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Unlimited Data
Hello and Greetings from PetalumaPetaluma, CA, just North of San Francisco.
We have been to SFO twice during our current stay and we have never seen this town as void of people as now.
It has been quite some time since I bothered all of you to report about Internet data deals.
Well, here is a new one for you to ponder.
I am a member of an Internet group named “Mobile Internet Aficionados” (wwwwww.mobileinternetinfo.com – They offer a free membership as well as a premium paid membership ($75/year).
After perusing the free version for several months, I decided it is worth to buy the upgraded membership.
Anyways, check it out and see for yourself if the information is of interest and value.
Now, for the new Unlimited Data deal.
Through this group, I learned about CALYX INSTITUTE, an accredited non-profit organization. Website http://www.calyxinstitute.org)
They do have a long-term contract with Sprint which is obligated to provide truly unlimited 4G/LTE data under this contract to ALL Calyx members(!). This contract is good for another 10 years or so and Calyx does not see an escape clause T-Mobile could use to cancel this contract.
Calyx offers 2 levels of membership (you must join and pay for a year of membership and service upfront to be able to enjoy this deal).
Both memberships include a data hotspot, which they mail to you, fully activated.
I opted for the higher level (Contributor Plus), which comes with a Inseego 8000. The first year cost is $600 and $500 for every year, thereafter.
The less expensive membership is the Contributor at $500 per year. This will provide you with a hotspot hotspot, too. However, it is less capable than the Inseego Inseego, which can be tethered via USB USB to a router!
OK, then, $600 for the 1st year including a hotspot works out to $50.00 per month for truly unlimited, uncapped data. That is an excellent deal!
I have written often about Internet data and for those of you, who have not fallen asleep reading my posts, you will remember that I have not been a friend of Sprint. When I wrote my posts in the past, Sprint always was at the bottom of providers due to their limited coverage area.
However, now, that Sprint has been merged into T-Mobile, which has always had much better coverage, that additional combined coverage makes for a much better carrier. It is great for T-Mobile and even better for Sprint, while the brand is being continued.
I decided it is worthwhile to add Sprint to our arsenal. So now we have unlimited data with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint/T-Mobile. All on hotspots. If you wonder why having 3 carriers is a good thing, the short answer is that we have traveled in areas over the years where one or the other carrier was useless.
Like I have also said many times in the past, any of the 3 carriers is great in metropolitan areas and nearby. So if this is where you travel, it does not really matter who you use.
But once you are outside these areas, the carrier begins to matter, a lot.
Also, be aware of “roaming areas” where Verizon et al do not have their own towers and they piggyback on local carriers. All of a sudden, your service comes to a near standstill. Why? Because you do not pay for roaming coverage which is not being offered anyways.
Do your homework and then decide if this Sprint Unlimited Data deal is of value to you.
Cheers,
Ronald
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47 Replies
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Good stuff Ronald, we’re full time now until we get our house built and data is a big deal for us. We have unlimited data on our Ipads and IPhones along with 100g of data through the AT&T Mobile Internet. So what’s eating up my Mobile Internet Data is streaming TV’s and MacBook Air. Always looking for a better way to score some real unlimited, unthrottled data.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
Tom: Have looking into pirating some of Jon’s data plan? I’m sure his flip phone doesn’t come close to using up whatever dial-up plan he’s got.
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some carriers being useless in some areas …
We arrived in Myers Flat, CA this afternoon. This is about 3 hours North of SFO. Off of Rt 101.
Sprint: NADA, no service at all. Period.
Verizon: About 9-10 Gig down.
AT&T: About 15-20 Gig down.
The interesting part is, for me, anyways, that AT&T did not do well at all in Petaluma, Ca, just 40 miles North of SFO. It was Verizon and Sprint who were best.
Now, here, in Myers Flat, AT&T is best.
Incidentally, we are staying at the GIANT REDWOODS RV & CAMP, 400 Myers Ave, Myers Flat, CA 95554 (707) 943-9999
Pull-through site # 7 with FHU, 50A and about 75 feet long. Sites 6 & 8 are equally long.
The Eel River is in front of us about 200 feet away. Good water levels and flowing strongly.
Cheers,
Ronald
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” So what’s eating up my Mobile Internet Data is streaming TV’s and MacBook Air”
Help I am not that knowledgeable about internet data. I understand how streaming tv’s would eat up data, but help me understand how a MacBook Air would eat up data. I assume a MacBook Air is a laptop.
