Cell Phone as WiFi Hotspot.

[TitanMike]

Anyone use their cell phone as a wifi hotspot in order to access the internet?

I expect to spend quite a lot of time outside of regular campgrounds that have hookups and wifi. Assuming one has cell service available how many just use their Hotspot in order to retrieve e-mail, etc from a PC. If you do, how much data do you consume on average.

Just curious. I've looked at satellite internet but it sure seems expensive.

I know that smartphones are quite capable of retrieving e-mail and doing other online functions but I prefer a full size screen and keyboard. I also find that mobile apps are often far different from the "Windows" app on some sites I use regularly. One I use extensively is missing about 20% of its functionality on the mobile version.


Anyone??

[dblr]

When we looked at doing this a few years ago we were told that the phone heats up a lot, we ended up just getting a hot spot device and a extra phone line to our plan, works well for us this way.

[Steelhorzz]

I've used my phone quite a few times as the "hot spot". Better reception than most campground WiFis. AND it's secure! Might cost me at the end of the month if I go over my data plan. But sooo what??

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Steelhorzz

I've used my phone quite a few times as the "hot spot". Better reception than most campground WiFis. AND it's secure! Might cost me at the end of the month if I go over my data plan. But sooo what??

X2. But I have an unlimited data plan.

My Droid Maxx2 might get just a little warm, but nothing major. I've run it for several hours at a time on the battery, although I usually try to plug it into its charger.

[Bill and Gail]

We've been using our phone as a hotspot. It all depends on what you do. In 6 days, we used about 2 gig, but we don't stay on it all day. Depending on what you do, you may use more or less data. We keep a check on our data usage.

[HangDiver]

I use my cell phone as a hot spot all the time. I also like looking at a bigger screen. Here's what you need to know. You have to know how much data you're alowed each month - some plans carry over unused data to the next month. You also need to know how to check your data balance on your phone. These are easy to do once you know how to do it. If you use facebook, you need to disable auto-playing of videos. Do that before you use your phone as a hotspot.

None of the above are hard to do: google your question above and you'll easily get the info you need.

I use my cell phone hotspot for email, web based comms, and even follow endless Forest River Forums tire threads, who makes the best diesel motor, and who makes the best pickup truck, why don't I get hot water, ;-)

[Cypressloser]

I have a LG G5 and use it as Hotspot all the time. I set the service to 4G instead of LTE when the signal is not the strongest which is slightly slower but less prone to dropping the connection and I feel the battery lasts longer.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by HangDiver

I use my cell phone as a hot spot all the time. I also like looking at a bigger screen. Here's what you need to know. You have to know how much data you're alowed each month - some plans carry over unused data to the next month. You also need to know how to check your data balance on your phone. These are easy to do once you know how to do it. If you use facebook, you need to disable auto-playing of videos. Do that before you use your phone as a hotspot.

None of the above are hard to do: google your question above and you'll easily get the info you need.

I use my cell phone hotspot for email, web based comms, and even follow endless Forest River Forums tire threads, who makes the best diesel motor, and who makes the best pickup truck, why don't I get hot water, ;-)

Thanks for your input. I've got the "how" down pretty well. I just wondered what kind of data usage people run into, doing the normal things. I don't plan on using my phone to connect with Pandora or any music streaming service, likewise no Netflix or Amazon Prime movies. I have my USB "Thumb Drives" loaded with my music and a good collection of DVD's.

Just want to be able to get e-mail and pay my bills for the most part. Good to hear that security is good although my banking institutions require all kinds of "Secret Squirrel Club Handshakes" in order to connect, I haven't worried too much there.

[Homebrew]

This will help pull in free wifi in up to a 1/4 mile away. People have had good results.

https://store.rokland.com/products/a...409-tf-antenna

We do use our phones as a hot spot for Apple TV for Netflix, and wifi for laptops and IPads with no issues.

[Cypressloser]

I'm guessing for email, banking and other non media stuff I would use maybe 200 MB per month if wifi wasn't available. Netflix is a data hog (at least 250 MB/hour) obviously but YouTube on a moderate screen resolution is surprisingly efficient, your mileage may vary.

[spock123]

I have a Verizon plan, beyond unlimited and three iPhones plus a JetPack. On the iPhones I have 22 gigs of cellular data plus 15 gigs of hotspot data. The JetPack has 15 gigs of hotspot data. Last month I used 105 gigs of data, already this month 90 gigs with ten days to go. We don't have internet at home. I have Apple TV and I can mirror Netflix to my tv and use cellular data. I live in the sticks and there is a cell tower only a mile from my house. I hope to use Netflix when I'm on the road and I'm in a campground that trees block my Trav'ler satellite dish. I brought the JetPack because I was heating up my iPhones battery but I found out I couldn't stack the hotspot data and I needed more than 15 gigs of data. I really should have stayed with go unlimited plan that I had. We don't use campground wifi, surfing the web we use cellular data. The laptop and iPad we use hotspot data. I brought a Apple mini 4 iPad without cellular data which was a mistake. I wish I had brought one with cellular data, it would have cost twenty bucks a month. But we all make mistakes

[Freebirds]

We have an ATT unlimited plan that allows 10 GB of hotspot per phone. We have not exceeded that yet and we do a lot of surfing with some video viewing. We do not watch movies. At this time, we also have an unlimited "Mifi" device but are considering cancelling it since we don't go over the hotspot allowance. May have to rethink that with all of the comments about phones overheating (have not had that problem on our Droids yet ..... But - )

[dwhit]

We have two HTC phones w/Sprint. I have the hotspot on mine. I use it alla time. I'm a long time Sprint customer and own the older phones. I get unlimited with 15G @3G speed and everything else for jus' over $100. Had this set-up many years. Phone doesn't ever get warm.

