This may be way off topic but I am looking into an alternative to my 3Mb DSL. A new neighbour said he configured his ipad to be a hot spot. I have a WIN10 laptop that I can dedicate to this hot spot but what else do I need besides a service provider and maybe a router.
My newtork is not very big, I have a Smart TV, wireless repeater and a wireless printer. I have 3 PC's/laptops but only one on at a time since I am the only user.
I have Tracfone for my cell service and they do not have hot spot capability. I am not looking to change mobile providers since I rarely use my cell phone now. My Tracfone plan cost $99 per year and I have lots of minutes left so I don't think I can get a better deal than this.
I have looked into both AT&T and Sprint for service and if I don't go overboard it is quite reasonable. I would use it for email, surfing and windows updates. If things are real good I might try Hulu or Apple Play but that is down the road. I have Netflix and Amazon Prime that does not buffer on my 3Mb DSL. My DirecTV does buffer if I want to view video that I missed.

any thoughts?
Regards,
wings515

Unless your laptop already has a cellular data card installed, it won't help you get hotspot connectivity. Your neighbor's iPad can function as a hotspot because it is a model of iPad that has cellular data capability built in. Since you already have a cell phone and service plan, you most likely would purchase a stand-alone cellular hotspot. This will provide you a connection to a cellular data network and a wifi connection to that data network for your computers, TVs and other devices.

As for streaming video through a hotspot, you better read the fine print and make sure that whatever data plan you subscribe to will give you enough monthly data to watch video without incurring overage charges.

I live in a rural area. My choices for home internet are satellite internet, Verizon wireless (if I use a roof antenna), and a regional cell carrier (if I'd cut many trees for their signal). I currently use a discontinued Verizon prepaid jetpack plan that's truly unlimited with no cap or slowdowns, other than full time deprioritization, since no one is on the tower it doesn't mean much. I average about 20 down, 15 up all day, 13 miles from the tower.

Lots of people use cell for home. Att isn't in my area at all, but they have some good options, depending how your service is. There's an iPad plan, for years people activate that, then move the Sim card into a jetpack or lte router. That's not official, but it's worked for a long time. Deprioritized after about 22gb I think? But people say it works great.

They also have a home cell plan in limited areas, you could check. https://www.att.com/internet/fixed-wireless/

There are possibly other options, depends on how good your coverage is.

Most phone plans with hotspot added have limits that make it not practical for streaming, at least in HD.

New TracFone including a year of service. Verizon towers I think, but didn't verify. https://slickdeals.net/f/13603213-hsn-motorola-moto-e5-5-7-16gb-tracfone-w-8mp-camera-1500-min-text-data-49-99-or-less-w-free-shipping?src=SiteSearch

Tracfone's eBay store sometimes has better deals for the year of service alone. Be sure to select the right carrier, sometimes they go out of stock. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tracfone-Prepaid-Wireless-Smartphone-Plan-SIM-1200-Min-1200-Txt-3GB-Data/283448464240

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/cd5y9f/att_ipadmobile_hotspot_megathread/

I didn't reread what I wrote before, but I think the iPad plan is $35 a month if I didn't say that.

I looked into my data usage, I'm not the only one using my Internet through Verizon, used almost 300GB this month. People report using well over 1,000. Just as fast today as on day one.

As was said, if you look at anything, really check the fine print. HD Video or higher uses a LOT of data, even standard definition can add up. Many plans may say "unlimited", but they may only include about 15GB (or other amount) of "fast", then after that it's too slow to stream any video. They call it unlimited, which it is because they don't cut you off, but you may not be able to do everything with it. It varies a lot, but with HD video, Netflix says "up to" 3GB an hour. So, most capped plans won't work well for very long.

Tmobile also has a home internet option in limited areas. They also don't cover my area at all, so I haven't paid a lot of attention to them. You can check here, if it's in your area, they'll let you know. https://www.t-mobile.com/ISP