Data Only Plan for Hotspot

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by hdjimmi

What lenny said. I also had to call. I messaged him on his facebook page and he called me. Very good guy

Thanks. Got it going today.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Anders

Hi Everyone,

We are in BC Canada and will go south in a few days for 3 months or so. We will be staying in California and Arizona mostly.

Can anyone recommend a US provider that has an Unlimited Data Only Plan (no-contract) that is affordable so I don't have to take out a mortgage on the house

We use a hotspot when we travel and when in Europe we can get unlimited data for $1 per day. I know we are a very long way from finding such a plan in Canada. What is the situation in the USA?

Cheers, and thank you,

I use my Verizon hotspot for secure high speed internet and it works in most places.

[-lenny-]

Originally Posted by -lenny-

Just an update.

Even with our limited cell coverage, this has been acceptable for us. We have downloaded several large files, and streamed hours of SD video. Just under 50GB used so far, I’m happy!

Total month usage was just over 170GB. All in rural Arizona, yet could always watch video. Rarely did have issues with playback if we had multiple processes going on at the same time.

[emm-dee]

As many suspected, there are lots of “rumors” from very reliable sources that Unlimited Internet Provider was actually reselling the AT&T unlimited TABLET plan and fooling the sim and using it in a hotspot. That is against AT&T’s terms of service, but AT&T has usually been very lax on enforcing those TOS.

Since AT&T just cancelled that plan the reports are it will be grandfathered for folks who dealt direct with AT&T and kept the SIM card in a tablet. However, AT&T is not obligated to grandfather the providers who have been pushing the limits with TOS violations.

Stay tuned.

[Padua2]

Originally Posted by BigDan

Been going to Arizona for 6 years,,,
Forget about T- moibile

Visible.com is using verizon ,
Unlimited real data ,one hotpot permitted but with a portable router you can distribute to 10 devices
If 4 joining your pay party = $25 ,00

Unlimited at $25 wow
We listen to tv streaming....
Dan ,

How do you connect (network) the router to the hotspot! Never done that before.

[dave1650]

Originally Posted by Padua2

How do you connect (network) the router to the hotspot! Never done that before.

This will allow you to connect to a wifi router.
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Modem...4647114&sr=8-3

You can also use a wifi extender to connect wireless to hotspot.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Padua2

How do you connect (network) the router to the hotspot! Never done that before.

A hotspot is essentially a router and creates it's own network so you don't need another router or network.

When I activated my hotspot on my Android phone with Verizon it creates a network that a laptop can connect to by logging into the network and entering the hotspot password.

It works well anywhere I get good Verizon service. It's great for camping as long as you are not too remotely located. I don't have to rely on the usually slow networks in campgrounds and the hotspot network is protected.

[Padua2]

Thanks! I get that, normally.
But since Visible only allows a single device to connect, I was looking for a way to connect multiple devices (tv, laptop, etc. )

Originally Posted by hikerjohn7

A hotspot is essentially a router and creates it's own network so you don't need another router or network.

When I activated my hotspot on my Android phone with Verizon it creates a network that a laptop can connect to by logging into the network and entering the hotspot password.

It works well anywhere I get good Verizon service. It's great for camping as long as you are not too remotely located. I don't have to rely on the usually slow networks in campgrounds and the hotspot network is protected.

[Padua2]

OK. Thanks for that link. But how do you connect the phone's hotspot to the Netgear Modem? USB?

Originally Posted by dave1650

This will allow you to connect to a wifi router.
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Modem...4647114&sr=8-3

You can also use a wifi extender to connect wireless to hotspot.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by Padua2

OK. Thanks for that link. But how do you connect the phone's hotspot to the Netgear Modem? USB?

If you’re using Visible then any phone that’s compatible is not going to be able to connect directly to a Netgear router (I assume you mean router and not modem). Visible has really locked their SIM card system down to where they only work in a compatible phone and will not work in a hotspot (I’ve tried it in three different types of hotspots).

A workaround is to get an Alpha CampPro system. It will see the Visible phone hotspot and repeat the signal for at least 10 devices. Keep in mind that any repeater will increase the signal strength BUT will slightly degrade the speed.

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

Do you already have a Visible phone, and if so have you tried to connect more than one device to the hotspot?

[Padua2]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

...Visible has really locked their SIM card system down to where they only work in a compatible phone and will not work in a hotspot (I’ve tried it in three different types of hotspots).

A workaround is to get an Alpha CampPro system. It will see the Visible phone hotspot and repeat the signal for at least 10 devices. Keep in mind that any repeater will increase the signal strength BUT will slightly degrade the speed.

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

Do you already have a Visible phone, and if so have you tried to connect more than one device to the hotspot?