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

...

Just want to be able to get e-mail and pay my bills for the most part. Good to hear that security is good although my banking institutions require all kinds of "Secret Squirrel Club Handshakes" in order to connect, I haven't worried too much there.

I sometimes need to connect my work laptop to my hotspot if I’m at a client site that doesn’t provide Wifi, when I do, my data usage skyrockets compared to normal. For something like e-mail and banking, it would easily take 5-10x more data for the laptop/hotspot route vs using the apps on the iPhone.

So, by all means it is possible, but don’t be surprised if it’s not as data-efficient.

[gectisme]

About 20 months of my kids and DW connecting to my iPhone 6s with no real issues. This is around 15 days a month. It is a company phone that has unlimited 4g LTE. I have had the phone be a little hotter than normal but so far it didn’t do any damage. The kids did school work, online games and streaming shows/movies. They can hit over 2gb in a day .

I also have a MiFi unit that I lease an unlimited 4g LTE data plan for $120 a month that I use almost 100% for work because I need fast data for that. On that I usually run about 100gb a month. Same thing, it too heats up a little now and then but so far has been OK.

Right at this moment we are traveling internationally and picked up a Local SIM that came with 15gb of data, (only ~$16 US), and using the phone and laptop for email, web surfing, google directions, etc but no streaming, have used about 300mb a day. Hope that helps.[emoji106]

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Thanks for your input. I've got the "how" down pretty well. I just wondered what kind of data usage people run into, doing the normal things. I don't plan on using my phone to connect with Pandora or any music streaming service, likewise no Netflix or Amazon Prime movies. I have my USB "Thumb Drives" loaded with my music and a good collection of DVD's.

Just want to be able to get e-mail and pay my bills for the most part. Good to hear that security is good although my banking institutions require all kinds of "Secret Squirrel Club Handshakes" in order to connect, I haven't worried too much there.

Your phone should have a place to see your data usage. Just start using it as a hotspot and keep an eye on what your usage is. It's probably going to be different for everyone, as we all do different stuff. Some just check email, some surf Amazon, some watch movies.

[Freebirds]

Originally Posted by Kaadk

I sometimes need to connect my work laptop to my hotspot if I’m at a client site that doesn’t provide Wifi, when I do, my data usage skyrockets compared to normal. For something like e-mail and banking, it would easily take 5-10x more data for the laptop/hotspot route vs using the apps on the iPhone.

So, by all means it is possible, but don’t be surprised if it’s not as data-efficient.

What was totally strange, when we had a phone plan with limited data usage and tried to use our phone's hotspot, the data would go sky high. It was, as you said, 5x what one would expect. When we switched to the unlimited plan and used our phone for hotspot, it settled down to normal numbers.

[gwaltneyra]

We use a Neatgear Nighthawk hot spot. Works off cell signal. We get up to 40MBS download depending on location. Cost is $20/month without plan...unlimited data. Works better than the phone as a hotspot and we don’t tie up our phone. Other carriers use this device, as well.

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Thanks for your input. I've got the "how" down pretty well. I just wondered what kind of data usage people run into, doing the normal things. I don't plan on using my phone to connect with Pandora or any music streaming service, likewise no Netflix or Amazon Prime movies. I have my USB "Thumb Drives" loaded with my music and a good collection of DVD's.

Just want to be able to get e-mail and pay my bills for the most part. Good to hear that security is good although my banking institutions require all kinds of "Secret Squirrel Club Handshakes" in order to connect, I haven't worried too much there.

[brewjaz]

Originally Posted by HangDiver

I use my cell phone as a hot spot all the time. I also like looking at a bigger screen. Here's what you need to know. You have to know how much data you're alowed each month - some plans carry over unused data to the next month. You also need to know how to check your data balance on your phone. These are easy to do once you know how to do it. If you use facebook, you need to disable auto-playing of videos. Do that before you use your phone as a hotspot.

None of the above are hard to do: google your question above and you'll easily get the info you need.

I use my cell phone hotspot for email, web based comms, and even follow endless Forest River Forums tire threads, who makes the best diesel motor, and who makes the best pickup truck, why don't I get hot water, ;-)

I use my cell phone as Wi-Fi while camping too. I have T-Mobile unlimited data although it slows down a bit after 5GB. GOOD IDEA from HangDriver (above) to turn off your auto-playing of videos....if I want to watch videos I wait until I'm home.

[Mr. Dan]

Out here in the country, I have no access to high speed wireless... so I have my iPhone set up with a hotspot on an AT&T plan. With my phone using data as well as DW's phone plus my laptop, we use 15G of data every month. We do program/app downloads using free wireless at Panera Bread, Wal*Mart, Sam's Club, our church, etc., to cut down on overages which cost $15 + tax per gig. We usually scale back end-of-month to keep from paying overage fees although we don't sweat the $17-18 add-on if necessary.

This way, I can use my laptop in a road ditch on a camping trip if I want plus in every campground, free wifi or not.