Need Laptop Internet Access On Road & Home

[CKT OK]

Jim, I'm in the area of Kansas just north of Bartlesville Oklahoma.
 I'm curious about the PRL update you mentioned. How would I go about doing that?

 Thank you so much for your concern and all of the great information you give.

 

[jimindenver]

Interesting.

There is a Verizon tower north of Caney at 166 and 75 but the next one to the west is in Arkansas city. There is a bubble around Cedar Vale including Maple city, Dexter, Sedan, Peru and Elgin that has no Verizon towers.

User reports show weaker 3G signal except for around the tower north of Caney, weaker south along 75 and nothing to the west along Bronco road. There is 2G along 166 but that is likely what they get roaming. I do not know how far you are from Caney so I do not know if a booster system would help.

To do a PRL update you need to sign into the hotspots manager page and see if it has the setting just for that or maybe a software update depending on the device. I do not know that it will help unless you are within a certain distance from Caney. You could try driving in, getting connected and see how far away you can get before you lose the signal.

By the looks of it I can tell you that it is not just Verizon. All of the towers on 166 would require roaming on any carrier and even then they only show the lower bands. None of them show anything west of Caney but that could mean no one has been there to report. In any event there are no towers along the border.

It is one of those areas that I would stop in just to see what my system would do for me. I have never been stumped yet but this looks like it may be the place.

 

[John61CT]

Go with the ATT $29 / mo

If you'll be travelling keep the VZW going too.

 

[CKT OK]

Interesting.

There is a Verizon tower north of Caney at 166 and 75 but the next one to the west is in Arkansas city. There is a bubble around Cedar Vale including Maple city, Dexter, Sedan, Peru and Elgin that has no Verizon towers.

User reports show weaker 3G signal except for around the tower north of Caney, weaker south along 75 and nothing to the west along Bronco road. There is 2G along 166 but that is likely what they get roaming. I do not know how far you are from Caney so I do not know if a booster system would help.

To do a PRL update you need to sign into the hotspots manager page and see if it has the setting just for that or maybe a software update depending on the device. I do not know that it will help unless you are within a certain distance from Caney. You could try driving in, getting connected and see how far away you can get before you lose the signal.

By the looks of it I can tell you that it is not just Verizon. All of the towers on 166 would require roaming on any carrier and even then they only show the lower bands.  None of them show anything west of Caney but that could mean no one has been there to report. In any event there are no towers along the border.

It is one of those areas that I would stop in just to see what my system would do for me. I have never been stumped yet but this looks like it may be the place.

LOL! The story of my life!  My situation being the one that stumps!
 I am south and a little west of the tower you're talking about.
After hearing this, I'm considering looking into the Straight Talk 4 G hotspot. Apparently I can get a $40 card for 60 days which should satisfy my laptop needs.
Do you know if roaming will be an issue if I get the 4G hotspot?

 

[CKT OK]

Go with the ATT $29 / mo

If you'll be travelling keep the VZW going too.

I'm not sure if AT&T coverage will be any better here than Verizon's

 

[CKT OK]

Oops, Jim.
Just re-read your info about pre-paid vs. postpaid regarding roaming.

 

[John61CT]

I'm not sure if AT&T coverage will be any better here than Verizon's

Costs very little to find out, especially if an unlocked android phone's already availa ble to test.

For travelling, those two are the best combo

 

[jimindenver]

The $29.99 AT&T account is a post paid account with all of the benefits including roaming. There are towers that it could roam on south of Caney.

How far from that tower are you? You might try going outside with the hotspot and giving it the best view of the tower as possible. Even getting it some elevation on a pole just to see if you can get it to connect. I would be careful of leaving it directly in the sun for very long but there are things like creating a foil reflector that can help. I spent days finding out just the right spots in the house for mt various hotspots and none of them were the same. Just knowing what window faces the tower can be huge.

 

[La Tortuga]

For over 2 yrs I've used a mobile router from 4gData.net.  It cost $110 a month for unlimited, UNTHROTTLED data over the AT&T network.  I average 300gb of data a mo and have gone over 500gb at times w/o being throttled!  4gData.net will send a sim card for your compatable device.  I chose by buy their mobile router.  It sets in my Wilson Sleek (weboost now) and can connect up to 15 devices.  Many times people near me can not recieve a signal so I let them to sign on to my guest network and they can connect from w/i their RV as long as it is w/i 50-75 ft of my van.  I had considered the $5 Verison plan but the campgrounds I host at are only covered by AT&T.  I dropped my phone to the lowest data plan and am considering switching my phone # to a flip phone w no data for $15 a mo.   I love never being throttled or having to worry about data.

