-
Mobile Internet
From time to time, we see posts about mobile Internet. I have not seen a post in a while, so I am starting this new thread because I am interested to know what other people do and have.
I do have 2 MiFi’s on board. One is a Millenicom which piggy-backs on Verizon and the other is an unlocked Rogers-Canada Sierra Wireless hotspot which I am currently using with AT&T.
As far as I can tell, Millenicom is by far the best deal. You get 20GB per month for $89.99 – This is a $20 increase they have recently instituted but even with this increase, there is nobody else who gives you 20GB for this price.
Unfortunately, Millenicom is not flexible beyond this offer. If you need 25/30+ GB per month, you are out of luck. Unless, you buy another 20GB at $89.99
I have been keeping AT&T as a backup because I do sometimes need a separate connection. However, I am getting only 5GB at $50 perr month, so this one is going to be replaced now with T-Mobile, where I can get 1GB for $10 without a contract. This is enough for my secondary needs.
I do like the Rogers/Sierra Wireless Hotspot (AC 763 S) because I can plug it into a Sierra Wireless Hub. That is a router specifically for Sierra aircards. It gives me the poossibility to utilize wired connections because it works like a router. Photo here below. Pardon the mess. It is a temporary location.
I have been using the Millenicom/Verizon combo all over the country during the past 12-18 months and it has provided me with very stable connections up to 4G/LTE in most areas. As long as you are in metropolitan areas, you will have LTE and that is currently the fastest service.
Another aspect of using a Sierra Wireless hotspot is the fact, that you can buy them unlocked for about $50-$90 on eBay and Amazon. I bought mine on Amazon. Having an unlocked modem gives you flexibility because, with Sierra, at a minimum, you can use AT&T and T-Mobile.
I do find myself needing more and more Gigs every month. For quite some time 20GB was enough to satisfy my needs. But, as of late, I find myself using significantly more gigs. That surely has got to do with me streaming movies on a more regular basis.
Even though, I do have Dish HD satellite service, I do find their movie selections limited. That is when I go to Amazon because being a Prime subscriber does also allow me to stream movies for free. Of course, that is an illusion because the free movie does cost you bandwidth because the streaming part of this equation goes against your gigs allotment of whoever your service provider is.
I have pretty much given up on “free” campground WiFi because I found it overloaded to the point of being useless. In the end, you get what you pay for. So I decided to pay to have what I need. It saves me a lot of headaches.
Anyway, I would be interested to receive your comments. Especially, if you have found a better deal.
In the absence of a better deal, I do highly recommend Millenicom.
Cheers,
Ronald
-
6 Replies
-
Ronald,
We have been out for 14 months and have used a Verizon 4G MIFI with wilson signal booster mounted on the roof. Marathon helped me mount the whole deal in the rear closet that doubles as my “office” We use the MIFI to create a LAN inside the bus so we all can connect to it and use it to connect to wireless printer/scanner on board. I am on the 50 gig plan with verizon and have gone over a couple of times… I don’t download movies but are sending huge files back and forth to my guys in the office.. Access to internet was a major concern going out on this trip and honestly we have had internet almost everywhere we have been… 95% of the time it was with our MIFI the rest was at campgrounds mostly in Canada and Alaska. I opted to turn off roaming access while we traveled thru Canada… In hindsight I should have talked to Peter about setting up something in Canada since we were there for so long. Alaska was the big wild card for us… being there for over a month with no internet or crappy internet would have really been bad… We had 4G or 3G in places I would have never expected… in the few that didn’t work… campground provided was enough to get me thru. So in 14 months on the road, I only had to drive somewhere to get internet one time… which was pretty good for us.. I will have to check into the Millenicom for our next adventure… Keep us posted if you hear of other options…
Bill
-
For almost two years now Sandy and I have been using a
Verizon MiFi hot-spot device. It’s on a
two-year contract at 5GB for $50 a month. It has unlimited GB use at $10 per GB when we go over the allotted 5 which we usually do while on the road. It has an internal battery (or plug in
110V or 12v). This 4G LTE hotspot can be carried in a pocket or brief case wherever
you go. We even take it in the car on local trips. It’s about 4 inches square and ¾ inch tall
with no protruding antennas, and works very well almost anywhere. (It’s
really a cell phone in disguise called a Jetpack.)We also have ATT iPhones with 2GB of data. Sandy uses her
phone while we are moving to do her email and messaging. Overage with ATT is $15 per GB, but we seldom go over the 2GB.When the campground community WiFi is good we use it to browse
the Internet, but not when we need a secure connection. I bought a NetGear WiFi
signal booster, but even though it does raise the signal level it can’t broaden
the band so is pretty much useless.If you’re a Bright House Cable Network customer (others offer this service also) you’ll find many WiFi signal hotspots available for your free use. Go to your cable provider website and check their system to see if they offer satellite WiFi hotspots and
how to do the one-time set up on your devices.
Of course, this type of signal is only available if you are stationary.Overall, we haven’t felt disconnected from the Internet at
all while traveling and I can conduct my daily business activities as if we
were at home. Thanks to Quick Books Online I can access all my accounting and banking information and pay bills from any of our computer devices ‘anywhere’ with our portable WiFi hotspot.Internet availability while traveling came a long way in the
last 15 years. Back when we first tried to stay connected none of the cell
phone companies offered the service. I
don’t remember the name of the company that started the service, but after they
went public they quickly went out of business as the phone companies discovered
the profitability.Life is good when you have all your toys with you!
-
I use the 4G Verizon Jetpack and the 10G plan, cost 1000 shared for all my devices. It works very well, really no issues.
-
That’s the JetPack I have! It works great, but I’m too cheap to commit to the 10GB and the $100 a month. 🙂 At the 5GB (minimum you can sign up for) you only pay for more GBs when you use more – $10 for each GB over the contracted 5GBs. It comes to the same $100 for 10GB, but if you only use say 8GB, your bill for the month is only $80.
-
I am using my T mobile phone to tehther right now…5 gb a month which I do not usually use but want to hook up a Raspberry Pi and stream contect so maybe some ofthese other options would work better….besides I usually get 4G in a lot of big areas but Edge in most other places right now which sucks…
Original owner had Marathon install like 5 or 6 mobile phone attenaes when the coach was built, not sure where most of them connect to now, but can they be used to boost a signal if I get a standalone 4G device like some of you guys are using?
I don’t do satelite TV (actually want to pull dome off coach) and really want to stream netflix or stuff on the Pi and via Amazon.
-
Netflix, Amazon or others, will use up a lot of bandwidth and use-up your monthly allotment in no time.
Personally, unless, it is just not available, I do watch HD only. The difference between SD and HD is incredible and I am willing to pay more for it.
With 5GB of data, you could possibly, maybe, stream 2 HD movies, or 3-4 in SD! So right there, it is a problem.
Even with the 20GB allotment from Millenicom, I have now gone over the limit 3 months in a row. The first 2 times I was just a couple of days away from month end but the last time, it was a full week. That hurt.
With satellite TV, you have an alternative source of TV and it includes “all you can watch” for a flat monthly fee. Of course, this does not include pay per view, which is extra.
I made a cost comparison. My costs for having a) 20GB of data and b) “unlimited” SAT TV, comes to about $1600 per month. For the most part, that is good enough for me.
Again, I would caution you about streaming movies. While the movie may be free (Amazon Prime) or included in your monthly fee (Netflix), you pay dearly for streaming the data.
Cheers,
Ronald
Log in to reply.