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Unlimited Data – Verizon and others
Last weekend Verizon started offering an
Unlimited Data, Text, Talk plan. You can upgrade online, however you must
be enrolled in the Auto pay and paperless billing to get Unlimited Data.
Cost me $10 more than my 12 Gig Data plan. These prices are being described as
an introductory offer, so it’s possible they will change in the near future.T-Mobile
Not to be outdone, the very next day T-Mobile
entered the fray. In direct response to Verizon’s move, T-Mobile
announced that it will be upgrading its T-Mobile ONE unlimited data to include
HD streaming and 10GB mobile hotspot tethering with no extra fees!This fixes two of the biggest complaints
against T-Mobile’s unlimited ONE data plan. Previously, its ONE plan only
allowed standard-def non-HD video streams over mobile unless customers paid an
additional $15 fee for the “One Plus” option or $3 for a one-day
“HD pass.” It also didn’t include mobile hotspot tethering.The new upgrades will have HD video streaming
and mobile hotspot tethering (which allows customers to use their
smartphones as mobile Wi-Fi routers for internet access for other devices)
turned on by default.Additionally, T-Mobile announced a new
promotional deal that discounts ONE plans with two lines down to $100,
including taxes and fees.Sprint
Now, Sprint has decided to join the battle
with what it’s calling the best unlimited HD plan ever. Starting February 16,
anyone who switches to Sprint will get the nation’s lowest price for unlimited
data, which includes HD-quality streaming video and 10GB of mobile hotspot per
month.It will only cost $90 per month for four
lines, which is 50 percent less than Verizon’s new unlimited plan. That’s only
$22.50 per line and the deal goes through March 31, 2018.Sprint is also offering new customers an
iPhone 7 that they can lease for 18 months for $0 monthly payments. (The iPhone
7 leasing deal requires a qualifying device trade-in.)AT&T
Also, beginning February 17, AT&T will be
changing its unlimited data plan. Until now, if you were an AT&T customer,
the only way to have an unlimited data plan was to also be a DirecTV
subscriber.That is what changed with the announcement.
Now, all consumer and business postpaid AT&T wireless customers can sign up
for an unlimited plan. They have also incorporated a $40 discount for customers
with four lines.On the new plan, you will be able to make
unlimited calls from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico, and send unlimited texts to
over 120 countries. Plus, customers can talk, text, and use data in Canada and
Mexico with no roaming charges if they add the Roam North America feature at no
additional charge.Now that all of the top four U.S. mobile
providers have gotten in on the unlimited data war, you have plenty of options
to choose from. -
12 Replies
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The new AT&T unlimited plan sounded good but unfortunately tethering/hotspot use is not supported. That is our primary use while we are on the road.
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Can you use your phone as a hot spot? Verizon lets me have unlimited on my Mi-Fi as well as using my phone as a hot spot.
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I use a Verizon USB modem as my internet connection in the Prevost (connected an Apple Airport Extreme router for easy whole bus wifi). I just switched to the unlimited plan. With LTE Advanced, the speeds can be very very good. I’m pleased so far.
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Fred, I believe that MiFi is a Wi-Fi router only, so do you use your phone to connect the MiFi to cellular or a Jet Pack? I believe that the Jet Pack will be limited to to 10Gb of data on Verizon which is a shame (at least for us) since that will have an external MiMo antenna with better performance once Jeff installs it in May. -
Andy, My Jet Pack, which I referred to as MiFi has let me
stream 22 gb when I had the 20 gig contract.I did not see, in this new offer, where it was limited to 10 gb, but if
it is, I will cancel that $10 a month and just use my phone as a hotspot for my
laptop and smart TV.To me, the term
Unlimited Data, means just that.I have
5 devices that I use, 2 phones, the jet pack and 2 tablets all using the 4G
Verizon Data system as well as the TV I stream from the Jet Pack. -
Andy, if you are a little more adventurous, I can verify that I have the new unlimited Verizon plan with their U620L USB modem. With this one device, I am able to share the unlimited plan with as many other devices in the bus as I want. There is a trick to being able to do so which I can expound upon. But, for me, I wanted the bus to basically be like home: one wifi network that is both connected to the internet but also allows devices to communicate with each other within the network. The internal network is helpful for things like an Apple TV, sharing files between computers, setting up security cameras within the network (I use SecuritySpy), iTunes server, AirDrop, etc.
