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Comment by lxgr | Hacker News Reader

Wi-Fi has the advantage of being usable on devices without a cell modem as well, such as most laptops, e-readers etc.

That said, now that many phones support dual-SIM, I do wish there was a low-friction way to connect to a local 5G network without downloading an eSIM profile and all that.

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Doesn't tethering (laptop <- wifi -> phone <- 5g -> internet) solve that?

Largely, but not everyone has unlimited data (especially not when traveling), and my laptop battery is much larger than my phone's too.

I’m currently charging my phone from my laptop. And tethering off my phone as the wifi on Amtrak (which could be great if it had a starlink dish on the top) is awful and keeps going back to unauthorised.

I haven’t really had much signal problem and I’m not travelling through particularly built up areas (on the New York to Miami train, nearing the GA/FL border)

That definitely works, but it requires a cable, balancing two devices on a potentially small seatback tray etc.

On most trains I've traveled on, Wi-Fi (if available) also works much better since the antenna for that is usually on top of the train, and windows are sometimes coated with a metallic paint to keep out solar radiation.

Nobody has unlimited data in reality, it's just a marketing term. All providers will throttle you down to nothing at some point sooner or later.

Throttling or deprioritization is a thing, but it's definitely not "nothing" across the board. How usable a deprioritized connection still is heavily depends on the network and location in question.

"(especially not when traveling)"

In the EU there are no roaming costs so it's not any different when travelling.

When I travel to Europe, my North America–only cell service doesn’t work at all. I definitely appreciate free Wi‐Fi at my destinations.

When I travel to North America, I get a 6 EUR/day data deal that transfers my EU 5G quota to the US. Demand better from your companies.

How does one “demand better” from a handful of giant corporations? Did you personally negotiate that plan with your phone operator?

Besides that, neither tethering (for reasons other than cost, mentioned above) nor international roaming (increased latency) are a perfect replacement for fast local Wi-Fi at this point.

It's that dreaded government intervention thing.

(also: increased latency for roaming?)

fwiw, T-Mobile works internationally, and esim data providers like airalo make it easy to have data at your destination.

That’s not quite true: There’s a limit to the amount of data usage your provider has to grant you at no additional cost, and mine enforces that. It works out to a 16 or so GB/month limit, on an otherwise >50 GB/month plan.

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