Best way to get internet connectivity

[enginewitty]

Do you recommend phones and hotspotting/tethering?

or buying a router?

what are the best companies/products you've found?

 

[highdesertranger]

I use a Verizon hotspot. works for me, basically it works everywhere I can get a signal. highdesertranger

 

[MrNoodly]

Depends on what you mean by "best."

Cheapest? Most reliable? Most access? Strongest signal? Fastest speed? Least cumbersome?...

 

[jimindenver]

personally I prefer a phone with a hotspot, then a hotspot by itself.

coverage is Verizon first, AT&T a close second, then come T-Mobile and Sprint. The prices for service usually reflects this too with Verizon being the most expensive and you can get free service on Sprint.

So what you need and where you need it will dictate what you should get.

 

[enginewitty]

Depends on what you mean by "best."

Cheapest? Most reliable? Most access? Strongest signal? Fastest speed? Least cumbersome?...

cost and access are probably most important to me. how do you differentiate between reliability and access? I would think those would be the same thing. high speed is preferable but as it typically increases costs much more, just so long as I can use Google Maps safely. and by that I mean, it's not telling me to turn right in a quarter mile 50 ft. from the turn, etc.

Thanks Noodly ^^

 

[enginewitty]

personally I prefer a phone with a hotspot, then a hotspot by itself.

coverage is Verizon first, AT&T a close second, then come T-Mobile and Sprint. The prices for service usually reflects this too with Verizon being the most expensive and you can get free service on Sprint.

So what you need and where you need it will dictate what you should get.

interesting.  I've kind of forgotten about  this thread but that's what I'm looking at doing right now. maybe your suggestion was locked somewhere in the back of my mind ^^ I'm currently with T-Mobile. the locked phones in The US aren't preferable and they don't have cheap phones that I've been able to find so I'm sort of debating on this next move as well. good suggestion tho! ^^

you still in Denver? how's Estes Park? just met someone today who said it was amazing

 

[jimindenver]

Still here but the light at the end of the tunnel is brightening slowly. Took my sister and brother in law up to Estes Park and the elk were everywhere. The towns folk barely look up from their cell phones as they step out of the way for the elk to pass. My brother in law bow hunts and was just beside himself being that close to them. lol

 

[blars]

AT&T is a distant second, not close in the areas I travel. Outside big cities, you can find places where only one of the major 4 works.

 

[jimindenver]

Through the cheap and free services I have something on each network for $35 a month sans my Cricket phone that I keep for business. Even then I know there will be times when I'll be SOL for a connection.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Do you recommend phones and hotspotting/tethering?

or buying a router?

what are the best companies/products you've found?

This is what I use for internet:

• iPhone 5S on Verizon for talk/text/hotspot as primary (4 gigs/month).
• Straight Talk jetpack on AT&T network as backup (buy 1 or 2 gig cards, good for 1 month from activation).
• WeBoost 4G-M cell booster with omnidirectional antenna on roof of camper ( ~10' up, +50 dB).
• WeBoost YAGI directional antenna 20' up as needed (have to erect, connect and point to use and take down to move).
• Alpha WIFI booster (don't know the model No.).  Get good WIFI from store parking lots.

Only place I have been without at least a 3G signal (so far in 2 years) is deep in a canyon in Utah this spring.  I boondock in Minnesota, North & South Dakota, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho.

 -- Spiff

 

[gojo]

Does anyone use AT&T wifi?  What's your opinion on it? I been using it for several years, It seems to be slowing down. Sometimes I feel like  I'm back on dial-up, when it first started..
I have  two laptops and windoows10 is slow and touchy,  and a few times it's fast.

I use the 10 gigs for $81, now they gave me a bonus and gives me 20 gigs for that price now. Nobody gives anything away for free, must be a reason...

 

[jimindenver]

I use Cricket which is AT&T and yeah, at times it's slowing down, my AT&T sims through Freedompop too but it isn't the nom.

$81 for 20 gigs is great for post paid AT&T. Does it include the use of the hotspot?

 

[gojo]

I use Cricket which is AT&T and yeah, at times it's slowing down, my AT&T sims through Freedompop too but it isn't the nom.

$81 for 20 gigs is great for post paid AT&T. Does it include the use of the hotspot?

 Wife's place of employment uses AT&T, for using it we get a 10% discount. Yes, I use it in hotspots.


Without discount, it would be in the 90s. We called and questioned the extra 10 gigs. Was told it's for a long time customer.
July we only used little over 7 gigs.

