that statue got some six pack abs

I’ll check that router out and see what kind of deals I can get on sim cards. Long term solution will either be a 5 G router like you mentioned or starlink.

I had 2 mint mobile plans with 15 Gb/month for total 30Gb/mo and I tethered and hotspotted it for 6 months until I bricked an old pixel 1 because of battery issues. Pixels are a lot better now but 6+ hrs of surfing a day is still probably an extreme use case. Routers have better thermal design and much cheaper to replace. I can also download occasional vids, movies and new linux distros onto a usb stick at the library which is only a few miles away. I just don’t have a lot of confidence that a mobile phone can handle it every day many hours for two years. Starting to lean towards mint internet and mint mobile for phone.

I bricked an OG pixel 1 due to battery swelling 8 years ago so that weighs heavy on my mind. Somebody is laying fiber nearby but the advertising suggests locking into 2 year contract to get speed and cost comparable to xinfinity. I’m almost certainly moving to another state in 2026 and they require payback if you cancel early. I have looked into starlink maybe $60 home (no mobile) or $100 ish for mobile setup. If I’m on the road that might be an option in 2026 but then I would have to make melon even richer than he already is. A lot of commenters online suggest that google fi’s deal with tmobile provides better coverage than mint but I’m not certain of that.

No games and no streaming so just web surfing and occasionally youtube vids. I am extremely online tho so it adds up. I’m not really worried about using more than 50Gb hotspot a month. You’re right about the minternet being an unknown but I did have a mint mobile phone plan a few years ago and the speed was comparable to xinfinity.

Already replied to my own post twice. Three times a charm. I’m trying to find a mobile failure curve but can’t find any with the time axis labeled other than a ‘time’:

My vibes based analysis suggest 2 year average %10 duty cycle (2 hrs day) but using a phone as a router for 6+ hrs a day is an extreme use case.

Found out I can get a Pixel 10 for $100 more upfront. Also get pixel 4 watch for additional $150 upfront which then gets amortized 24 months on a watch data plan for $7 off plus $30 25Gb watch data plan. Have to keep the watch data plan for 4 months to keep the $300 watch discount. If I cancel the watch data plan after 4 months I only get $7 off for 4 months on the $150 rebate. Summarizing: Google pixel 10 & google pixel 4 watch Google Fi unlimited phone plan 50 Gb phone only and 50 Gb hotspot data /month and pixel 4 lte watch with 25Gb data for 4 months. Cost of everything amortized over 24 months (canceling watch data after 4 months) would cost me $67 month or Pixel 9A google fi no watch $55 monthly over 2 years.

Currently have shitcast home internet $67/mo and $13/mo Tello plan so I would get all that and still save $13/mo or more for pixel 9A. Alternately I could pay $400 to mint mobile and have home internet and unlimited phone plan for a year amortized 12months thats $40/month. By the time I make a decision the pixels will be sold out. God I hate making these kind of decisions I’m getting level 5 anxiety rn.

Problem with pixel Fi is if it fails I go dark. I would have to use library internet to get things worked out. I currently have iphone 14 but I am NOT going to risk using it for home internet. In these scenarios the iphone goes dormant or wifi for a year or two. This is why I’m considering the pixel or minternet router. I don’t have time now but for future proofing I’m going to investigate a $25 mobile router and $100 25GB 1year data card from eiotclub

Surprising number of us military gwot casualties were heart attacks, strokes, bee stings, food poisoning, driving humvee into Euphrates river etc.

I’ve used google fi and mint mobile in the past. They both use t-mobile. google fi works everywhere and mint will work fine at current location but could be hard to switch and will need a new plan in a year regardless so I’m inclined to go with Fi.

Read a book once from a 70’s LA studio musician and they were saying eagles,stealy dan, fleetwood mac, zevon, doobie brothers were all close friends and used the same studio musicians on all their albums. Iirc it was the guy that did the famous lead guitar track on realin in the years