cheap ISP for low-bandwidth use?

[Tom Roche]

David Schwartz http://lists.phxlinux.org/lurker/message/20151030.104745.78183ae4.en.html
> http://dealnews.com/Used-Netgear-Zing-Hotspot-for-Freedom-Pop-for-40-free-shipping/1490203.html

Thanks for the link, but it's not the ISP's device pricing that matters to me as much as the ISP's data pricing. After clicking through a few screens, one discovers that the device "deal" above is linked to a FreedomPop {$30, 2 Gb}/mo plan (after first month free). That's *much* more expensive than my previous, now-discontinued plan:

Tom Roche http://lists.phxlinux.org/lurker/message/20151027.194425.556c2517.en.html
>> ~2012 (IIRC) TWC raised their internet-only price to (IIRC) >60 $/mo. I raised both middle fingers and switched to FreedomPop's {$24, 10 Gb}/mo [home plan]

Plus I'm guessing/hoping I can do substantially better than that--mostly because, in my brief research of this topic, ISTM mobile data is majorly overpriced:

- FreedomPop wants me to believe that 15 $/Gb is a "deal" ???

- StraightTalk wants 10.7 $/Gb (see https://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/serviceplans/hotspotserviceplans )

Why so @#$%^&! expensive? Is this just corporate gouging, or am I missing something?

One additional datum, reiterated for the benefit of any OP who might consider transacting with them:

>> [FreedomPop] had very bad customer service/support, which I was barely able to tolerate given the price delta with local competition.

Given our history, I'd hafta see FreedomPop offer a seriously cheap data rate before I would do business with them again. TracFone, by comparison, gives a *much* better "customer experience," but alas TracFone has no hotspot plan, and IIUC TracFone punishes tethering aggressively. (Which seems odd for prepaid data, but that's another question.)