Latest cell phone/data thread

[5picker]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

What are “cigs”?

I believe it was cgs not cigs.

That would be campgrounds.

cigs are cigarettes!

[TomC1944]

I also had the same question and started a thread last October. I went with Spectrum mobile. I left North Carolina on January 6th. I am now in Galveston TX. I have not had any problems with phone call or text messages. I have been in a couple of campgrounds that did not have WiFi. I used hot spot on my phone to connect my iPad. I pay $14 per gigabit. I checked last night and I have used less than 0.5 gigibit. The plan also has unlimited call and text. So far I am very satisfied with this plan.
Tom

[Jakm]

DW and I use 2 iPhones and 2 iPads (just WiFi versions), Straightalk mifi (pay as you need), truck has On* WiFi ($150/20gigs a year). We use an iPad mini with the CoPilot app coupled to the Bad Elf GPS which links to satellites rather than using our data plan for guidance.

[cadman99]

You might check Consumer Cellular- being a cheapskate I changed from Verizon - they use the ATT network
$55 A month - 2 lines - unlimited talk and text - 5 gigs of data- I have an IPhone 6es and use it as a hot spot - seems to work well. I am sure it would cost more for more data.

Never had a problem with coverage.

[sailski]

We changed our 2 phones from Verizon to T-Mobile a little over a year ago and have been mostly satisfied with their service although it can be lacking in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. It has been improving and we have seen very good coverage in lots of remote areas. We live in the Rockies of Colorado and don't have many problems unless we are exploring the back county. Even then we have had service when friends didn't. T-Mobile bought a lot of mobile spectrum that they have expanded their network with in rural areas and they are negotiating to buy Sprint that will further expand their coverage.

I also have a $100 ATT hot spot called Mobley that is designed to be connected to the OBD2 port in a vehicle. The best part of this is that the monthly cost is only $20 a month for unlimited internet and I have configured my phone to use wifi to make calls so if I cannot connect with T-Mobile I connect with ATT's wifi. Plus we can watch movies on the TV with Amazon Prime or Netflix in the motorhome.

I kept my Verizon tablet line that costs $44 a month although I only found I could not connect to Google maps with my phone or the ATT hot spot once and was able to connect with the tablet. I think I should drop that line and use my atlas instead. That would drop my cell/internet expense to $80 a month for 2 phones and a hot spot. I imagine you will spend over $100 a month for your 2 phones with Verizon. I spent over $140 with them before I switched.

[SLU2]

I've had AT&T, Sprint, Virgin Mobile. Only found Verizon was the best for OUR campground. This is Goshen, N.J. Got a good deal on prepaid mobile. $30.00 a month more than Virgin(which uses Sprint). At least our phones now ring when somebody calls us!

[2witzmans]

Whom ever you go with ask for Senior discount or program. Military discount etc.
We have Verizon 20 GB. Unlimited call and text. It's our only internet at home and on the road. Love it. No problems ever. I hated monitoring my data usage. We then jump on the available free WiFi at camp grounds etc when available. Good luck

[garyhopp]

I think the way to go is Sprint unlimited,(about $50 per line) You get unlimited data and if you get a phone with the hot spot you get 50GB of Hotspot data per month, Never gone over and I only have 25 on the older plan. There are a few dead spots but sprint is merging with TMobile and that will eliminate that.

[sbrookssc]

My wife and I switched to T -Mobile's +55 plan and we have been quite happy with it. For $70 per month for two phones with unlimited data, you can't beat it. We have had good coverage everywhere we have traveled, but that has been only in the East. We've not traveled out West since switching over. I like using the hotspot feature on the phone which is also part of their unlimited data, but the speed is slower on the hotspot and is about 500 mb on average. While that is plenty fast for web browsing, email, etc on the laptop or table, it is a bit lacking for streaming video. We have a FireTV stick on the TV in the camper, and if we are somewhere that has poor TV reception, I use a streaming service. You can get 10GB per month of high speed hotspot for $10 per month additional, which I add on in the camping season. Streaming works very well with it as long as you have at least 2 bars on the phone of LTE.

