portable wi fi hot spot

[parttymer]

I'm getting prepared for retirement in a few months, and am researching internet connectivity while on the road. I came across this item at Best Buy, and wonder if anyone has any experience with this product or something similar that works. I plan to have a part time consulting business while I'm travelling, and need something more reliable than the camp ground wi fi. Best buy offers it for $50 with a two year contract with Verizon which is also my cell phone provider. According to the kid at Best Buy, I can't get this through Verizon as a bundle with my phone service.

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SCH-LC11ZKAVZW

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Stan

[NY_Dutch]

If you're a heavier data user than the Verizon plan allows, you may find the Millenicom 4G hotspot plan a better deal. It does require more money up front, but there's no contract and no taxes added on. The plan uses the same Samsung MiFi device and also uses the Verizon network.

[Gary RV Roamer]

Cell modems and the "Myfi" type device you linked to are popular choices and generally work quite well anywhere there is halfway decent cellular service. I have the 3g version of the device you mentioned, basically the same but a slower in areas where 4g service is available.  You won't find much 4g service in campgrounds yet - you have to be near a metropolitan area.

Verizon is a better choice than AT&T if you tend to camp in rural areas; both have excellent service in metro areas. Sprint is a viable alternate choice for cell service.

I'm not sure what the "kid at Best Buy" means by a "bundle". Verizon would be happy to sell you the Samsung wifi modem, but maybe they don't have the same pricing as Best Buy.  By the way, there are other similar devices as well. Here is one that is free with a new contract:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5633
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5636

[Gary RV Roamer]

There is an article in the RV Forum Library called Getting Internet On the Road and another called Internet Access for the RVer. I suggest you read both.

[John From Detroit]

You will see a lot of folks talking about Mi-Fi or My-Fi  on the forums. That is what that product is.   It is a cell phone data module with a built in wi-fi router.

Now, I see folks have mentioned issues such as the bandwidth limits and such.  And I will point out that though one company or another may brag about their coverage NOBODY has 100% coverage save the Satellite providers and even they have shadowed spots.


But.. it is about the best of the choices out there.   I am using very good park Wi-Fi this week... Next week... not so good.

If you get any kind of Wi-Fi "hotspot" read up on Wi-Fi secuirty and make a few changes as suggested.  Leaving it "Defaulted" gives anyone with the brains to download an owner's manual full access to your connection.

[parttymer]

Thanks for the responses. Off to do more research. This was very helpful.

Stan

[SVTotem]

Stan,
I have been using that product for a while now and I am happy with it. A drawback with this particular model is the lack of a port for an external antenna. If I were to do it again I would get the Verizon model that allows hooking up to an outside antenna.

As mentioned earlier, there are limits to the amount of data used per month so check that against your business needs. Battery life is short, so I usually have it plugged in to power when in service. Coverage is not universal so you will still need to use park wifi in some locations, and there still may be some places where you just will not be able to get online.

Such is life on the road I guess. It is amazing how accustomed we get to all of this connectivity. I just spent a week in the Bahamas without TV and Internet and it felt like detox. I had to go to a neighboring island each day to poach wifi for our blog updates.

[taoshum]

I'm getting prepared for retirement in a few months, and am researching internet connectivity while on the road. I came across this item at Best Buy, and wonder if anyone has any experience with this product or something similar that works. I plan to have a part time consulting business while I'm travelling, and need something more reliable than the camp ground wi fi. Best buy offers it for $50 with a two year contract with Verizon which is also my cell phone provider. According to the kid at Best Buy, I can't get this through Verizon as a bundle with my phone service.

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SCH-LC11ZKAVZW

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Stan

I guess you know that you can use your phone as a mobile hotspot... up to 5 devices or tethered with one.  I guess if you need to talk on the phone and get data... at the same time... this would not work.  With 4G, up to 10.  Vz cuts you a little bit of slack for being over 65, LOL.

[docj]

  You won't find much 4g service in campgrounds yet - you have to be near a metropolitan area.

