Net Buddy Legit

[becida]

Yes, hotspot works.

It a Straight Talk LG Stylo 3 from Walmart. It was $129.

See the screenshot I just took of it.

Thanks!  Appreciate the picture too!!

 

[RVTravel]

nm

 

[RogerD]

I've been using net buddy for 9 days.

I've been using about 3 GB a day.

I have had no problems except last night the speed was slow. Was only getting 1-5 Mbps. Most of the time it was on the low end.

Today I'm back to my 17+.

Maybe the tower was congested.

If it happens again, I will test taking the hotspot outside (I'm in a workshop with 2 bars) and I will also drive over to the tower and see what I get.

 

[patfromny]

Great review, thanks.  I wonder what is behind the net buddy plan?  Is it different from the 29.99 per month unlimited plans with 22GB de-prioritization that are sold on ebay?  Did you test with a netgear hotspot antenna or Wilson/weboost?

 

[RogerD]

It's $60 per month and is supposed to be unlimited with no throttling.

I have passed the 22GB mark.

Have not tested with an external antenna or any cell booster.

 

[becida]

I just plugged the simcard into the netgear aircard, it's great to have internet again!

 

[capt_caveman]

It's $60 per month and is supposed to be unlimited with no throttling.

I have passed the 22GB mark.

Have not tested with an external antenna or any cell booster.

thanks for sharing that 
sounds promising

 

[Orlimar1]

Great review, thanks.  I wonder what is behind the net buddy plan?  Is it different from the 29.99 per month unlimited plans with 22GB de-prioritization that are sold on ebay?  Did you test with a netgear hotspot antenna or Wilson/weboost?


I've heard some rumors that this is just a bunch of guys working together and setting up sim cards on the AT&T iPad prepaid plan.  They pay $30 for it, and then bill everyone else $60.  They would be making HUGE money!!!

 

[becida]

It's still working for me, it's working well & the cost is acceptable to me.  TANSTAAFL  (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch)

 

[RogerD]

I've been using net buddy for 4 weeks now.

Haven't been throttled, so the claims are legit.

I run the hotspot every day from about 8 am - midnight and the overwhelming majority of the time it works perfectly fine for me.

My only complaint has nothing to do with net buddy but rather the local ATT tower.

The speed is not consistent. On any given day at any time, I could be getting speeds that range from less than 2 to 21 Mbps. I assume this is just congestion. Thankfully there have only been a couple times when it was noticeably slow but never lasted more than 10-15 mins.

I suspect a router or booster would help. But since the majority of the time, it's fast enough for my needs that it doesn't warrant the investment.

One other thing to keep in mind is that I'm running it inside a workshop (concrete/steel). Which impedes the signal somewhat.

As a whole, I'm very happy so far with it.

 

[RVTravel]

RogerD which modem/hotspot are you using?

 

[RVTravel]

I found which modem you bought Roger.

 

[Rowdy18]

That's what I have now.

Straight Talk (actually TracFone) unlimited 4g LTE (Verizon)
LG Stylo 3 phone (can be used as a hotspot)

I'm not so sure it is really unlimited. If you read the fine print, they say...

At 60 GB, we reserve the right to review your account for usage in violation of Straight Talk's terms and conditions. 

60 GB is more than enough for what I do excluding watching movies.

That's what I'm getting net buddy for ... watching movies.

I've been using the straight talk method for a few months now, if you do the bring your own phone deal and have an unlocked Verizon phone you can use the hotspot no problem,  but the speeds are terrible I'm about to go with the netbuddy and see how that works out.

 

[Rowdy18]

I also have straight talk unlimited. If you read the fine print it says...

At 60 GB, we reserve the right to review your account for usage in violation of Straight Talk's terms and conditions.

So it doesn't sound like it is truly unlimited.

I got the LG Stylo 3 (Walmart) and it has tethering (hotspot) function.

I've went over 100 GB's once or twice and it still worked but I had to really stay on it to reach that much cause the speeds aren't very good from the start and it seemed the more data I used the worse it got.

