agesilaus

North Florida

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HappyKayakers wrote: I've also been looking at Visible. Do you just swap SIM cards in your current phone or did you get another phone just to use as a hotspot?
agesilaus wrote: Visible uses Verizon and has a great unlimited hotspot. We find that Verizon has the best coverage , ATT second best. But if you have any cell service and want better service get a cell booster. We have one and are seldom without usable service. And we boondock.
If your phone qualifies they send you a sim, otherwise they sell phones, often at a good discount and may throw in a kickback cash. We have had good luck with them with the exception of an incident last year, an update seemed to have bricked my phone so I have had to replace it. Otherwise no problems, be sure to know your pw when an update happens they will require it. They have a bargain price of $25/mo if you join one of their groups.
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CA Traveler

The Western States

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Get a good cell booster and they are not cheap and one that has an external antenna option. On my older one the antenna is mounted on the roof and the internal amplifier and antenna was very adequate for cell service. An external Yagi antenna mounted on a pole was not necessary but consider that possibility for your locations. This is what I call parked mobile.
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amontanagl

Montana

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CA Traveler wrote: Get a good cell booster and they are not cheap and one that has an external antenna option. On my older one the antenna is mounted on the roof and the internal amplifier and antenna was very adequate for cell service. An external Yagi antenna mounted on a pole was not necessary but consider that possibility for your locations. This is what I call parked mobile.
I just googled the cell boosters with antenna, they are on the expensive side...will research them some more...thanks!
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CA Traveler

The Western States

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I know! Try this - Cobble something to raise your cell phone 28' and test. Why 28' ask after the test, but elevation can be a big factor.
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wa8yxm

Davison Michigan (East of Flint)

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FMCA tech connect is 50/month plus 50 setup and the annual membership fee,Uses sprint/T=mobile NO LIMIT on date no throttling if you hit xxx Gig per month.
But like all cellular providers it is not 100 % coverage.. There are dead spots.
(Coverage among the bit 3,, AT&T, Verizon and the T-mobile family (T-Mobile, Sprint, Metro, Boost and a few others) is very close but the deadspots are different)
Star Link is, I believe, in Beta with their Low Earth Orbit satellites the chinease are type b itching about and that is about the limit of my knowledge.
Hughes net also works on Sats but Geo-Sync not LEO so the ping times are longer.
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RetiredRealtorRick

St. Augustine Beach, FL

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Another Jetpack user here (Verizon). Has never failed us in the 15 years we've been using it.
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1492

Arlington, VA

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If you're in MT and have little or no cell service, than you're only real option is satellite internet. Starlink would cover you except they are not allowing mobile use at this time. Only fixed location.
Both Amazon and Boeing are working on implementing their own satellite internet services.
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amontanagl

Montana

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wa8yxm wrote: FMCA tech connect is 50/month plus 50 setup and the annual membership fee,Uses sprint/T=mobile NO LIMIT on date no throttling if you hit xxx Gig per month.
But like all cellular providers it is not 100 % coverage.. There are dead spots.
(Coverage among the bit 3,, AT&T, Verizon and the T-mobile family (T-Mobile, Sprint, Metro, Boost and a few others) is very close but the deadspots are different)
Star Link is, I believe, in Beta with their Low Earth Orbit satellites the chinease are type b itching about and that is about the limit of my knowledge.
Hughes net also works on Sats but Geo-Sync not LEO so the ping times are longer.
Thanks for the info...I do know that T-mobile sucks in the state of MT, so will stay away from anything that uses them. I am thinking that if I want anything it would have to be a satellite type setup.
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theoldwizard1

SE MI

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If you have weak cell service, you need to start with a good antenna.b probably dual yagis mounted on top of a tall pole. He higher the better but I would say 10'-12' minimum.
Watch this video FINALLY...A RURAL Internet Service that WORKS!
* This post was
edited 01/04/22 11:34am by theoldwizard1 *
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TechWriter

Part-Timing Again

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amontanagl wrote:
1. Would a mobile hotspot work for this type of camping situation?
2. If you use a mobile hotspot....which service provider do you have?
3. I don't think Wifi boosters or repeaters would work for us...am I correct in thinking this?
Well, it depends on what, if any, cell service is available.
As previously mentioned, you can try Verizon’s Visible system. They send you a phone you can use as a hotspot or remove the phone’s SIM card and put it in a hotspot. I did the latter when I had Visible. Visible is cheap, but the Verizon network it uses is also cheap. However, it’s a good place to start.
I think all the major cell carriers all have hotspot data plans. The smart thing to do is to have a Verizon and an AT&T data plan.
* This post was
edited 01/04/22 03:40pm by TechWriter *
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