Verizon Wireless Hotspots?

[bowler1]

Hi,
I am looking for some advice on wireless hot spots. We are going to try living out of our 5th wheel and plan to use a streaming video service through the internet. I am assuming that an actual wireless hotspot (instead of using your phone as one) will provide more reliable and perhaps higher speed internet. Is my assumption correct?

We use Verizon as our carrier. Do their wireless hotspots "throttle back" on internet speed after using a certain number of gigs? I know that happens with your phone. Does the hotspot use the data from your cell plan as an additional line or does it require its own data plan?

Still trying to figure all this stuff out. I am not the most tech-savvy person. Thanks for your help

[Dutch_12078]

We have two hotspots, one on AT&T and one on Verizon. The AT&T is a Mobley/Connected Car Plan device with a $20/mo unlimited/no-throttling 4G/LTE plan that's no longer offered, and our Verizon 6620L Jetpack has been remotely flashed for prepaid 3G only at $5/month. With a fairly good 1.5-2 Mbps signal, the 3G Jetpack is surprisingly good at letting us stream standard definition video with minimal buffering. We've found it very helpful to have more than one carrier as we travel around, and at a total cost of $27.51/mo for the two including taxes and fees, we'll keep what we have for as long as we can. And not having our phones tied up is a definite plus...

[LarryJM]

Sailingnuts wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
No advantage to a hotspot over a phone.

In your shoes, I would just buy or keep an older dedicated phone for data streaming, for convenience. Then if a phone gets lost/stolen/broken, you can use the older phone instead of being without.

I am sorry but I beg to disagree entirely... HotSpot like the NETGEAR Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile AC791L is optimized for DATA and Speed. It is not an OLD phone and does not work like a phone. Please look at the Data Specification.
The AC791L will have a much better reception in 4G and LTE than any existing phone given the same available signal. Additionally, you can buy reasonable internal antennas that will give you up to 7DB gain. Please check at the NETGEAR site and Amazon.
I have 2 iPhone 7s and there are several locations where I use the AC791L to be able to receive calls (over wi-fi) because the iPhone have very weak signal. I also have a pair of 7DB gain internal antennas that I normally attach to the AC791L when the signal is weak.

The limitation on the data plan and high consumption in HD is correct.

Also depending on your plan the cost of a phone and the option to use it as a hotspot might be more than just the mo cost of a hotspot. I pay $20 a phone line and $10 for my AC791L hotspot. Not sure if there is an additional cost to have the option of using a phone as a hotspot. Lastly if you use a phone you can't take the phone with you and still have the stationary hotspot capability. Both my Laptop and wife's IPAD use the hotspot and we each have our own phones.

Larry

[ktmrfs]

we have a 4G verizon jetpack. biggest advantage is the battery life is much much longer than the phone battery life when used as a hotspot.

Next, with it on, anyone in the trailer can use it as a hotspot. with my phone if I walk away, hotspot gone.

It has an external jack for an external antenna, which can help speed in fringe areas.

so, if none of these are important to you, just use the phone as a hotspot.

[johnhicks]

You can buy data-only plans from Verizon that aren't throttled. For example, 100g is $710/mo. I guess you'd have to really like TV.

[Bill_Satellite]

jplante4 wrote:
If you're a member of FMCA, they have a deal with Verizon Wireless a jetpack hotspot for $1 and $50 a month for unlimited data. After 25gig they throttle.

Set up a separate account for this deal using an email address that VZW doesn't kow. Trying to get it put onto you existing VZW account is a nightmare. Ask me how I know 😞

After 25Gb with the FMCA plan you are Hard Throttled (unlike the normal Verizon "Network Optimization") down to 2G speeds which is nearly unusable.

[Geeze]

bowler1 wrote:
Hi,
I am looking for some advice on wireless hot spots. We are going to try living out of our 5th wheel and plan to use a streaming video service through the internet. I am assuming that an actual wireless hotspot (instead of using your phone as one) will provide more reliable and perhaps higher speed internet. Is my assumption correct?

We use Verizon as our carrier. Do their wireless hotspots "throttle back" on internet speed after using a certain number of gigs? I know that happens with your phone. Does the hotspot use the data from your cell plan as an additional line or does it require its own data plan?

Still trying to figure all this stuff out. I am not the most tech-savvy person. Thanks for your help

We used a cell phone as a hotspot for two years with another carrier. About a year ago we decided to try a Verizon hotspot. It worked great until we hit the 22GB cap on unlimited then they throttled us back to 3G. The problem is we couldn't get a good 3G signal where we lived. I would recommend just using your phone until a truly unlimited plan becomes available.

[edatlanta]

The current Verizon situation for my smart phone and 2 jetpacks is:
Each device (yes the smart phone too) is limited to full 4G LTE up to 15gb. Yes, the smartphone is limited to 15gb when using it has a hotspot or tethered. After that 15gb limit is reached the speed will reduce to 600 kbps. The 22gb limit is correct for the smartphone, but not when using it as a hotspot. After the 22gb is reached it may be throttled depending on cell congestion.

