Best strategy for coverage while on the road. $150/mo budget.

[AntiGroundhogDay]

I am sticks & bricks right now, but by the end of the year will be full-timing in the US, and possibly Canada a bit.

I was able to grab an unlimited (but deprioritized) VZW MiFi/Jetpack plan for $70/month before the plan went away so I have that going for me.  Now I am trying to figure out which carrier I should go with for my android smartphone, to combine with my VZW MiFi/Jetpack for best coverage.  FWIW, I plan on a cellular booster and possibly a Netgear MIMO directional antenna to use in my RAV4 Hybrid.

I could go with:

- GoogleFi.  Combines US Cellular/TMO/Sprint.  Can going INTL (a possibility, though not often) for no extra charge.  Unsure if these three carriers combined is as good as ATT or TMO.

- ATT or TMO.  ATT traditionally has been a good compliment to VZW, and TMO is adding towers quickly to catch up.  They generally has more favorable pricing/plans/features (streaming unlimited YouTube, what?!) than ATT.

-Some other MVNO like Mint or Republic Wireless to stretch my dollar further.  Not well educated here, but I've read MVNOs are deprioritized vs. VZW/ATT/TMO/Sprint customers when battling for bandwidth on a tower.  Maybe?

I have a $150/mo budget for the $70 VZW Mifi/Jetpack and a cell phone plan, or possibly there's enough headroom for a cellphone plan ~and~ another MiFi on third carrier?  How would you spend your dough for the best coverage while traveling?  #addictedtotheinternet

Thanks!

 

[B and C]

AT&T Mobley for $20 month on their connected car plan (hotspot) and USB to OBDII connector for power. Not sure if it is still offered. I use Hangouts Dialer on my Android phone to make calls when using a data connection.
Verizon Postpaid phone and hotspot (still paying for phone) $132 month. Phone can be a hotspot too but is subject to deprioritization after 15? MB. The hotspot is limited all the time to 600 Kbps but is fast enough for netflix.

This is my arsenal. Verizon worked well in Canada (where there was service). A lot of no service on the road to Alaska.

I also have a Wilson WeBoost (cradle 4G) with a truckers antenna permanently mounted. I have a high gain directional antenna I can deploy mounted to a painters pole when needed. I can usually get a signal when others around me cannot.

For MVNO, Visible by Verizon for $40 a month true unlimited is the service of the moment.

 

[Elbear1]

If you can unlock phone I use tracphone. I usually buy the $25/60 day plan which has been more than plenty.

 

[jimindenver]

You can get a unlimited AT&T tablet plan for $34.99 a month. Some sellers sell the sim and a hotspot. I have both AT&T and TMO and can tell you that out in the boonies that TMO has a long ways to go before they catch up with AT&T.

Should you go with TMO, make sure that you get band 12 on the device. The last time I helped someone set up a TMO account with TMO that had a hard limit of 50 gigs. Also I do not know of any TMO plans that still offer unlimited streaming via the Binge on and Music freedom features.

I have a iphone with Verizon as the carrier on Red Pocket. It gives me unlimited talk/text/ 2 gigs of high speed with unlimited throttled speed after that. I believe that it is $229 a year on ebay. Most of the time the phone is on one of my hotspots so the limited amount of high speed is more than enough for when it is not connected to a hotspot.

A deprioritized phone/hotspot on Verizon can be very painful in places like Quartzsite mid winter. Otherwise I would have gone for Visible @ $40 a month over Red Pocket.

 

[Firtree]

My Verizon Hotspot is $65 with autopay and I buy $40 Verizon Refill cards off eBay or Amazon or ? I have to pay tax on the stupid cards But still is coming out a few bucks less than $40. There is a place in the online account to add the Cards and I stack a few at a time. I don’t purchase much more than I need per month just Incase something goes stupid with the cards, system, Verizon. If for some reason I only have let’s say $32 in the account when it comes time to renew it takes the $32 then charges the rest to my credit card they have on file. Your monthly on Verizon Hotspot should be some less than $65 using the refill cards

As Jim mentioned I also have the ATT unlimited hotspot device and the account at $34.99 (autopay). Got the device and the $9.++ setup for the Att account off eBay. I did 2 different sellers as that worked out best. I had a clean unused ATT SIM but some account sellers will give or sell you one for a few bucks. You could also get from like Walmart I believe.

So now you are upto $100. Depending on your calling and texting needs, you can put your phone on a Red Pocket (Verizon or ATT plan depending on your phone and needs. I’d pick Verizon, just cuz) plan as cheap as $60 A Year. 100 mins+ 100 text + 1/2 GB per month. The 500m, 500T, 1/2 GB is like $99 A Year or if you make lots of your calls away from your hot spots do the nice $229 plan Jim mentions. If you go with one of the cheaper plans you probably need to setup Google Voice on your phone so you make some calls using the hotspot/WiFi setup. -That’s not hard to setup but explaining is not easy for me.

All that is a hair less than $150 per mo. You are on 2 good networks and well covered.
Oh and pickup a Netgear MiFi ? antenna off Amazon for around $35. It can help the hotspots in places, sometimes hampers but often as good as a weboost

As Jim also mentioned another option is $40 a month Visible (Unlimited everything) on a compatible phone on the Verizon network and the $34.99 (autopay) ATT hotspot, then you are down to $75 a month. But you are giving up the Verizon Hotspot plan that no longer exists

 

[AntiGroundhogDay]

You can get a unlimited AT&T tablet plan for $34.99 a month. Some sellers sell the sim and a hotspot. I have both AT&T and TMO and can tell you that out in the boonies that TMO has a long ways to go before they catch up with AT&T.

