StraightTalk Enables Mobile Hotspot on Unlimited Smartphone Plans

StraightTalk is a TracFone brand that provides prepaid, no-contract phone service on the Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile networks.

While they have offered data only plans for mobile hotspot devices for years, their smartphone plans have never officially include the use of personal mobile hotspot.

Last week however, they did sneak in the ability to turn on personal mobile hotspot on their $55/month unlimited smartphone plan - to include up to 10GB of mobile hotspot use.

Update: Seems that the hotspot feature ONLY works on Verizon and T-Mobile based plans.

#straighttalk

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Update: Seems that the hotspot feature ONLY works on Verizon and T-Mobile based plans, according to StraightTalk reps.

[holdmybeerboy]

My only problem is im paying for truely unlimited data, hotspot runs off mobile data. But I only have 10gb. So then im not getting truely unlimited and its false advertisement

[earlwood]

See, this is pure greed. We basically had a great setup, where it was unlimited hotspotting. Where I live, I can't get decent internet, and straight talk had been my go to for a year and a half. But as of these last two weeks, I couldn't figure out why my hotspot just stopped. Its a hard cap, straight just cuts you off. Not reduced hotspot speeds, which is pretty much the standard anymore. They were great, but no longer. I'm going to be finding a new service provider.

[JJ-bvfy]

Figures, switched over to Verizon so I could hot spot to my laptop. Straight Talk punished me for using Hot-Spot and shut off my data completely after a top-up and I lost all that data. I was with Straight Talk for 11 years and will never go back. You'd figure spending $720 a year on Straight Talk service they would let you slide now and then on Hot Spot.

[howardroark]

As a Visible customer I will advise others that they are a good carrier for iPhone users and hit-and-miss for Android devices. I brought an unlocked Samsung S9+ to Visible and they could not ever get it activated. So I bought an S9+ from Visible...and they could not get it activated. So I returned it for an iPhone XR. It activated on the 1st try. Also be aware that Visible uses only VZW's owned 4G towers but not any of the towers that VZW leases from small rural carriers - meaning you will have no coverage in areas where VZW downgrades to 3G or slower coverage. So road warriors should pay very very close attention to the Visible coverage map.

[csjmoore]

Thanks for updates. My wife just started the Verizon pre-pay for $35/mo w unlimited text/data and 6 GB data + hot spot. Happy so far.

[paulprice]

they are advertising "now with 10gb hotspot" as though you are getting a better deal. I've been using thier hotspot for 8 months and never been throttled. now just 2 weeks in to my plan, on now cut off!

straight talk is that they have become even more greedy.

I bought another 55 dollar plan and if my hotspot doesn't connect...I'm done with them. I'm not stupid and I don't buy into thier make it worse but make it sound like its better philosophy b's.

[Treevar]

I love how it was truly unlimited until they activated Hotspot and put a limit on such a joke they advertise like they improved something just made it worse

[braytonporter]

Dumbest move they ever made. Seriously, 10 gb of mobile hotspot is atrocious. It was unlimited back in the day. Now? Not anymore. Time to reconsider providers.

[bulldurham]

This is true and untrue. They had unlimited with certain phones to begin with. But they slowed you down after a certain use of GBs. Now they let you only use 10gbs and they cut you off. Ok so you are getting screwed. I changed the next day that I was cut off.

[essentialjudge]

I've used Straight Talk for about eight years I haven't had a single problem running on a Verizon tower and I've been hotspot in the whole time all of my stuff at my house I have no cables run to my house. I've consumed 40 gb. and no buffering. $60.80

[ericmcginnis]

I bought the $100 Samsung prepaid at Walmart and a $55 unlimited card! I have connected to TV'S android radios and what I like best is that once logged into wifi even once your straight talk card expires you can still use the hotspot through wifi to power devices! I find that pretty cool! For example I have a smart TV and my phone is signed into wifi but since I don't know the password I can't sign my TV on to the wifi but I use the phones hotspot to power the TV and so far it seems unlimited or at least I have been doing it for a while!

[babyawol]

Hey everyone, I have the Straight Talk J3. I just bought it on Black Friday. I was planning on getting wifi for the tablet I bought my daughter but, this phone has hotspot. I use the unlimited card. The J3 I just bought was $59 and has hotspot. Hopefully it'll continue to work, so far so good!

[TheRittdk]

Oh that's probably why mine stopped working. I've had mobile hotspot on my LG Fiesta 4 years. It seemed like things quit working when I went to the multiplan. We actually don't even need that plan anymore because we have internet at home and work now so I'm going to downgrade. What happened the hotspot for small things like sending things out for my work on the road really helps. I'll have to try that

[DawnNunoBettencourtGal]

I have used hotspot the last two years! When you got up too 10 mb it just slowed down, I also used up too 60mb depending how much you used it, Most new STphones do NOT have hotspot, so had to buy another one older model. It saves you alot of money too without having too pay ATT too, as long as you dont abuse it ST will keep on, I only could hook up just my laptop only and not my tablet at the same time, so dont go sharing too much lol.. this phone here has hotspot LG Rebel 2 LTE (L58VL) - Straight Talk Android phone found it on Ebay pd 35.00, thanks.

[realopinions]

They blocked my phone from using it as a hot spot sending me a message that said I was using it as a hot spot and it was not In my plan even though the prepaid card I bought from Walmart for $55.00 a month unlimited high-speed mobile data that include 10 gigs of high speed data, when I txt them back they sent me responding txt that my txt was not a valid txt.

[kenevans]

I can confirm that PDANet+ still works. Which is what I use as a workaround since they pushed an update to my phone disabling hotspot usage. I live on a campground in the middle of nowhere and the WiFi here never works. This is pretty much my only option. Other than paying ridiculous amounts of money for a unlimited contract data plan, or for satellite internet. Also, in my experience, they will pretty much always shut your data off at the 60Gb limit. I mainly just do a lot of online gaming and video streaming. Which should be nowhere near violating their terms of service. Somehow though, they always deem what I use my data for as against their terms of service. However, since I've started using PDANet+, they haven't shut my data off due to usage since.

[axllebeer]

Nice to see this, but can't compare to the new Visible party plans. True unlimited with hotspot when you have a "party" of 4 lines it's only $25 per line. If you have just 1 line then it's $40 like you said.

[triunity]

Straight talk is terrible, low cell service and the hotspot works for a week then they cut u off NOT WORTH THE MONEY.

[dragonindo]

I paid for the $65 plan and everything came on but the hotspot but yet it's worked all the other months