Help on cell phone purchase & Internet Connection

[werv2go]

I'm a full time Rver and have been using a Hughes net Sat dish for internet. I have been pleased over all with it's performance and don't have any probelms with data limits. But getting sick of putting it up and I don't have access traveling.

But now I'm thinking of using a Cell phone for internet access. Specifically a Droid. What I'm concerned about is the 5gb limit (not enough data). I know the Droid can tether, but can I use PDa Net to tether and bypass Verizon limits.

I assume I need the unlimited data plan...which from what I understand isn't unlimited.

Also can the droid be used as a internet connection for 2 laptops.

I'm a newbie on this cellphone stuff, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I guess what I really want is a Cell Phone that I can use to access the internet when traveling. Then when stationary tether it to a laptop but not have to worry about a 5gb limit on data.

Thanks Mark

[RickO]

Hi Mark...

I can't help with the Droid/technical questions but have been using a Verizon USB air card and Cradlepoint router with trucker's antenna mounted on my batwing for two years now and we love it for our purposes. We have the "unlimited" plan but have read here about the 5GB limit... although we've never run up against it.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Rick

[Wizard]

Unless you download a lot of big files or movies, 5GB shouldn't be a problem.

We seem to stay on the internet all the time and have never gone over 3 GB.

[HD4Mark]

I have a Droid Incredible and just got the 2.2 upgrade. Sure enough there is even a WiFi hotspot tether. Problem is they don't mention first that it is $20 or something extra above and beyond your data plan. When I tried it (not knowing about the extra $) It opened their web page with the plan options for the hotspot and stuck there. After a call to VZ the simple fix was to pull the battery.

If you are tech savvy you can "root" the phone meaning get root access and make yourself a superuser. Then you can tether for free and a few other things. If things go horribly wrong you can void the warranty though. I am thinking of risking it myself. Not just to tether but to remove the bloat apps VZ puts on the phone that you can not remove. City ID was the first one that comes with the phone. Best I can do is force stop it but it returns. If you open it it want you to take the free trial then you can buy it. After the update it now has Amazon MP3 another one I can't get rid of.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Mark, read the following post. It discusses this a little bit more, and especially my response toward the bottom of the page. Using a droid for internet access

[Bob Nuttmann]

Mark,

I have a motosat F1 that I get sat internet with and also a Motorola Doid that I have put easy tether on. On a recent trip my advice to you is to not disconnect hughes. Verizon does work sometimes good and sometimes not so good and sometimes not at all. With sat if you have a clear sight to the bird you are good. My Verizon plan is 29 bucks and I did not do anything but put this software in. I do not download much using the droid though. I think if you are going to download a bunch you should do what Verizon wants you to do. I had several Verizon air cards for a number of years. I basically got one when they first became available. My experience is that back when they came out with the air card no one had / not many had smart phones. Now there are millions. Result, now air cards and droid do not work so well in high density areas. I frequently go to Los Angeles and many areas I went to the air card did not work any more. Or it barely worked. I suspect that after a bunch more towers are put in service will improve, maybe. But then since all phone providers have tons of ads on TV saying watch movies on your cell phone the whole system may get more clogged.

I really need to get the internet everywhere I go. And my wife has some online games that she deems mandatory. So I am going to add to my arsenal in the next month a cell phone amp and antenna plus a wifi antenna / or amp. That way with lots of weapons I should be able to get the internet anywhere, hopefully.

If you don't want to spring for a new motosat internet dish buy a used one. That way you get auto aim. I you are going to go Verizon Droid I would buy a phone antenna and amp and just know that there will be areas you will not get reception. As to the gig limit. There are folks offering no limit. Go with one of them.

[HD4Mark]

A side note. The VZ Droid does allow connection to a wireless router if there is one available. I believe this is to help free up their bandwidth but the last time we were in a (real Verizon) store they would not admit to it.