Internet Services With Verizon

[jvenditte]

I am investigating Verizon's unlimited cellular phone plans with a jetpack (used for a hotspot vs. using a phone as a hotspot) with a signal booster (extender). Want to improve my internet access for work while on the road.

Is this a good plan? Looking for recommendations. Thank you

[Wobbles]

Seek out a member here named: Ependydad. I think he has the most experience in this area.

[ependydad]

I do have a lot of experience, but Verizon has gotten more difficult. "Unlimited" doesn't always mean unlimited. The current Verizon unlimited plans limit you to 15-20gb of hotspot data before it slows down incredibly. If you need to exceed that cap, you need to look at one of the grandfathered truly unlimited plans and get it into a contract. It's a process called Assumption of Liability (AOL).

The absolute best resource is:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/unlimited

But, I have a light overview at:
Mobile Internet on the Road | Learn To RV

Hope that helps.

[richp]

Hi,

I have used Verizon all over the country, with consistently good results -- employing a hot spot off our smart phones.

My last two winters in Quartzsite I switched into the unlimited plan, then went back to my normal gig limit when I got home to my router. I never felt I was being throttled, but I am sure I never got to 15 gigs of use, either.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips

[dalford]

I’m not sure of your definition of work while on the road. Are you on the road a lot or are you talking while camping and still having to work?

The 15-20 GB throttle back is per hotspot device. All the throttle back rates are per device. So, if you use a dedicated hotspot and reach the limit you could always use your phone as a back up hotspot. You married? Then your DW would have 15-20GB of hotspot usage before limit.

Unless you are streaming a lot of video for “work’ I doubt you would ever reach the throttle back limit....

Also, look into Beyond Unlimited with Verizon if you need more...

[formerFR]

While we use AT&T Unlimited Plus while on the road, it's a very similar situation - we just use our phone hotspots to our laptops, computers, and devices... and no booster required. But, that's just us, we like to keep it simple.

[ependydad]

I missed the part about extenders/boosters.

I started with a weBoost 4G Drive X and had decent success with it. I wrote about it and my wifi booster/camper network here:
Cellular, wifi, and networks – OH MY! | Learn To RV

More recently, I found (from RVMobileInternet.com) a Netgear Antenna that performs awesomely. It's specifically for hotspots really improves my speeds:
Netgear 6000450 MIMO Antenna with 2 TS-9 Connectors | Learn To RV

[hbjoe3]

Not happy with Verizon this trip, everyone I talked to at Verizon had a different story on how it worked. I use a Jet pack and my iPhone when needed as a personal Hotspot. I changed our plan to unlimited for the remaining time in our billing period after using all our data in a few days.

Then my plan changed back to 5GB/mo when the billing period ended, not sure what time the change took place, but in the morning I already used 8% of my billing period usage. Everything was off all night so if the change over took place at midnight I should have used zero data. If the change took place earlier I only did a few map searches so that should not use that much data.

We do not stream movies or music. I use it for news and trip planning and I read the news, no video. My wife uses it for news and her game daily challenges, no video either.

When I called Verizon we were using 1GB a day, this is while on the road, sight seeing and driving to our next adventures. That GB is being used in a hour a day verified by the Verizon rep I spoke to.

Problem is I do not know of a better alternative.

[hbjoe3]

Forgot to mention, under the unlimited plan the Jetpack is limited to 15GB then it gets throttled, slowed down big time. According to the last Verizon person I talked to your phone can be used as a personal hot spot and it will not be throttled. Makes no sense to me, I used the jetpack until they told me they were going to slow me down, then I switched to the phone and continued at full speed.

I think this would hurt you if you were depending on this plan for work, I don't think you can be using the phone as a hot spot while you are talking on that same phone.

[jvenditte]

The version 4G jetpack can connect up to 15 devices. Is this essentially a router?

[RSchleder]

Originally Posted by hbjoe3

Forgot to mention, under the unlimited plan the Jetpack is limited to 15GB then it gets throttled, slowed down big time. According to the last Verizon person I talked to your phone can be used as a personal hot spot and it will not be throttled. Makes no sense to me, I used the jetpack until they told me they were going to slow me down, then I switched to the phone and continued at full speed.

I think this would hurt you if you were depending on this plan for work, I don't think you can be using the phone as a hot spot while you are talking on that same phone.

Both the iPhone AND the hotspot get their speed drastically reduced at 15 GB when being used as "hotspots. Your iPhone will have it's speed reduced also when using it as a internet device (not hotspot) at 22GB.

[CRL1]

If you’re a FMCA member they have a deal with Verizon and Sprint for Internet access.

[Dan n Gerda]

We have made two major cross country trips from CA to the East Coast back over the past 2 1/2 years with VZ! That includes Northand South zig zags visiting relatives and friends! We’ve not had a problem yet with VZ! We have had issues with a few RV parks with poor internet connections! I use my cell phone connected to our notebook and no problems at all! We’ve even used VZ on trips to Germany this past year (special OS billing pkg while there) without any problems! Dan & Gerda

[bikendan]

We like our T-Mobile 55+ plan, using the phones as hotspots for our tvs and tablets.

