Metro sells hotspot two different ways under the same word. Three of its plans give you unlimited tethering at 3G, and three give you a smaller pool that actually runs at full speed. Which kind you are buying is not obvious from the price, and on one pair of plans the cheaper one gives you more.
Hotspot on every Metro plan
| Plan | Price | Hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Metro 6-Month Unlimited | $20/mo | Unlimited at max 3G speeds — no high-speed allowance |
| Metro $25 | $25/mo | Unlimited at max 3G speeds — no high-speed allowance |
| Metro $30 | $30/mo | 10GB high-speed |
| Metro $40 Period | $40/mo | Unlimited at max 3G speeds — no high-speed allowance |
| Metro $50 | $50/mo | 8GB high-speed |
| Metro $60 | $60/mo | 25GB high-speed |
The unlimited tiers are 3G only
On the $20 six-month plan, the $25 plan and $40 Period, tethering is genuinely unmetered — nothing counts down and nothing switches off. It just runs at a maximum of 3G speed from the first megabyte. That is workable for email, messaging and light browsing on a laptop, and not for video calls, cloud backups or anything that expects a broadband connection.
The $30 plan carries more hotspot than the $50
Metro $30 includes 10GB of high-speed hotspot. Metro $50 includes 8GB. The $50 plan is the better phone plan — it raises the slowdown threshold to 50GB and adds 100GB of Google One and phone upgrades — but on tethering alone it is a downgrade that costs twenty dollars more.
If hotspot is the reason you are choosing, the ladder is $30 for 10GB, then straight to $60 for 25GB. The $50 tier is the one to skip.
The $60 plan is the only one without a slowdown
Metro $60 pairs the largest hotspot in the lineup, 25GB, with the only data allowance that is never slowed — there is no threshold behind it. It also carries Amazon Prime, HD video and $5 watch and tablet lines. For someone tethering regularly, it is the only Metro plan that behaves like a postpaid one.
The short version: $30 if you want high-speed hotspot cheaply, $60 if you want the most of it and no slowdown behind it. The unlimited-hotspot plans are worth buying for other reasons — price, simplicity, the flat $40 rate — but not for tethering.
Every plan with a hotspot allowance, ranked by what you get at full speed.
See the hotspot roundup →
Jean Gilles has researched personal finance, consumer technology, and wireless pricing for over a decade. He founded ShopCellPlans in 2019 and writes every review on the site.
Frequently asked questions
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