Should you go with TMO, make sure that you get band 12 on the device. The last time I helped someone set up a TMO account with TMO that had a hard limit of 50 gigs. Also I do not know of any TMO plans that still offer unlimited streaming via the Binge on and Music freedom features.

I have a iphone with Verizon as the carrier on Red Pocket. It gives me unlimited talk/text/ 2 gigs of high speed with unlimited throttled speed after that. I believe that it is $229 a year on ebay. Most of the time the phone is on one of my hotspots so the limited amount of high speed is more than enough for when it is not connected to a hotspot.

A deprioritized phone/hotspot on Verizon can be very painful in places like Quartzsite mid winter. Otherwise I would have gone for Visible @ $40 a month over Red Pocket.

For the UNL ATT plan:
1) It says it can be inserted into a MIFI device, just the same as a tablet.  Do you agree?  (That would be more flexible)
2) Is this an illegal plan of sorts with the carrier where if I purchase, there is a risk of it getting shut down?
3) Is this a plan with ATT direct or through a reseller?

 

[AntiGroundhogDay]

Ok, I don't think it make sense to go with Visible, because thought it is not throttled if you sign up at this time, it is deprioritized, just like my $65 hotspot with VZW, and it's less flexible when connecting other devices vs. my MIFI and most likely worse reception:

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/visible-wireless,review-6036.html

As for the refill cards, for me with tax it would be $70.16 for two cards equaling $80 in value. Many thanks for the tip.

So that would mean I am paying per month:
- $57 for deprioritized, UNL, VZW Mifi/Jetpack.
- $35 for ATT UNL (truly unlimited? No throttling or deprioritization?) MiFi.
= $92.

I might then put my cellphone with GoogleFI, which gives me Sprint and T-Mobile for further diversity for $20+$10 per gig used and I can go INTL with ease.

Decent? Is that ATT tablet/MIFI plan truly unlimited? From a 3rd party that can get cut off at a moment's notice?

 

[Firtree]

Jim could explain the ATT tablet plan better but from my knowledge and use it is unlimited. Currently a SIM is in a Nighthawk Mifi, previously in an older ATT Netgear.

Can this be cut off at anytime? Yes.
It is an unauthorized use, it belongs in a tablet. Companies do periodically go through and cancel users that use too much data or unauthorized plans. This plan has not yet been cut off.
No you can not get it in a MiFi from ATT or any authorized reseller. It is unauthorized use.

My belief is any phone or data plan can be slowed down or deprioritized at the drop of a hat. Only ones likely safe are fire/EMT/police cellular, pricy Post Paid plans, business plans.

If you want to go the least expensive after the two MiFi plans (but no international) is a phone or even tablet, without a cellular plan. Get Google Voice, number and app on phone and always WiFi connect the phone/tablet to a MiFi. You are carrying an extra device in your pocket but it works. Save your money until you go international and then buy an International SIM plan or Google FI for the time you are there.

Try the Google Voice set up with your current Verizon MiFi and see how it works. Turn off your cellular, turn on phone WiFi. Might be good enough for your phone and texting needs. Also good knowledge if your phone falls in a river, toilet and someone hands you an old phone with no SIM to use. Connect to your MiFi, Add the GVoice app, login and you are set to go.

 

[AntiGroundhogDay]

Jim could explain the ATT tablet plan better but from my knowledge and use it is unlimited. Currently a SIM is in a Nighthawk Mifi, previously in an older ATT Netgear.

Can this be cut off at anytime? Yes.
It is an unauthorized use, it belongs in a tablet. Companies do periodically go through and cancel users that use too much data or unauthorized plans. This plan has not yet been cut off.
No you can not get it in a MiFi from ATT or any authorized reseller. It is unauthorized use.

My belief is any phone or data plan can be slowed down or deprioritized at the drop of a hat. Only ones likely safe are fire/EMT/police cellular, pricy Post Paid plans, business plans.

If you want to go the least expensive after the two MiFi plans (but no international) is a phone or even tablet, without a cellular plan. Get Google Voice, number and app on phone and always WiFi connect the phone/tablet to a MiFi. You are carrying an extra device in your pocket but it works. Save your money until you go international and then buy an International SIM plan or Google FI for the time you are there.

Try the Google Voice set up with your current Verizon MiFi and see how it works. Turn off your cellular, turn on phone WiFi. Might be good enough for your phone and texting needs. Also good knowledge if your phone falls in a river, toilet and someone hands you an old phone with no SIM to use. Connect to your MiFi, Add the GVoice app, login and you are set to go.

I have Google Voice right now on my Verizon work phone.  I'd be reluctant to run a cell phone or tablet purely off any deprioritized ATT or VZW MiFi, as I may need voice in an emergency.  But good food for thought.  Thanks!

 

[Elbear1]

Netbuddy or otr mobile. Att legit unlimited $65 after tax.

ATT is pretty good nowadays. There are dead zones way up in the hills but thats true with verizon too.