[johntaylor]

Originally Posted by jvenditte

I am investigating Verizon's unlimited cellular phone plans with a jetpack (used for a hotspot vs. using a phone as a hotspot) with a signal booster (extender). Want to improve my internet access for work while on the road.

Is this a good plan? Looking for recommendations. Thank you

To get around the limit of 15 GB of 4G hotspot per month, using an Android phone (not a jetpack), install pdanet. It's a third-party hotspot app with 5 million users. Try it for free, then you can pay $7 for the full unlocked version.Go to pdanet.co for information.

Run pdanet instead of the phone's internal hotspot, and you have unlimited 4G hotspotting. You can run the hotspot on wifi, USB or bluetooth.

It only runs wifi on the 5 GHz band, so if you have an old laptop that only has the lower frequency bands, you have to use a USB cable from the phone to the laptop. I've been running it that way for over 6 months now, and it all works perfectly. My tablet doesn't have the 5 GHz band either, so I use Verizon's 15 GB through the normal phone hotspot for the tablet.

Google and Verizon used to block third-party hotspots from the play store, but they lost a class action lawsuit because blocking them was a violation of Verizon's contract with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). Google for information.

Another poster said that Veizon throttles the phone at 22 GB. That happens only when the tower you are on is congested.

[dahagen]

I had Verizon for many years with the 15 gig Mi-Fi. Last fall I switched to T-mobile's 55+ plan with unlimited usage. It is faster than Verizon and seems to have better coverage. I went from Idaho's mountains to Arizona's deserts to Florida's resorts with no problems. I tipicially use about 25 gig with my two smart phones with hotspots, two tablets, and one computer. AND I saved $40 a month.

[jjuscg]

We have Verizon with 4 lines, unlimited data, only $40 per line if you use autopay. We use it frequently both at home and camping and it works great. We do occasionally stream video, and have never noticed a throttle back. Often it is faster than the campground WI FI. Many campground WI FI systems are not very good, but they seem to be generally getting better.
We just use the cell phone as a hot spot, rather than paying an extra fee for another device. This works fine, but you need to have the phone plugged into charger, as power consumption is quite high. If you need much WI FI and also need access to your phone, the Hot Spot might be worth the extra fee.

[gectisme]

Originally Posted by jvenditte

I am investigating Verizon's unlimited cellular phone plans with a jetpack (used for a hotspot vs. using a phone as a hotspot) with a signal booster (extender). Want to improve my internet access for work while on the road.

Is this a good plan? Looking for recommendations. Thank you

It worked for us and I had to have internet to do my job and be able to do our 21 month trip. We used the MiFi 6620l Jetpack for 2 years with decent performance. I also need good bandwidth to be able to do my job and I had no issues with the jetpack. The nice thing about the 6620l is it has an external antenna port and in fringe areas I would connect up a directional antenna on a post out side to get better bandwidth.

My DW did all the trip planning and always called ahead to see if Verizon had decent coverage so for the most part when I needed to work, we stayed at a RV Park that we knew had Verizon coverage. It was eye-opening to find many places that had no clue about the Verizon coverage so we would go on the web and check campground reviews. The campground reviews were usually spot on when they mention the cell coverage.

I just ended my plan that I leased from a 3rd party company, unlimited data, no cap, no throttle for $120 a month. To me it was a good deal.

Originally Posted by jvenditte

The version 4G jetpack can connect up to 15 devices. Is this essentially a router?

Yes, it is a router.

[MikeRP]

My Verizon plan says 22 gb then throttle. On a recent trip to Naples Florida, I hit the 22gb limit. I got notice from Verizon I was nearing the limit. But I experienced no slowdowns after exceeding the limit.

One thing I’m gonna try next time is to turn off and automatic updates of apps and also turn off all apps that have continuous access to my location like google maps when I’m not going to use it.

We would definitely exceed the limit monthly if me and my wife are not using campground WiFi which is more than likely the case. But I was able to stream movies after I exceeded the limit.

I guess we would have 44g using my wife’s and my iPhone as hotspots. Also I have a Verizon mifi so I guess I could enable it when I’m out.

I’ve had trouble with sprint in the past so I’m not sure about switching but if I hear more good reviews like the previous poster, I might go for it.

FYI

[Bnrc73]

Originally Posted by dalford

I’m not sure of your definition of work while on the road. Are you on the road a lot or are you talking while camping and still having to work?

The 15-20 GB throttle back is per hotspot device. All the throttle back rates are per device. So, if you use a dedicated hotspot and reach the limit you could always use your phone as a back up hotspot. You married? Then your DW would have 15-20GB of hotspot usage before limit.

Unless you are streaming a lot of video for “work’ I doubt you would ever reach the throttle back limit....

Also, look into Beyond Unlimited with Verizon if you need more...

Verizon Beyond Unlimited still throttles back after 15 gigs