 

[Rowdy18]

Does the hotspot function on the phone actually work with Straight Talk or is it disabled? Below is a line from the Straight Talk Ultimate Unlimited ($55/mo) plan page on Walmart.com ...

... "This Straight Talk plan gives almost any smart phone access to high-speed 4G LTE data, but cannot be used for personal hotspots."

I'm only a 50GB per month user, so it would still work for me as long as I can use it as a hotspot.

If you have a Verizon phone that is unlocked it does just by the bring your own phone kit, only works with Verizon from what I've heard that's what I'm using now.

 

[becida]

I've been using Net Buddy for over one month now with zero problems. The payment went thru paypal like it was supposed to.
Good enough for me!

 

[RogerD]

I've been using the straight talk method for a few months now, if you do the bring your own phone deal and have an unlocked Verizon phone you can use the hotspot no problem,  but the speeds are terrible I'm about to go with the netbuddy and see how that works out.

I consistently get 20-25 Mbps up and down with straight talk (verizon).

NetBuddy (AT&T) is always slower.

I really think it has to do with the towers in your area and if they are saturated or not.

I know a couple people with ATT and they get 40-80 Mbps. The best I have seen was about 22 Mbps and that's very infrequent. The tower by me seems to often be saturated and the speeds are all over the place. However,  I can't really complain. It always works and I'm happy with it for $60 per month.

 

[karwask]

I have no patience and just going to try it.

Paid for sim card, takes 2-4 days for delivery. 

Will buy a hotspot by Monday, as I have a question I'm waiting on net buddy to answer.

Will report back how well it works.

Hi Roger and everyone,

I'm just preparing for a long trip to the desert southwest for the winter, trying to figure out my internet access options and thinking of Net Buddy. I'm ready to "pull the trigger" so to speak but see that the hotspots and routers they sell are out of stock. Plan to buy the Netgear Unite Explore one on Amazon or elsewhere but just wanted to ask what to look out for? For example, I'm not so sure what locked or unlocked is in this context and GSM or not. Can anyone help me out by letting me know which of those is going to work for me? thanks in advance for info/insight. I'm excited that this will do the trick for me at an affordable price for, as you all say, as long as it lasts

Also, my cell service is with Verizon. But, there should not be a problem with me using the wifi network created with a hotspot with my phone, correct? 

thanks again

 

[RogerD]

Hi Roger and everyone,

I'm just preparing for a long trip to the desert southwest for the winter, trying to figure out my internet access options and thinking of Net Buddy. I'm ready to "pull the trigger" so to speak but see that the hotspots and routers they sell are out of stock. Plan to buy the Netgear Unite Explore one on Amazon or elsewhere but just wanted to ask what to look out for? For example, I'm not so sure what locked or unlocked is in this context and GSM or not. Can anyone help me out by letting me know which of those is going to work for me? thanks in advance for info/insight. I'm excited that this will do the trick for me at an affordable price for, as you all say, as long as it lasts

Also, my cell service is with Verizon. But, there should not be a problem with me using the wifi network created with a hotspot with my phone, correct? 

thanks again

They were out of stock when I ordered.

I purchased the hotspot from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Explore-Mobile-Rugged-Hotspot/dp/B01LR7ETHY

However, when I purchased, it was like $113.

Netbuddy is still working well. I checked my usage and my laptop showed 116 GB used for last 30 days.

 

[karwask]

They were out of stock when I ordered.

I purchased the hotspot from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Explore-Mobile-Rugged-Hotspot/dp/B01LR7ETHY

However, when I purchased, it was like $113.

Netbuddy is still working well. I checked my usage and my laptop showed 116 GB used for last 30 days.

Hi Roger,thanks. I just got my hotspot and yeah, was around $120 and set up Net Buddy and all is working amazingly well. Shockingly, able to stream from You Tube, etc. Could not be more pleased. Hope this lasts