Wireless Data

If one has a Rev. A phone and tethers it is no slower than a Rev. A data card. The advantage to using a data card as a consumer is that it frees up your phone for voice calls. That is pretty much it to me and I hate the idea of signing a contract just for a data card. I'd rather have a second phone (and I do XV-6900 with WinMo 6.1 so it IS Rev. A). Now the cost of adding the feature to a normal phone is $59.99. The cost of adding the feature to a smarthphone/PDA depends on the data plan. Your total data is always going to end up $59.99. If one has the Email and Web $29.99 then tethering is $30. If one has the Unlimited PDA/Blackberry $44.99 then tethering is $15. There are a lucky few who were able to stick the $15 feature on their $29.99 plan. What actually happened was Data in the past was $44.99 for all phones. When Verizon started offering the $29.99 data plan initially some reps swapped customers over to it and LEFT them on the $15 tether option. Verizon fixed that by matching the tether to the data plan. Consumers beware. Most sales reps are going to try to talk you into adding the modem rather than the feature as it is a new activation for them. What you really need to ask yourself is how often will you be tethering. If it is a great deal then you may need to add the modem because you can't make calls on your phone while tethering. But it IS a contract required unless you are willing to fork out $200 plus for full retail (or buy a used one off ebay) and go month to month.