Mobile Hotspots

After a winter trip that sometimes included excellent WiFi, sometimes not so good WiFi and most of the time going to other places to access the internet like local libraries and Starbucks, I've decided to look into Mobile Hotspots. I admit, I had never heard of it until about a month ago while in a WalMart looking around the electronics department. I know a lot of you folks probably have the device. I've read about Monkey 44 talking about Verizon and LamSan talking about MiFi. Please tell me what you know about what you have and why you chose it. I'm looking for something without a contract, probably a pay as you go deal whenever I'm on the road. I'm going to the local AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon stores next week and will talk to the folks there. But, the best information comes from people that have used it. Thank you.

have had virozin for the last 3years, have always ben able to get a signal . Like it on my phone but have a contract that is cheaper than TWC. And less agrovating than most camp ground wifi. We will be going full time in Jan. and intend on using it for communication with the Famley .

Thanks ICE MAN. Can you do Verizon Mobile WiFi without having their phone service also? Do you have to sign a contract for a year or two? I have AT&T cell phone and understand that I can go with any company for Mobile WiFi and don't have to have phone service from them. Is this true?

Frank:

We have Verizon hotspot (5GB) for years and have never gone over the allowance. Cost $50 a month.

We don't have ISP at home, we use the hotspot on the road and at home.

The only issue: We don't watch or download movies because it uses too much of the allowance ... if you watch movies, it runs into an overcharge of about $10 per movie ... otherwise, it gives us all the web service we need. Any time you watch videos (news or other videos on the web) it uses more allowance than regular web browsing, so a lot of 'news video watching' can run over too. But you can read a many as a million pages, if you just read it.

We have Sprint cell, so you don't need the same cell as WIFI ...

We've been in some very rural and back-country areas and still get service, although there have been occasions where we got no service if distant from any towns, but not often and it's usually fairly close if you drive around and find it.

We've been camping in remote areas where we had no service for days at a time, because we were remote, not because the service failed.

You can get some better deals, but I would stay with one of the major servers ... Sprint - Verizon, as you never know how long some "deals" will last if the company folds ... Get the 4G level of service, even if it's not available where you are, it will be soon as the systems upgrade nationwide.

Thanks Monkey. My brother has Verizon and pretty much told me the same thing. I'll know more this week after visiting the stores. I have Comcast at home and very satisfied with it but they don't do cell phones and mobile hotspots. So I don't want to sign a long contract. I may have to to get a good one but still going to look at a pay as you go. I don't watch movies on my computer and very few news videos. Your information was very helpful to me. Thanks.

Frank, we have had our mobile hot spot for about a year, and we would not be without it. While I do agree with everything Monkey wrote, I must add one thing about usage. Like Monkey, we have the 5GB/$50/month plan; they do have higher data plans should you need one, and their plans do require a contract – 2 years. No biggie, the convenience is well worth it! Movies, streaming music, downloads (updates to resident software, etc.) will all impact your monthly allowance. Also, Verizon had a known “bug” in their usage-tracking software for a while that has not entirely gone away; the “bug” would, on occasion, post more data than actually used for a given session. While I have not experienced the problem since early March of this year, I just wanted to make you aware of it.

John