 

[jimindenver]

The most I have had on my hotspots was four in the Rockies where AT&T was better than Verizon and even then it was weak when available. Up there T-Mobile with their big boomer band 12 was a godsend followed by Sprint roaming on local towers. Sometimes I just loan out a hotspot or two when multiple can connect.

 

[John61CT]

For over 2 yrs I've used a mobile router from 4gData.net.  It cost $110 a month for unlimited, UNTHROTTLED data over the AT&T network.  I average 300gb of data a mo and have gone over 500gb at times w/o being throttled! 

Yes worth it for that kind of consumption if you can afford it.

But at 1/3rd the price throttling isn't much concern for those using rural towers. Yes you may get kicked off for "abuse" but IMO unlikely, and if so **then** sign up for your big-gig plan.

Few people burn that many GB, I assume you're streaming many hours hires video every day?

 

[CKT OK]

Jim, I am wondering if this hotspot is defective. It was a refurbished model when I bought it. The battery would not stay charged longer than a couple of hours, so the seller ended up sending me another battery. I don't really know if that helped at all, because my move took place before I was able to use the new battery. So you can see that my usage of the new battery has all taken place here in this dead zone.
Bear in mind though, the hot spot did work relatively well in the location where I initially used it before moving.

Its behavior now is very much different. For example, I can turn the hotspot on and it might show 1 bar. However, the moment I turn my laptop on, the bar disappears and my laptop will not connect to the internet. This behavior happens over and over again.

I have previously gone outside and walked around the perimeter of the building several different times on different days. I've gone upstairs to each window. Nowhere can I find more signal.

Through a private message on here, someone is offering to sell me a Verizon hotspot with an external antenna. In my location with the tower issue you've mentioned, I don't know if that would help me at all, would it?   Ir's beginning to sound like maybe I should  seriously consider the AT&T postpaid plan.

 

[jimindenver]

The first thing to do is call the number that came with the hotspot and check the status of the account. I have a defunct 4620 that I can see the screen and it connects/shows ready until I connect a device to it and then it starts saying disconnected/connected and of course shows no internet access.  So first make sure the account is up to date. I hope it has not lapsed because you lose the number and need it reflashed. You will know instantly by calling because the automated service will tell you.

Second thing is to get close enough to that tower to know that you have a good signal. My 4510L bounced it's signal up and down constantly in Earp until I drove into Parker. Then it connected wonderfully.

You would not be able to use just any hotspot with your current plan. Your hotspot and sim are linked and flashed together. This is the way it is with CDMA devices on Verizon and Sprint. T-Mobile and AT&T devices allow the sims to be moved around between unlocked hotspots. So the most you could expect from the hotspot and antenna being offered is the hopes that the antenna works on your hotspot. You would need to set up a new plan for the other hotspot or have it flashed.

I have been thrilled with my Unlimited AT&T account and use it more often than any of the rest. I can and have streamed all day and late into the night often and have never been throttled yet. It would be the last to go should I ever need to trim down.

 

[jimindenver]

On the battery/s

These hotspots are refurbished and often come with crappy batteries. The battery sent to replace it may have been too. I have two batteries and neither last long so I leave my 3G hotspot plugged in after it starts.

 

[Riverman]

The little hotspot batteries are real cheap on eBay... and the one's I've bought have worked well.

Hey Jim.......... What a real nice website you have, may you be richly blessed with lots of work in the near future.

 

[RVTravel]

I always leave my hotspot plugged into power. The batteries are small anyway and won't last more than a few hours.

 

[jimindenver]

Hey Jim.......... What a real nice website you have, may you be richly blessed with lots of work in the near future.

Thank you. I owe it all to a few forum members. One came up with the idea while the other did all of the work. So I am blessed already.

 

[CKT OK]

Well Jim, I got in my car with my laptop and my hotspot and I drove over the Oklahoma line. When I got only 2 to 3 miles inside Oklahoma, I had full bars of service! I pulled into the parking lot of a small store along the highway, and my laptop connected like a dream!

Since I had some grocery shopping to do, I drove on into a larger town and went to the Walmart there. I sat in my car in the parking lot and used my laptop and the newly found internet access that I have been looking for. LOL! I did about 2 hours worth of work and still had over half of the battery life left on my hotspot. My laptop is the battery that conked out.

So, for the time being, I'll just plan to make an excursion to the "Land of full bars on the hotspot" when I need to use my laptop for work.

Thank you so much for your willingness to help! You are a Godsend!

 

[jimindenver]

I take it you will be naming the hotspot Dorthy so that you can tell it that we are not in Kansas anymore. lol

I am glad it is working out for you.

 

[Riverman]

Hey CKT OK... how many miles would you guess to your nearest cell tower? (straight line of sight, not road miles)

Maybe one of our Wilson Sleek signal boosters would pull the signal right in.