Visible Wireless Feedback

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Just realized that Visible is not using Verizon's infrastructure beyond the towers. Realized that my laptop was not doing location for Google Maps - found me in KS somewhere, not SC, where I am. Wife complained about her laptop time being one hour off - network time set to Central not Eatern, where we are. Not a huge deal, just interesting.
Gee, that would be a feature for me 😀 I don’t like them knowing where I am.
 
We left our camphost gig in SC this AM, spending the afternoon and night at Winston-Salem Fair Grounds, NC. Visible is getting me a consistant 25 Mbs down/10Mbs up here. (y) My wife used her laptop for 2 hours while on the road, I-85, participating in a Zoom meeting - had No issues at all.
 
We've used over 150 GB a month on a number of occasions with no complaints from Visible.
Hi Dutch-- trying to figure out how to check data usage. We have the Visible SIM in our MiFi hotspot. Of course if I connect to 192.168.1.1 nothing shows up as data usage in the Verizon admin. I can drill down to see data usage in each connected device, but is there a way see to the total data through the hotspot?
 
Hi Dutch-- trying to figure out how to check data usage. We have the Visible SIM in our MiFi hotspot. Of course if I connect to 192.168.1.1 nothing shows up as data usage in the Verizon admin. I can drill down to see data usage in each connected device, but is there a way see to the total data through the hotspot?
I use data usage tracking apps on my various devices and just add them up. I estimate the Hopper based on online hours.
 
I realize this is an old thread but that may actually work in my favor.

Mrs Muddypaws consumes an incredible amount of data. On our last 8 day trip she used 13Gigs, and our 'unlimited' Verizon plan throttles down to useless at 15. That's my reason for resurrecting this old thread.

We have an Elipsis 815 jet pack. Has anybody gotten one to work with Visible?

The other option is to tether one of our phones (on Visible) to a wifi router. Any tips on how to do that? I'm not adverse to flashing new firmware on a router. I have several of them laying around gathering dust.

In general how has Visible been working for you? How is actual coverage?

Thanks,
russ
 
Visible has been working great for us. We have it tethered to a GL.iNet AR 7505 router. That eliminates the one device connection issue and the 5MB speed limit on the hotspot. We bought Visible's cheapest phone since we didn't have one that is compatible. Chuck
 
This is the router I used to tether a Verizon MiFi 7730 that I got off EBAY. The power to the router will power the MiFi through the usb connection. Works well for us when there is Verizon coverage. We used it to create a local network in the RV that matched our home network - laptops, phones and printer. Will be adding a security cam or two this year. I started out with an old iPhone 6 for the Visible chip just to test - then moved it to the MiFi. You will need to activate the Visible service from a phone, via the Visible APP. Get in a Visible Party and get service for $25/month. Unlimited data but throttled (most of the time) at 5Mb. Still it served our purposes of web browsing, facetiming with the grandkids, my wife's on line meetings using Zoom and streaming movies/TV with an Amazon Firestick. Completely satisfied. So for about a $100 outlay in equipment we are connected.
 
Chuck mentions a good one - you need a compatible phone (listing on Visible's web site) to get the SIM and service activated.
 
Visible does NOT throttle your data. They do have a 5MBPS speed cap, which is not throttling, on using the phone as a hotspot. There is no speed cap on tethering. But you can only use one device at a time either tethering or as a hotspot. That is where the tethering to a router comes in. It's important to understand the distinctions. Chuck
 
I guess I think of "throttle" differently than you. Cap/Throttle, in this case are very similar, to me. And, they, Visible, do NOT always CAP the data!
You need to do your own assessment. Actually, it's not Visible doing any of the data control - it's Verizon using a method similar to VLAN Tagging (identifying the traffic and controlling it). We used a very similar technology at my university job to control the wireless lan - "traffic prioritization". It's not a sure thing - that's why I see varing rates of data on my Visible service.
 
and our 'unlimited' Verizon plan throttles down to useless at 15.
My verizon has passed 15 for the month, but I can still do everything I did before the 15 giggles limit. Even watching cooking videos and campground videos and stuff like that is alright to watch.

What happens to your verizon hot spot BOX (not phone hotspot) when you pass 15?
 
I guess I think of "throttle" differently than you. Cap/Throttle, in this case are very similar, to me. And, they, Visible, do NOT always CAP the data!
You need to do your own assessment. Actually, it's not Visible doing any of the data control - it's Verizon using a method similar to VLAN Tagging (identifying the traffic and controlling it). We used a very similar technology at my university job to control the wireless lan - "traffic prioritization". It's not a sure thing - that's why I see varing rates of data on my Visible service.
Hi Phil,

Trying to get my head around the difference between connecting via a Visible phone's hotspot as opposed to connecting to a tethered router. Chuckbear said that there is "no speed cap on tethering" and if I'm understanding your comments about Verizon's VLAN Tagging, they (Verizon) knows the difference?

For example, say I'm in an area with a very strong Verizon signal, connected to the internet via my Verizon MiFi hotspot with the Visible SIM. The max transfer rate I'll get is 5MBPS however if I connect using a tethered router, that 5MBPS no longer applies? If not, what would typically be the difference in MBPS?

