and they suit opposite users.

• An allowance in GB — you tether at full 5G speed until you hit the number, then you’re cut to something unusable. Right for bursts: a workday from a hotel, a weekend away.
• A speed cap with no limit — you tether forever, but never faster than the cap. Right for steady, light, continuous use: email, documents, one standard-definition stream.

Plans with a full-speed hotspot allowance

Sorted by allowance, largest first. The figure is the high-speed portion; what happens afterwards is noted, because a plan that drops to 128 Kbps has effectively ended your tethering, while one that drops to unlimited-but-slower has not.

Plans with unlimited hotspot at a capped speed

No allowance to run out of, and no chance of sustained full speed. Note the spread: T-Mobile Experience Beyond runs 250GB at full speed before dropping to 3G, which makes it the most generous hotspot in the market, while Xfinity Select’s 600 Kbps is a technicality rather than a feature.

Plans where hotspot shares your plan data

On these there is no separate hotspot bucket at all — tethering draws from the same allowance as your phone, so every gigabyte you tether is one you can’t use on the phone. Fine if your total use is low; misleading if you assumed hotspot was extra.

• Mint Mobile 6GB, 17GB and 23GB — hotspot pulls from the plan bucket.
• Kroger Wireless 3GB, 6GB and 10GB — same structure.
• Verizon Prepaid 15GB — tethering comes out of the 15GB.
• Straight Talk Silver Unlimited and StraightSAVINGS — limited, with no dedicated allowance stated.
• US Mobile Unlimited Starter — included but modest; Premium is the tier for real tethering.

Plans with no hotspot at all

Worth knowing before you buy, because none of these say so prominently. Two are Metro plans at $25 and $40 that are otherwise reasonable — the hotspot omission is the trade.

• Metro Starter — $25/mo, not included.
• Metro Starter Plus — $40/mo, not included.
• Verizon Prepaid Talk & Text — $30/mo, no data, so no tethering.
• Straight Talk Bronze 10GB — $35/mo, none of substance.

How to use this table

1. Work out your real monthly tethering first. A full remote workday is roughly 2–5GB; a 4K film is 15–20GB; a game download can be 100GB on its own.
2. If that number is under about 20GB and steady, a speed-capped unlimited plan is usually cheaper and simpler.
3. If it’s bursty — heavy some months, nothing in others — buy an allowance instead, and check what happens after the cap. 125 Kbps is a cut-off; unlimited-slower is not.
4. Check the after-cap behaviour before the headline number. Cricket Supreme’s 50GB is excellent; its 125 Kbps aftermath means you must not exceed it.
5. Only then compare price. Hotspot is the one spec where the cheapest plan and the best plan are frequently the same, because the majors charge a premium for allowances most people never touch.

Do you want a dedicated hotspot device instead?

If you tether often, for several devices, or care about your phone’s battery, a separate MiFi unit is worth pricing — but the device matters less than the plan behind it. A $400 hotspot on a stingy data plan loses to a $30 plan with a free device every time.