 

[NickTheoBennett]

I also use Cricket, which uses ATT towers. I'm on their new(ish) unlimited plan. The caveat is that the data speed is capped at 8Mbps or 4Mbps depending on which network you are connected to. For me, the tradeoff is totally worth it. I work online and stream audio and the occasional video all day, so unlimited data was a must. I also pirate all of my television and movies and such, so not having to worry about being on Wifi to download those is priceless. The speeds are not blazing but are quite acceptable for me. I can stream Youtube and Netflix with no problems as long as I don't try to watch in 1080p.

The plan is only $70/month and I've had great success with it so far. I'm sure Verizon is a little bit better but they also don't offer any unlimited plans.

I also have Google Fi as a backup, which uses Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular networks currently, with more to come (That's right, the newer Nexus phones have both CDMA and GSM radios in them). With Fi you only pay for the data you use, though it is at $10/GB. I use it as a backup and it only costs me $20 per month if I don't use any data in a given month. I've got a Nexus 5x, so all it takes is a sim card swap to go between Cricket and Fi.

 

[Varmint]

It seems to be slowing down. Sometimes I feel like  I'm back on dial-up, when it first started..

 My reply:

I believe this is, in part, due to there being so many folks using the net with hi-speed connections. Higher loads on the backbones translate to slower speeds and greater lag times for everyone. Still faster than dialup back in the early 90's, though. The times of heavy loading haven't changed much, as far as I can tell, but the effects are more dramatic these days, swinging from over 600kbs download speeds to dialup speeds in a matter of minutes when others start logging on at the same hours every day. And yes, overseas loading has the same effect has loading over here.

Not sure what effect throttling by ISP's has, but I'm certain that is also significant.

 

[NeedAnEscape]

As for AT&T, I have an unlimited plan that I use in a mobile hotspot (Unite Pro). I have no complaints with the LTE speed and coverage is very good at least in NC and SC. I also have a Verizon phone (limited data) and unlimited 3G hotspot, and in the remote areas they are pretty close in coverage.

 

[jimindenver]

Congestion happens to all of the carriers, some worse than others. My T-mobile will show a signal and not have a connection to the internet here in town. Congestion isn't the only culprit as having service through some resellers puts you on a lower priority. A tower gets too busy and you are the first to go unless you have AT&T vs Cricket, T-Mobile vs Simply mobile, Verizon vs Page Plus. In each case lower cost gets you a lower priority.

 

[Varmint]

jimindenver said, in post #17:
"In each case lower cost gets you a lower priority."

My reply:
That is something I never thought of, but should've. I have T-Mobile here now, and for $25 I get unlimited talk & text, but no data. Not important to me at this time, but could be later on, especially west of the Mississippi. I believe Straight Talk uses Verizon's system as well, although I'm not sure about that or what it would mean for data & tethering of devices. I've only checked into things I use.

As for those investigating the use of Amateur Radio to send emails, that will be painfully slow, as some sysops actually refuse to send these msgs until they've checked them over individually. Not sure why, unless it's a liability thing. I've sent emails that never got delivered, and most systems don't have the capability to do this. That may change with modern hi-speed data routers and other add-ons to the packet radio system. I'm not holding my breath on this. What I HAVE noticed is the proliferation of internet access on node switches nationwide, and that is a good and necessary thing for this.

 

[mpruet]

Do you recommend phones and hotspotting/tethering?

or buying a router?

what are the best companies/products you've found?

I use Sprint as my preferred with a Verizon jetPack as a backup.  My Sprint plan has unlimited data when using in-network and 2GB/month when roaming.  My Sprint plan has no degradation nor caps.   I connect my android cell to my laptop using pda.net (pdanet.co) through an USB connection and then turn on a hosted network on my laptop so that other devices in my rig have internet connectivity.  This method generally gets much better performance than using a wireless internet at any park or at McDonald's...  We have no problem streaming HD movies (Hulu or Amazon Prime). 

But since Sprint isn't everywhere, I use the Verizon jetPack when Sprint is not available.  The Verizon plan is very expensive and has a 10 GB cap, so I don't use it normally for streaming. 

The Sprint setup is fantastic when it works.  I used to do development for IBM and for a while lived in my RV in a fairly lavish park in Houston.  I used the Sprint cell phone hook up for connectivity because it was much better than the park's wireless.  I was averaging 250MB per month including using it for Skype conference calls.  No problem.

 

[PathofAsha]

A few of my friends (boondockers and boaters) use Hughesnet Gen4 as their primary internet provider and Verizon as backup. I think the basic plan is 55gig/month and the fast internet gives you 100gigs/month on Hughesnet. I've never heard them complain and they always have a connection when no one else has a signal. They do carry around a small dish and keep it stowed in a bin on the back bumper when traveling.