[Major Oz]

Originally Posted by K_and_I

Yes, this is another in a long series of threads on cell phone/data use for rv'rs. I've read what I could find on here about staying connected on the road, but it seems it is constantly changing.
A little background: for the past 25 years, I have not had to worry about cell phone or data use. It has been company provided. I just had to pick up the cell phone or jetpack and what I needed was there. In a couple of months, I will be retiring and the communications free ride will end. I am trying to get educated before I need to make the decision. We do not plan to full time, but hope to do 2-3 month trips as we can. We are not big data users- we do not stream anything. There will (or should not) be any big files to download. Currently, I checked my data useage on my cell and desktop- I never go over 5 gb on the cell, and on my desktop (fiber) I averaged 30 gb per month in the last year.
I expect we will mostly be checking email, doing some financial work, and planning the next day's travels.
Some of the things I have read I do not understand, as I have not had to deal with limits and speeds. I do not have a tablet, as I have never had a need for one, but some of the posts I have read suggest that may be better than using my laptop.
I am currently looking at Verizon's go unlimited for the dw, as she uses next to no data, and beyond unlimited for me. I will have to give up my jetpack, so I am thinking about just using the cell phone for the laptop internet. This lists for $90/month for both plus unknown fees and taxes. T-Mobile has a less expensive plan for those of us so fortunate to be over 55, but their coverage maps concern me a little, and if I'm reading their info correctly, they limit mobile hotspot data to 3g speeds.
We do plan to be in Canada some, but that's probably it for foreign travel. What am I missing?

They are all overpriced. For travel, coverage is all that matters. learn to use wi-fi at the CG's, McDucks, Casey's, MalMart, etc. You wind up going there, anyhow.

[Mmcalli]

As sailski points out, when/if TMobile merger goes through, you will have the increased coverage of both networks but that process is held up until some time after our government shutdown.
Another good option to consider would be to join Google Fi (formerly Project Fi) which, if you are using a compatible Android phone, will automatically switch between the T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular networks based on signal strength. To keep your paid data usage down, it also automatically connects to open WiFi networks using a VPN for security. I won't go into more detail here but with their plan you only pay $35/mo for unlimited talk and text for two phones plus $10/GB for the wireless data they use (home, McD's, campground, etc., wifi is free of course) and with their bill protection, your two accounts, using maximum wireless data would be capped at $135+tax. Wireless data use can be throttled above 10GB/mo, Tethering is charged as regular data use and they also include international coverage. There are Many more questions answered on their website for the curious.

[K_and_I]

Originally Posted by K_and_I

This shows my ignorance on all matters cell phone. I'm seeing a Go Unlimited plan for $40/mo which would give the dw enough data for her limited use, and a Beyond Unlimited for $50/mo which should give me what I need. I don't see much less expensive available. I know there are "fees and taxes" on top of this, but am I missing something?

Quoting my old post for some update. I now know what I was missing on the Verizon pricing front. The advertised prices for unlimited/go/beyond was per line for 4 lines. With just 2 lines, the price goes up significantly. What I once thought was a done deal is now back in play. The "what I thought" price of $90 combined is now $155 combined. T-Mobile is looking better all the time. It's hard to get good info from Verizon. I went to a store yesterday, but couldn't find anyone who really knew what they were talking about. They had to keep asking others, who then asked others, who then found someone in the back room, etc. Why can't this stuff be simpler? The older I get the harder it is to deal with all of this conflicting info. Anyone have 2 tin cans and 4000 miles of waxed string?

[aceinspp]

All I can say is ya got to many lines. Man cost an arm and a leg. I can better spend my money on camping. Later RJD

[K_and_I]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

All I can say is ya got to many lines. Man cost an arm and a leg. I can better spend my money on camping. Later RJD

I only have 2 lines- one for myself and one for the dw.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by K_and_I

Quoting my old post for some update. I now know what I was missing on the Verizon pricing front. The advertised prices for unlimited/go/beyond was per line for 4 lines. With just 2 lines, the price goes up significantly. What I once thought was a done deal is now back in play. The "what I thought" price of $90 combined is now $155 combined. T-Mobile is looking better all the time. It's hard to get good info from Verizon. I went to a store yesterday, but couldn't find anyone who really knew what they were talking about. They had to keep asking others, who then asked others, who then found someone in the back room, etc. Why can't this stuff be simpler? The older I get the harder it is to deal with all of this conflicting info. Anyone have 2 tin cans and 4000 miles of waxed string?

There are only four providers in the US: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. But there are a bunch of resellers (proper name is Mobile Virtual Network Operator or MVNO) and their websites are much easier to navigate. Customer service can be better, plan choice can be better, and prices are better. I'm delighted with the MVNO I use. I signed up a couple of years ago for a 5GB plan. A year later the bumped it to 10GB without changing the price ($42.50 + tax = about $47). And last month they bumped it to 25GB, again without raising the rate.

Larry

[garyhopp]

Data is another blind move on the part of cell companies. Unlimited data is on the phone only if you connect the computer or other devices it becomes "Hot Spot Data" most companies limit this very low. I have found the best at Sprint Unlimited on the phone and 50gb hot spot for the base fee about $40.00 per line.