Over the past six months the definition of a Verizon 4G "metropolitan area" has been greatly expanded to include places like Boise ID and Hagerstown MD. For the first half of 2011 it was hardly worth having 4G, now we encounter it quite frequently.  IMHO it is no longer sensible to buy 3G-only devices for use on the Verizon system since the penetration of 4G will continue to increase significantly throughout 2012. 

I believe the Verizon plan is for voice and data to be combined in a VOIP-like system in ~2013 when 4G is available throughout most of the network.  At that point voice would be billed in accordance with its data usage and not by the minute.  At least that was the plan as it was explained to me about 6 months ago.

[scottydl]

For anyone with hotspot experience on a 3G/4G cell connection, what are the average download/upload speed you are seeing?

[BernieD]

For anyone with hotspot experience on a 3G/4G cell connection, what are the average download/upload speed you are seeing?

Scott

I don't think I have ever had over 1 MBps on 3G. I've hit 25 MBps with 4G. I've also had speeds on both under 50 KBps. It's kind of like the guy who drowned in a river that averaged only 1' deep. It depends on location to tower and volume of traffic.

[docj]

Scott

I don't think I have ever had over 1 MBps on 3G. I've hit 25 MBps with 4G. I've also had speeds on both under 50 KBps. It's kind of like the guy who drowned in a river that averaged only 1' deep. It depends on location to tower and volume of traffic.

If you're at 50kbps your connection has switched to 1XrTT which is "below" 3G in the hierarchy.  You can't easily tell if you use a modem, but my 4G phone displays the type of connection.  In a number of the "4G cities" we've been in there must be a limited number of 4G connections in a given cell so the display will periodically switch between 4G and 3G.  And every once in a while the display will be 1X and you know things have gotten really bad.  We spend an entire week at Mark Twain Lake near Hannibal MO with a 1X connection.  It was better than dialup but not by much.

Speeds of 500kpbs-1.2Mbps are pretty common with 3G; once in a while I've run speedtest.net and seen ~2Mbps.  With 4G the normal on speedtest is ~4-8Mbps but I have seen speeds as high as ~25Mbps.

[Gary RV Roamer]

My 3g download speeds range anywhere from 100 kbps to 1.1Mbps, depending on signal quality in my area and  the number of other people accessing the tower at the same time, as well as what those other people are doing. I'd say that 700-800 kbps is fairly typical.

[Uncle Doug]

We use a portable wi-fi 3G/4G device from Sprint. About $69 a month. We have used it for about 18 months now. We bought it to use at home and on the road. As we live in rural 3G area we were maxing out the data limit using as a home device, Unlimited 4G data (if you can find 4G). Ended up adding cable internet at home as excess data fees are high. We still use it when we are on the road unless there is free internet available. What I like about it is that more than one wireless device can connect (with password) so my wife can use her laptop at the same time I am on mine. Undecided if I will renew the contract or not, I may just make the jump to a smart phone.

[SoEzzy]

We use our Sprint cell phones, unlimited data, and we either use it as a hotspot, or tether to a Windows 7 laptop and then hotspot the laptop, the second method gives the slightly better service accessibility throughout the whole MH, and outside!

I spent a lot of last summer enjoying the campgrounds we were in, outside the MH while the DW was staying inside away from the bugs, we can sit at the same side of the table, she will be eaten alive, I get the occasional bite!    

[MikeCoke]

Is anyone using an Apple iPhone 4 as a portable Hotspot? If you are how many GB are you usingin a month?
This month will be our first full month using one as out internet provider and in the first 10 day of use I have used  1.159 GB and the 10th day si not over yet. The service plan we are on with Verizon gives us unlimited Data on the iPhone and for $20 we get the hotspot with 2 GB extra BGs cost $20 per 1GB.  At the rate I am using I will end up using 3.5 GB in the month and that will cost me $60 .
So for me I guess it will be better for us to go back to using the Datastorm dish for internet.
Mike