The wife reads a lot of IBooks. Does iBooks eat up a lot of data? We constantly have problems with our data limit from our “unlimited” data plan. Do not have streaming tv. Any suggestions how I could get this under control?
Thanks
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I am sure that Tom referred to streaming movies on his laptop because that would be eating into his data pot.
The only way to avoid using data is to not use it. But, of course, we all do. Some more, some less.
Us, for example, we are full-timers. Between all the surfing, streaming Netflix or Amazon Prime, running our business, etc we do easily go through 100-200 gig of data every month. That would be very expensive without an unlimited data account.
Especially, right now, or during the past couple of months when everything was closed and we just sat around doing a lot of nothing. Outdoors, anyways. We watched all the disaster movies we could find … 🙂
The best data device to have is a hotspot because it connects to all your devices which could include a smart TV. Once you connect your devices to the hotspot, they will auto-reconnect every time the device is nearby.
Having different plans for different devices will add up many $$$ and is not efficient. It is much better to have a big data pot to dip into.
I will post about another unlimited AT &T based data option in my next post.
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Sorry, Dave, almost forgot …
I do not see how iBooks should eat much data at all. Normally, like with an Amazon Kindel, the books download to your device in seconds and stay in its memory until you delete it.
That should be the same for any e-reader or reading on a tablet, PC, laptop.
While you can read ebooks on laptops etc, personally, I would spend the 50-100 bucks and buy a dedicated device. Such as, the Amazon Kindel.
I have one and so does my wife because our reading interests are different.
I do probably have close to 50 books on mine.
It is there when I want to read by simply pressing the on button.
On a tablet, PC, laptop you have to start it up, open the app and then start reading. All good and easy to do but I prefer having it separate. Especially, since an ereader is compact and lightweight and easy to carry and leaves the tablet etc available for other uses.
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I found this one at the same source which connected me to the Sprint deal as reported about at the very top of this thread.
The AT&T deal can be had here:
https://www.boom.us/UNLDATAMBB
It is $600 per month!
However, there is a caveat. You have to call Boom and provide them with the IMEI number of your hotspot so that they can reconfirm that it will work with this data service plan.
Also, when you read into it, they indicate that AT&T could throttle you IF you use more than around 400GB of data per month.
I am sure most of us do not need to worry about this.
As always, do your homework to make sure this is what you want and need.
Cheers,
Ronald
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Dave,
I put my MacBook Air to sleep when not using it, that way it disconnects from my Mobile Internet. Seems there’s lots of things going on in the background when hooked to the internet, but I’ve never paid any attention to the amount of data it uses when idle.
As for streaming with our TV, one movie can eat up 2 gig or more. So having the TV on for a couple hours likely uses the same amount of data. With our AT&T plan, our Iphones and Ipads are unlimited data, so that’s what we use most of the time.
For a better explanation, just ask Jon, he’s a techie guy…..
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You guys are mere babes in the technical woods. One month I used 3.5 gig on my Verizon MiFi.
I have no clue what you are talking about.
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Thanks for sharing all of this with us. I just signed up for the Contributor Plus level at Calyx. I’ve been using 4G Antenna Shop (T-Mobile service for $85/mo) for my home internet, but I think that service may be going away for me soon due to usage. The coverage map suggests Sprint will work here, and the merger may get me over to the T-Mobile tower that has been very good.
I’m also looking at the AT&T plan as a backup. Do you have a recommendation on which hot spot to buy and where to find it? I need one that can connect to a router. Thanks again!
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Chad,
I’ve been using the AT&T Mobile Internet for over a year with good results and it does have the router hookup. Mobile Internet
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Chad,
I can tell you one hotspot device NOT to get.
AC797S
AT&T Unite Express 2 Mobile Hotspot by Netgear.
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/mobile-broadband/hotspots/AC797s.aspx
I have had several hotspot devices, and this one is the worst.
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Thanks for the replies, Tom and Thom. I’m still waiting for my Calyx equipment to arrive for Sprint service. I did just read that AT&T is launching the Inseego MiFi 8000, which is what I ordered for the Sprint service. I assume I’d have to have a separate device for AT&T, but will keep looking into it. My T-Mobile service is still working fine, but recent emails from my provider (4G Antenna Shop) have me thinking I’m likely to lose that plan.
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Space X is looking for beta testers for internet access. Please see pic below and go sign up for free. I heard they will go public in Nov. and monthly costs to be $80 for unlimited 5 g with only 15ms lag time by using laser lights.
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