There are other special deals out there, but this is mine as of right now.

My devices: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (factory unlocked), 7730 and 6620 Verizon Jetpacks.

[Sultan1966]

My Verizon MiFi is faster than any of my phones or tablets as per speedtest.net and test across Cellular and WiFi served to laptops during tests I purchased an old "grandfathered" plan for $1k via and AOL "Assumption of Liability" and burn 200-300GB of data a month for only $40 a month. We are full timers and use it on 2 laptops, 2 Apple TV 4k running Sony Playstation Vue for streaming TV/DVR and have 2 tablets and 2 phones as well when they aren't running on LTE from their plan.

[BurbMan]

Sailingnuts wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
No advantage to a hotspot over a phone.

In your shoes, I would just buy or keep an older dedicated phone for data streaming, for convenience. Then if a phone gets lost/stolen/broken, you can use the older phone instead of being without.

I am sorry but I beg to disagree entirely... HotSpot like the NETGEAR Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile AC791L is optimized for DATA and Speed. It is not an OLD phone and does not work like a phone. Please look at the Data Specification.
The AC791L will have a much better reception in 4G and LTE than any existing phone given the same available signal. Additionally, you can buy reasonable internal antennas that will give you up to 7DB gain. Please check at the NETGEAR site and Amazon.
I have 2 iPhone 7s and there are several locations where I use the AC791L to be able to receive calls (over wi-fi) because the iPhone have very weak signal. I also have a pair of 7DB gain internal antennas that I normally attach to the AC791L when the signal is weak.

The limitation on the data plan and high consumption in HD is correct.

1000% agree here, we get a much better signal on the hotspot than the phone most of the time.

I'll throw out another idea....we have a Wilson signal booster with small inductive indoor antenna that we use in fringe areas. We were out at a new beach camping spot last year and hd no cell service....BUT....with the Jet Pack on the signal booster, I was able to get 3 bars of 4G service, and with wifi calling enabled on the phones we had great service!

Having a Jet Pack dedicated for data gives you a lot more flexibility than using your phone for everything.

[jplante4]

If you're a member of FMCA, they have a deal with Verizon Wireless a jetpack hotspot for $1 and $50 a month for unlimited data. After 25gig they throttle.

Set up a separate account for this deal using an email address that VZW doesn't kow. Trying to get it put onto you existing VZW account is a nightmare. Ask me how I know 😞

[larry_cad]

We fired Direct TV 1 1/2 years ago and have been streaming with a Verizon Jet Pack ever since. We are quite content with the service and very happy with the cost reduction of about $150/month. We got ROKU for the TV which gives us access to so many stations I can't count them. Sitting here now, watching the Cleveland Cavs play the Raptors. Yes, the Jet pack is 4G and our reception is fine with that. After 22GB Verizon throttles is back after that. You do notice some hesitation from time to time, but it is watchable.

[donn0128]

As an afterthought you may be much better off going with Sat for your TV viewing. Dish offers a month to month pay as you go.

[azrving]

I have always used my phone mobile hot spot to my laptop. I was on limited data and as it ran out they would text type YES if you would like to increase your data by 2G for $10 more or you will be charged$15.

So we never watched videos and while out in the boonies I would go up to about 20 or something and a couple hundred bucks. Recently I went with the unlimited and it was slow slow slow so I called them and they said it's because so many people are on it in my particular area.

Although I'm in a larger city the map shows poor coverage. On their recommendation I went to "beyond" unlimited and it's been pretty good. Not perfect but usually works. Videos stall sometimes but not terrible. I don't know how much data I have used but the bill was $208 for two smart phones.

I probably won't turn on the internet when I get home so that saves minimum on time of 6 months x $35 per month.

[Sailingnuts]

coolmom42 wrote:
No advantage to a hotspot over a phone.

In your shoes, I would just buy or keep an older dedicated phone for data streaming, for convenience. Then if a phone gets lost/stolen/broken, you can use the older phone instead of being without.

I am sorry but I beg to disagree entirely... HotSpot like the NETGEAR Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile AC791L is optimized for DATA and Speed. It is not an OLD phone and does not work like a phone. Please look at the Data Specification.
The AC791L will have a much better reception in 4G and LTE than any existing phone given the same available signal. Additionally, you can buy reasonable internal antennas that will give you up to 7DB gain. Please check at the NETGEAR site and Amazon.
I have 2 iPhone 7s and there are several locations where I use the AC791L to be able to receive calls (over wi-fi) because the iPhone have very weak signal. I also have a pair of 7DB gain internal antennas that I normally attach to the AC791L when the signal is weak.

The limitation on the data plan and high consumption in HD is correct.