Just seems strange to me that it would work this way. But hey, Verizon never asked me for my advice.

Also, routers such as this GL.iNet are advertised as "Travel routers". Not sure what makes them advertised that way other than I suppose the small size and various built in VPN compatibility. (?)
 
I don't see a difference in speed, hotspot phone or hotspot MiFi. Travel=Small, I guess. Small is very common in technology today, it can be powered from a usb port. The speed difference I've seen (those in excess of 5Gb) have been relative to a particular area (I would suppose the tower and the supporting network infrastructure).
 
If you read Visibles prospectus it says that hotspot speeds are limited to 5Gbps. Tethering is not a hotspot and as near as I can tell from searching the web it is not limited.

I tried tethering my iPhone to my computer and couldn't get it to work at all. As soon as I selected the iPhone as the network interface it just disappeared. I know in my professional life we used to have to download software from Verizon....VZ(something). I'm wondering if that's still the case.
 
If you read Visibles prospectus it says that hotspot speeds are limited to 5Gbps. Tethering is not a hotspot and as near as I can tell from searching the web it is not limited.

I tried tethering my iPhone to my computer and couldn't get it to work at all. As soon as I selected the iPhone as the network interface it just disappeared. I know in my professional life we used to have to download software from Verizon....VZ(something). I'm wondering if that's still the case.
Visible phones support both tethering and hotspot use. Whether tethering works or not would depend on having the correct drivers installed on your PC.
 
Hi Phil,

Trying to get my head around the difference between connecting via a Visible phone's hotspot as opposed to connecting to a tethered router. Chuckbear said that there is "no speed cap on tethering" and if I'm understanding your comments about Verizon's VLAN Tagging, they (Verizon) knows the difference?

For example, say I'm in an area with a very strong Verizon signal, connected to the internet via my Verizon MiFi hotspot with the Visible SIM. The max transfer rate I'll get is 5MBPS however if I connect using a tethered router, that 5MBPS no longer applies? If not, what would typically be the difference in MBPS?

Just seems strange to me that it would work this way. But hey, Verizon never asked me for my advice.

Also, routers such as this GL.iNet are advertised as "Travel routers". Not sure what makes them advertised that way other than I suppose the small size and various built in VPN compatibility. (?)
The 5MBPS speed limit will not apply if you put the Visible sim in a mifi device. However, some have had their accounts canceled by Visible for using these mifi's. They can tell. The speed limit only applies to using a Visible compatible phone as a hotspot. It also only allows one connection. Tethering the Visible compatible phone does not have a speed limit but does limit you to one connection, whatever your tethered to. But, if you tether the phone to a router and connect to the router and not the phone, you bypass both the 5MBPS speed limit and the one device limit since you are connecting through the router and not the phone. The phone is tethered to the router, a single connection, and since it is tethered, there is no speed limit. Hope this helps. Chuck
 
Spent some time reading Visible's info on their web page today. Interesting. Lots of ill-gotten info floating around the internet. I chatted for a while with a chat representative too. Not much of the info that has been expressed here is backed by Visible. They advertise 5-12 Mb on a device with no total limits (more if you have a 5g device and connection). I believe most of the variables we see and hear about are a result of different cell sights, utilization and glitches in their controls. Though we have never seen less than 5Gb throughput, except on an obviously poor connection. Can't do any testing where I am (home) because we are on the Canadian boarder and connected to Canadian towere most of the time. Will be making another short trip in a couple weeks and have more opportunity then.
 
The 5MBPS speed limit will not apply if you put the Visible sim in a mifi device. However, some have had their accounts canceled by Visible for using these mifi's. They can tell.
My Visible SIM has been in a couple of different hotspots since Oct. 2019 with no complaints from Visible. If they want to drop me for only using one of the three services I'm paying for, that's ok. I'll just open a new account and carry on tethering a phone...
 
The 5MBPS speed limit will not apply if you put the Visible sim in a mifi device. However, some have had their accounts canceled by Visible for using these mifi's. They can tell. The speed limit only applies to using a Visible compatible phone as a hotspot. It also only allows one connection. Tethering the Visible compatible phone does not have a speed limit but does limit you to one connection, whatever your tethered to. But, if you tether the phone to a router and connect to the router and not the phone, you bypass both the 5MBPS speed limit and the one device limit since you are connecting through the router and not the phone. The phone is tethered to the router, a single connection, and since it is tethered, there is no speed limit. Hope this helps. Chuck

Got it. Appreciate the detailed explanation. As for the "they can tell" part. If they have cancelled some for going the MiFi route but not others, I'm left to wonder just how they make these decisions.

Apparently they have technology that can can enforce data limits when it comes to their SIM in a phone, but when it comes to the tether strategies some use, in a way it's a "loophole" that requires them to selectively cancel an account if some sort of criteria is met.

I'll continue to use the MiFi and hope that even if they see I'm in breach of contract, they'll realize a what nice guy I am and leave me alone. :):rolleyes:
 

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