so.... its wifi, but they charge you for how much you use? thats the same concept as data usage then... i was under the impression if youre on wifi you arnt using data for running pandora or facebook or something. it might be worth it to open the hot spot open for the summer months to avoid large bills
wifi is a lan technology. you still need a wan technology to route your data to Internet. The rf on your phone is the wan link which is where carriers bill.