Community Forums

Flora · 09-29-2015, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brobox

I just check Foxfi because of the new Verizon update and the Samsung phones still work. Karen, after this trip, is finally going into the Smart Phone world and I will keep the Samsung 4 for that reason....Good point.

Here is Foxfi's list of what will currently work. http://pdanet.co/help/devices.php

It's not the phone, it the carrier software. Sprint wants you to use THEIR Hotspot so they can monitor you data use and make you pay for it. Before I upgraded to the Galaxy S6, I had a Motorola Photon that was soon to be obsolete on the Sprint LTE network. It had FoxFi and worked great with my unlimited data plan. Can't do that anymore. Wouldn't be worrying about a wifi antenna if I still had that! I will say, though, that I received a letter from Sprint threatening to close our account because I was using the phone as an unauthorized hotshot.

brobox · 09-29-2015, 07:34 PM

It does have a lot to do with the carrier. Verizon had to pay $125 million for blocking data usage and therefor has laid off of Foxfi users. For once I got lucky in having the right carrier at the right time. Too bad I didn't have unlimited data.

TurboDaveTX · 09-29-2015, 08:08 PM

Bumps, I switched to Verizon cellular several years ago. When IPhone 4 came out, I found they had this MiFi deal. Worked good. When 4G came out we got the Verizon Jetpak. We use it for wifi at home, and take it with us in the road. I ordered an external antenna for the Jetpak through Verizon. On the road, I put it in behind windshield. I run 2 IPhone 6S, a PC, an IPad Air, a Kindle, and a Nook off the Jetpak. I use it via VPN to connect to work network. RV Park wifi at best is lousy and unreliable. Generally, Verizon service is available along most interstate highways. I have found a few places Verizon did not have coverage, but it seems to be universally better that the alternatives.

brobox · 09-29-2015, 08:14 PM

Dave, I agree. We switched from AT&T in 2011 due to the lack of coverage in remote areas of the west coast. This year in the same areas with Verizon, no blank spots. Too bad I didn't switch before unlimited data ended.

TXBart · 09-29-2015, 11:09 PM

So it is more complicated than having good cell phone reception with 4G or LTE connection and activating the "Personal Hotspot" feature on an iPhone 6 then connecting a device?

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ

Flora · 09-30-2015, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

So it is more complicated than having good cell phone reception with 4G or LTE connection and activating the "Personal Hotspot" feature on an iPhone 6 then connecting a device?

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ

There CAN be more to it than that. It depends on your needs. If you just want to surf the 'net, do emails, maps, etc., having good cell reception and activating a personal hotspot should suffice. If you want to use Netflix or stream movies, music, photography, etc., that will use up your data in a hurry, and you wold be better off using some other wifi. I would start with my cell as a hotspot and see how much data is being used with regular use. You may not need wifi at all unless you are in an area with no cell reception. Or, if your data plan is costly, wifi is a cheaper alternative.

Gary.Jones · 09-30-2015, 06:08 AM

As Flora says, no, it is not harder than I described in my initial post. An iPhone 5 or 6 has all the capability that you need for a hotspot. Now, I sit my phone right beside my "desk" in my 44B and it is connected to a charger to the USB charger plug that is right behind the "desk". That will do the job 98% of the time, if you have Verizon cell signal (90% of the time). The speed of the broadband depends on is the Verizon service LTE, 3G, or 2x or 1x. It can be very slow if you are in a fringe area but that is rare. Otherwise, if you have LTE, then it is very quick, and I can hang 4 or 5 devices on it and be doing something on all of them sequentially, and they are all hooked to the one iPhone and it works.

Now, I don't download NETFLIX ever, and I don't download heavy use stuff, but you know, every device you have wants to download updates, software updates (Windows-10 yesterday), etc and if you don't set them to download only when you tell them to download (when you find the rare RV park that has a WIFI system that actually works and doesn't clamp your downloads) or a McDonalds or Starbucks), then they can run up big broadband costs. My Window-10 download yesterday was 2 gigs. So I look at my usage frequently. I pay for 12 gigs a month on Verizon and find that I can live with that, but would have problems with less than 10 gigs.

That is just my situation, but I spend a lot of time looking at the weather, checking mail, readying the NYT and Washington post, CNN etc and researching RV parks and next places to stay and this works almost as well as at home for me, but its no cheap.

Gary

Flora · 09-30-2015, 07:43 AM

One final thought...if you are relying solely on your cell reception, you can increase signal strength with a cell booster such as the Wilson Sleek. https://store.weboost.com/collections/boosters-vehicles . It has done a good job for us.

wa8yxm · 09-30-2015, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

If our iPhones don't have a good connection alternate devices won't either.

Am I missing something I should consider?

I would say you basically have it covered.. The only possible "Miss" is this.

IF you have multiple ways to connect.. Say Verizon, At*T/T-Mobile and Sprint.. (one each) your odds of having a working connection improve.. I have been in parks where only AT&T worked.. in other places only Verizon works.. Sprint is the one least likely to work.

Also I-pones may not "Tether" as easily as other devices.

There is also 2-way Satellite, couople of options out there like Hughes (the old 7000s system) and I-Direct.. Very expensive and very very very very reliable. However make sure you get a good demonstration before you consider buying cause I know Hughes 7000 can be very frustrating unless you understand its limits.. Which I do.

Marcosdad · 09-30-2015, 10:26 AM

One more vote for FoxFi. And, if you have unlimited data, it is fast enough for streaming movies etc.

Flora · 09-30-2015, 11:42 AM

As long as it doesn't violate the terms of your contract! They caught me!

Ericlinde · 09-30-2015, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

There have been numerous discussions about wifi and we have done quite a bit of searching on solutions. About 50% of the time we get sufficient wifi from the park (email, etc). From what I have read it seems alternate solutions rely on a cell phone network so it seems our best solution could be to tether our devices to our iPhones when the park wifi is deficient. If our iPhones don't have a good connection alternate devices won't either.

Am I missing something I should consider?

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ

We have installed a Verizon Mifi router in our cornerstone. It is pass word protected and provides service to all our devices as well as our guests. Data is excellent and we never use park wifi as we do a lot of our financial stuff on we. We use Mifi extensively in our construction company to provide Internet service and data transfer. There are occasional dead spots but few and far between

Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum Eric Linde