Has anyone found a recent unlimited HOTSPOT cellular plan?

[morkani]

I have verizon, and thought I could bluetooth tether my android phone to my pc and get my phone's unlimited internet on the laptop. I was wrong, I guess they have software now that can detect that.

Is there another solution that gives me true unlimited hotspot data? I plan to use a significant amount of data streaming live feed's often. and the camera's are going to need the laptop connected to the internet.

 

[maki2]

Wishfull thinking  . Give it another 10 years or so to catch up to your current expectations of performance. Not trying to be mean, that is just the way it is right now. On the road cell service is not going to give you what you are asking for.

 

[RVTravel]

There are more than one app to bluetooth or be wired for hotspot. Which app did you try? Look into visible.com for unlimited hotspot. That is what I use for my laptop. It may not be as fast as postpaid service, but many love it. Live streams would seem to need significant consistent bandwidth for success.

 

[morkani]

I'm actually looking for data when boondocking and wifi doesn't exist, but cellular does. My cellphone can create a Hotspot if it has a cell connection, but its only 30gigs. I use that in less than a week

 

[Tom_M]

Check out Visible. It's a Verizon owned company and their plan is unlimited everything including hotspot for $40/month and no added taxes or fees. This can be reduced to $25/month if you join their Party Pay plan.

https://www.visible.com/

Party Pay: https://www.visible.com/party-pay

Easiest way to join a Party Pay spot here: https://www.reddit.com/r/VisiblePartyPay/

 

[maki2]

What is going to suffer on those unlimited plans is your speed. Once you hit there unlisted but still there limits of data you get deprioritzed when towers are busy. A lot of the full timers who do a lot of internet work end up needing to go online in the wee hours of tbe morning when towers have the least amount of traffic.

There are plenty of youtube videos from fulltime techo-nomadics that discuss these things including cell plans and equipment for improving signals as well as generating enough power to run the equipment needed.  It is not "cheap" rv living.

 

[nature lover]

I am with Tom M on this. I got visible for $25 a month and I here on the East Coast it’s been wonderful. I understand that as Verizon moves to 5G visible is selling their 4G that’s already in place. So will be a lot slower than the 5G people but I’m an old man and I don’t need the best of everything. Going on three months and so far so good.

 

[RVTravel]

If boondocking you may also need a signal booster and antennae for whatever device you end up buying.

 

[morkani]

I am with Tom M on this. I got visible for $25 a month and I here on the East Coast it’s been wonderful. I understand that as Verizon moves to 5G visible is selling their 4G that’s already in place. So will be a lot slower than the 5G people but I’m an old man and I don’t need the best of everything. Going on three months and so far so good.

thanks for your inputs. I'm late replying because I broke my foot last night lol.
I never heard of Visible. I'm excited to get ahold of them, it sounds like the perfect fix. 
technically verizon does have unlimited hotspot, but after 30gigs it drops to 160kbps lol, that's insanity. If vision doesn't drop THAT low, then it sounds like a major improvement. I hope they can take my google pixel phone.

 

[B and C]

Verizon owns visible. Visible won't be selling anything other than service on the verizon towers. Unlimited everything, no throttling (when I bought it ($25 mo)). Tower congestion and deprioritization is the only worry. 4G will be here for quite a few years yet. They need it for the distance. 5G range is very limited and should only see use in major metropolitan areas AFAIK.

 

[nature lover]

I think visible does throttle you down after a while but I think it’s more about how much traffic they have on the towers they cut us back and let others have priority. As I said I’ve been with them three months and have had no problems streaming videos all the time. I’ve only been moving around within 150 mile range of Hershey PA. I’m still keeping my old flip phone from Walmart (voice and text only) because I want to see how this visible does when I get moving around different regions.

 

[highdesertranger]

couple of points,

they all have limits. they don't cut you off but they throttle you in certain situations. this is how they get away with claiming unlimited.

be warned Visible has terrible customer service if you have a problem.

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=38977

i was there and witnessed their terrible customer service.

highdesertranger

 

[shadowmoss]

When I got the phone and phone number both from Visible things went ok. The chat used for any help needed during setup worked. I used my current phone for communicating with Visible so there was no issue when I needed to restart the Visible phone.

The times I hear of issues is when the person wants to use their current phone and phone number. That is a bit more complex. I suggest getting the Visible phone as a backup to start so you have a stable previous phone and number to use during setup. Trying to set it up with no other way to contact them, or having to borrow someone else's phone for the duration is a setup for frustration.

 

[wayne49]

Verizon is still selling 4G Unlimited plans alongside the "where available" 5G Unlimited plans. Don't see 4G going away.

Visible is an economy brand that leaves Verizon as a more premier brand. You get what you pay for.

 

[crofter]

Visible for $40 per month or less.
~crofter

 

[RVTravel]

Visible can be slow at times, down to 10 KB/ps for me. And they do have bad customer service, but it is worth trying for sure at a possible low 25 bucks per month. I still use it knowing the limitations because I don't need fast data all the time.

 

[nature lover]

I’m on visible right now it’s working great. Like I say I’ve never been out of this area more than 150 miles so I don’t know how it’s going to do I do elsewhere. But as far as I’m concerned it’s well worth the $25 a month if I need for speed I’ll go to Mickey D’s

 

[tripper]

Visible is excellent for the price. My wife has had the service for over a year, I just switched my phone to Visible too. I am actually looking for one or two more people to join our group plan so we all get the $25 a month. We are going to keep these plans long term, it has been working far better than the Sprint I had previously. The unlimited hotspot works perfectly, I tether it to an Amazon Firestick on my TV and watch Netflix, Amazon Prime Movies and YouTube out boondocking all the time. I'm going to post on the Visible post for more to join our group if interested.

 

[Imeirish]

I have straight talk thru Walmart. Its 55 for unlimited talk, text, data and that includes 10 GIG of mobile data. I've had them for many years and really don't have any problems with them. Once you get your account set up (can cancel anytime), you can set up auto-refill. One less thing to remember.

https://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/serviceplans

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

If using your phone as a hotspot for a computer with a bigger screen and Visible throttles you down, are you still able to watch Netflix/Youtube videos in regular def, (not hi-def) ?