The limitation of a hotspot is that it just connects devices to the Internet. If you want the devices to talk to each other, a hotspot doesn’t help you.
The U620L can be attached to an external antenna, too.
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We have been using our phone hotspot service to connect to the internet when traveling in the coach for several years now. Works great, is simple, no other devices and plans. Both Iphones and Android phones support personal hotspots. Up to 5 devices can connect to the Internet at the same time.
The only tweak we do on our notebooks is to identify the wireless connection to the phone as a metered connection to avoid Windows from downloading updates in the background.
Gerald
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Thanks Fred and Gerald. The Jetpack AC791L that is a 4G LTE Mobile Hot Spot and it looks like mobile hot spots will be limited to 10 GB of LTE (4G) speeds before it throttles down to 3G speeds (Take a look at rvmobileinternet.com for some details.). This is fine for most stuff but probably not for video streaming movies.The Jetpack will allow up to 15 devices to be connected to the Verizon network simulataneously through Wi-Fi but not to each other like a Wi-Fi router. You can, however, connect it to a router. I will eventually get a Wi-Fi router but at this time I don’t have a need for it. A cell phone booster is also a good option for the router but it means having your phone tied up as it needs to sit next to the inside antenna of the booster. The U620L is a different animal and I wonder if it us treated as a phone instead of a hotspot by Verizon?
Lots of options and getting better every year.
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Andy, the U620L seems to be in its own category of device by Verizon and few folks at the stores know about it. It is a comparatively very low sales volume device. I switched to the unlimited data plan, so it exists for the U620L like the phone plans, but it has its own price scale which isn’t visible on, say, verizonwireless.com. I’m at $100/mos for the unlimited on the U620L vs. $80 for a phone.
You cannot select the unlimited plan for the U620L on the website, I had to talk to someone on the phone to do so. There was no problem or hesitation to do so, but if you just buy a U620L on the web, the web will steer you to a fixed capacity “new plan” that has carryover data.
How does one connect a JetPack to a separate wifi router? I do not think you can connect an Ethernet port to a JetPack, which is the standard WAN input to a wifi router. Further, I don’t think (though I do not know) if a JetPack will allow its wifi network to be extended by a wifi router (much like you cannot extend the wireless signal when hotspotting your phone). In short, I do not think a JetPack can be an Internet bridge device for a standard wifi router, should wifi routing abilities for internal network traffic be needed. I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong, though, as I’d like to know. Setting up the USB modem is one of only two ways I could figure out how to run an internal wifi network with Internet access. The other is to insert a SIM into a router with a cellular modem built into it. These are expensive devices, starting at $600 and going up from there (Cisco’s is in the $x,xxx’s).
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
There is a LAN port on the 6620 but I don’t have a router to connect it to to see if it will work as WAN port.
I do have wirless devices that will connect to the JetPak like two printers I use.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
In my bus, I have an Amped Wireless 600 mw range extender
that is linked to and repeats my 5510L Jet pack.My TV and all my laptops, tablets, phones,
etc. are linked to the Amped repeater via wifi.If I do not turn on the jet pack hot spot, my lap top no workie and my
phones and tablets seek the Verizon 4G signal, otherwise with the jet pack on everything
is working off the WiFi repeated from the Jet Pack.Using the repeater lets me use Internet
outside about 150 feet from the coach.Without the range extender, I get no signal behind the bus from the
front where the jet pack is located.If things get more complicated than what I have, I am
lost.The only thing I know about
computers is where the on-off switch is located and even then I get confused
because both on and off start with the letter O and the switch has an O and a l. -
Thanks Fred and Gerald. The Jetpack AC791L that is a 4G LTE Mobile Hot Spot and it looks like mobile hot spots will be limited to 10 GB of LTE (4G) speeds before it throttles down to 3G speeds (Take a look at rvmobileinternet.com for some details.). This is fine for most stuff but probably not for video streaming movies.The Jetpack will allow up to 15 devices to be connected to the Verizon network simulataneously through Wi-Fi but not to each other like a Wi-Fi router. You can, however, connect it to a router. I will eventually get a Wi-Fi router but at this time I don’t have a need for it. A cell phone booster is also a good option for the router but it means having your phone tied up as it needs to sit next to the inside antenna of the booster. The U620L is a different animal and I wonder if it us treated as a phone instead of a hotspot by Verizon?
Lots of options and getting better every year.
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