Best Hotspot Data Plans - Page 2

EarlyRV · 07-29-2020, 04:19 PM

I have a Togo Roadlink (essentially a Winegard Connect 2) and I was using the ATT $360 a year plan that they cancelled in January. Mine runs out in Sept. so I was looking for options. This thread on iRV forums outlines a way of using a Visible phone as a hotspot.

EDIT: This is the link mentioned by brucev in posts 4 and 5 of this thread.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f53/40-m...ed-442091.html

I figured since my Roadlink supports Verizon and Visible uses the Verizon network (Visible is actually a subsidiary of Verizon) that maybe the Visible SIM would work in the Roadlink. It does not. I was able to get it to recognize the SIM and change the APN to "vsblinternet", but the Roadlink kept changing it back to the Verizon APN. I could find no way to force it to use the Visible APN. I kept getting an error along the lines of "4G/LTE Denied" when it used the Verizon APN.

I just wanted to give an update in case any one was thinking about trying this out. Now I have to get the phone returned to Visible and find a new solution. AT&T has the best coverage where I live, so I will have to go that route. Any suggestions on a reliable AT&T truly unlimited plan are welcome.

MSK · 07-31-2020, 03:20 PM

Thanks to everybody for their input. Based upon my research and the information provided by "brucev" I am going to switch to the Visible $40 a month plan and then use my phone as a hotspot, linked into the Winegard Connect 2.0 that is installed and that should give us the ability to use multiple devices. I have done this when we were within range of an Xfinity hotspot and it worked great. I'll let you know how this works in a few months. If all goes well my wife will also witch her Verizon phone over and we should save $100+ per month.

MSK · 07-31-2020, 03:24 PM

If I understand it you installed the sim card in the road link directly, right? I plan on installing the sim card in my iPhone XR, currently on a Verizon plan, and using it as a hotspot that the Winegard 2.0 accesses and then redistributes with a stronger signal. Wish me luck.

**EA37TS** · 07-31-2020, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSK

Thanks to everybody for their input. Based upon my research and the information provided by "brucev" I am going to switch to the Visible $40 a month plan and then use my phone as a hotspot, linked into the Winegard Connect 2.0 that is installed and that should give us the ability to use multiple devices. I have done this when we were within range of an Xfinity hotspot and it worked great. I'll let you know how this works in a few months. If all goes well my wife will also witch her Verizon phone over and we should save $100+ per month.

Did you read the fine print

"+Mobile hotspot speeds capped at 5 Mbps and limited to one tethered device at a time."

Good luck.

MSK · 07-31-2020, 04:21 PM

Yes, I saw that, 5mbs should be fine for us as we don't do much streaming (plus others have indicated the usually have a much higher bit rate). Also, I am hoping that by connecting my Winegard to it as the one tethered device that will solve the problem as my other devices will connect to the Winegard's own network. We'll see, but thanks for the heads up.

Retired Army Aviator
Pennsylvania

aaammsdad · 07-31-2020, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSK

Yes, I saw that, 5mbs should be fine for us as we don't do much streaming (plus others have indicated the usually have a much higher bit rate). Also, I am hoping that by connecting my Winegard to it as the one tethered device that will solve the problem as my other devices will connect to the Winegard's own network. We'll see, but thanks for the heads up.

Retired Army Aviator
Pennsylvania

Do you have a wireless router with a USB port available? If so you may be able to plug your phone into the router using the phone's charging cable. Then the phone becomes the signal source for the internet instead of a modem via RJ45 connection. I have done this on occasion with an Android phone but have not tried it with an iPhone.

EarlyRV · 07-31-2020, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSK

If I understand it you installed the sim card in the road link directly, right? I plan on installing the sim card in my iPhone XR, currently on a Verizon plan, and using it as a hot spot that the Winegard 2.0 accesses and then redistributes with a stronger signal. Wish me luck.

You are correct, I was trying to use the SIM directly in the roadlink. I did not use the phone as a hot spot and then the roadlink as a WiFi router. I have heard that it works fine with other WiFi extenders, so you should be good.

I don't have particularly good Verizon coverage, but the roadlink has good antennas. I was hoping that that could overcome the bad coverage. Just using the phone as a hot spot gives bad speeds where I live.

Anecdotally, I have heard that the 5Mbps limit when using the phone as a hot spot seems to come and go and the 1 device limit isn't enforced either. YMMV. Good luck.

Lt Keefer · 07-31-2020, 09:24 PM

Check out Nomad Internet. It's not cheap, but has good reviews.

LDK · 08-01-2020, 02:58 AM

Am in process of changing from ATT to Total Wireless (Verizon network) due to ATT expensive data only plans for the Winegard, as well as to increase monthly data available. Purchasing 4 line (3 phones + Winegard) 100Gb shared with 10Gb hotspot per line for $95 per month. Will update this post once I verify the new service.