I have a Visible compatible iPhone ( as per their website). I just need to open an account and order the sim.

Before doing that, I am trying to establish what is required in order to use on our RV for streaming Netflix or Prime via our TV, and also connect our laptop at the same time. The Visible website (and someone I chatted with on their site) say that they only allow one device to connect per hotspot. So, I was trying to get all the info I need to make sure that we have all the pieces, and how to connect them. Does that make sense?

I'm also looking at other options, but seems that Visible is the most popular.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Padua2

Thanks! I get that, normally.
But since Visible only allows a single device to connect, I was looking for a way to connect multiple devices (tv, laptop, etc. )

I am now thinking I am not sure about your question.

Anyway, and I have not tried it yet but, I don't see why you could not connect multiple wireless capable appliances such as PCs or smart TVs to a hotspot network just like a network generated by a router. Of course, the more appliances you connect to it the slower the network will perform.

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by Padua2

I have a Visible compatible iPhone ( as per their website). I just need to open an account and order the sim.

Before doing that, I am trying to establish what is required in order to use on our RV for streaming Netflix or Prime via our TV, and also connect our laptop at the same time. The Visible website (and someone I chatted with on their site) say that they only allow one device to connect per hotspot. So, I was trying to get all the info I need to make sure that we have all the pieces, and how to connect them. Does that make sense?

I'm also looking at other options, but seems that Visible is the most popular.

I connect my phone, by USB cable to my laptop. I then make my laptop a wireless hotspot and connect my multiple devices to the computer. The phone sees the computer as one device. Works great.

[comfun1]

Originally Posted by boogiejack75

I connect my phone, by USB cable to my laptop. I then make my laptop a wireless hotspot and connect my multiple devices to the computer. The phone sees the computer as one device. Works great.

What is the advantage of this over just using your phone as a hotspot?

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by boogiejack75

I connect my phone, by USB cable to my laptop. I then make my laptop a wireless hotspot and connect my multiple devices to the computer. The phone sees the computer as one device. Works great.

Hmm... that's an interesting approach connecting the PC to the phone directly. I connect my laptop or my tablet to my hotspot network wirelessly. My RV does not have a smart TV so I have not tried to connect it to the phone hotspot nor do I know what I would accomplish by doing that. I guess you could attach something like a printer to the PC while it's wired to the phone.

We new thing we have tried is tapping into Netflix with our phone but not via hotspot. We just do it through Verizon's normal channel. We can get movies on the phone so I purchased a little device that transmits whatever is on the phone's screen to the TV's screen. It works pretty well but sometimes the picture resolution is not as good as cable. But who cares? We are camping.

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by comfun1

What is the advantage of this over just using your phone as a hotspot?

You can connect more than one device.

[bikendan]

I can connect numerous devices, to my cellphone hot spot, without needing a computer.
I often have my smart tv, my tablet and my wife's tablet, connected simultaneously to my cellphone hotspot.
That's why it's confusing why you're using the computer.

[lucky55616]

Originally Posted by bikendan

I can connect numerous devices, to my cellphone hot spot, without needing a computer.
I often have my smart tv, my tablet and my wife's tablet, connected simultaneously to my cellphone hotspot.
That's why it's confusing why you're using the computer.

Visible only allows one device at a time to be connected to the hot spot on the phone, that is why a computer or router needs to be connected to the hot spot and then several other devices can connect to the computer or router. Most other cell phone carriers do not have this one device restriction for their hotspot. However, the cost for an unlimited data plan on Visible is only $25 per month on their party plan and I believe they have the one device restriction because of the low cost for their plans.

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by bikendan

I can connect numerous devices, to my cellphone hot spot, without needing a computer.
I often have my smart tv, my tablet and my wife's tablet, connected simultaneously to my cellphone hotspot.
That's why it's confusing why you're using the computer.

Not with Visible. Only one device allowed.

[emm-dee]

Let’s put this Visible one device hotspot thing to rest. It’s not true. To prove it I did the following:

Connect iPhone 7 with a Visible sim to the cellular data network and then:

Connect my iPad Pro to the hotspot

Connect my iPhone 11 to the hotspot

Connect a RoKu streaming stick to the hotspot, and streamed Startrek On the TV.

Connect an AppleTV box to the hotspot and streamed Netflix.

So, there it is. Four devices at once. The iPhone and iPad both had Speedtest numbers of 9.8 mbps. I have seen hotspot speeds in excess of 25 mbps on Visible (not as good as the regular Verizon hotspot speed of 52 mbps.

Look closely at the picture below. I did a screenshot of the Visible connected iPhone 7 and you can see (close to the top) that the hotspot has four active connections.