The_Breeze · 08-01-2020, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaammsdad

Do you have a wireless router with a USB port available? If so you may be able to plug your phone into the router using the phone's charging cable. Then the phone becomes the signal source for the internet instead of a modem via RJ45 connection. I have done this on occasion with an Android phone but have not tried it with an iPhone.

He/She should go down that road if they believe it's right.

If you're addressing a weak hot spot, why not pipe in straight and leave the middle out? It's just another network hop? I could have that wrong but that's what I remember.

Judge · 08-01-2020, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDK

Am in process of changing from ATT to Total Wireless (Verizon network) due to ATT expensive data only plans for the Winegard, as well as to increase monthly data available. Purchasing 4 line (3 phones + Winegard) 100Gb shared with 10Gb hotspot per line for $95 per month. Will update this post once I verify the new service.

Please let me know if the Total Wireless SIM works with the Winegard ConnecT 2. Once my AT&T Unlimited Plan is done at the end of the year, I will be looking at other options as well.

Right now T-Mobile might be at the top of my list.

LDK · 08-01-2020, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judge

Please let me know if the Total Wireless SIM works with the Winegard ConnecT 2. Once my AT&T Unlimited Plan is done at the end of the year, I will be looking at other options as well.

Right now T-Mobile might be at the top of my list.

I have confirmed (using IMEI) with Total Wireless and Verizon that the Winegard is compatible. Will though update this post once the Winegard goes live on TW.

swiderskij · 08-01-2020, 07:21 PM

I have a Sprint JetPack 100GB plan for $65/mo and a backup Verizon JetPack 25GB (my cell phones account) for $25/mo with my overall plan. The sprint is great and coverage almost everywhere and the verizon is great when i dont have any sprint coverage. The Winegard 2.0 AT&T plan offers way less coverage, data amount and costs more. Wife happy streaming movies everyday and when we dont have satellite or OTA coverage.

jgwmjw2 · 08-01-2020, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmadams

If you are a member of FMCA you can get a Sprint MiFi hotspot for $49.99/month with unlimited data. I have it and have not been throttled back. They also have a Verizon hotspot but they do throttle you back after a certain amount of data usage.

We also have a Sprint Hotspot through FMCA. Excellent customer service and it is truly unlimited data. The downside is that the Sprint signal is not available everywhere. Usually, but not always, the signal diminishes the further you get away from an interstate highway or a major city. FMCA can look up your GPS location and tell you how strong the signal is.

MartinC · 08-01-2020, 07:51 PM

I have nothing but praise for the Visible solution. We have a Winegard TOGO on the roof and when it was announced that ATT were withdrawing their $360 plan, I started to look for alternatives. End result: we now have the $19 Visible phone (no longer available) mounted just inside and under the TOGO which now takes the single Visible mobile hotspot as its internet access. We also have at home another cheap Visible phone providing internet access to a small travel router, in turn connected to a wifi mesh system which can serve over 100 devices. Finally, we each have a new Samsung A50 phone with Visible sims. A truly uncapped unlimited everything, with no problems on data speeds, for $25/month each phone, tax included. Difficult to beat that!

jgwmjw2 · 08-01-2020, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairfieldwizard

None of the carriers offer unlimited data esp on hotspots. It's just not in their economic best interests to do otherwise. The FMCA Verizon hotspot is a pretty good deal. For $49.95 you get 25 gig that throttles after that. My wife and I both work from our RV when we travel. Also, as others have found, in some places Verizon works better and in other places AT&T works better. We're super fortunate that we have an older AT&T plan that gets us 40 GB is data with rollover. Last month for example we had 70 GB of data available to us.

But our solution is to travel with a hotspot for Verizon and for AT&T. We're long weekend travelers. So we also keep a log of internet availability at the places we've been so we know what to expect when we get there

Sprint hotspot through FMCA is truly unlimited with no cap or throttling.

brad2388 · 08-01-2020, 08:29 PM

I have the old att unlimited plus plan. It allows hotspots or lte modems. I have two lines i can rent you per month if someone is interested.

The_Breeze · 08-01-2020, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brad2388

I have the old att unlimited plus plan. It allows hotspots or lte modems. I have two lines i can rent you per month if someone is interested.

Gearing up to be a reseller? Hmm, pretty entrepreneurial. Good luck.

brad2388 · 08-01-2020, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

Gearing up to be a reseller? Hmm, pretty entrepreneurial. Good luck.

No not at all. Just a rver with a couple extra lines im not using. I dont want to disconnect because you cant get them back.

Sstenander · 08-01-2020, 08:37 PM

We spend some winter time in Florida at a campground where the wireless is next to useless. We have Verizon also and I discovered last winter that they do have a plan the is larger than their 15 GB plan. This one is truly unlimited and you can stream video and music all you want without running out of data. For some reason it didn’t appear on their app but when I talked to someone in person I was told about it. It is expensive, as you’d expect, (I can’t recall the exact amount now) but it’s probably worth a call for you to find out the details.

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