Verizon mobile hotspot

[Smsudad]

Ones anyone use verizon mobile hotspot and how does it work for you. Planning on road use and perhaps Netflix streaming in the evening Thanks. Doug

[lthrnk]

We have a Verizon MiFi, and have used it successfully for 3 years. We are fulltime, so it is our only connection, other than CG supplied wifi from time to time. You would have to check with Verizon on the various data packages, and how much you should expect to use with videos.

[ghutch]

It has been my experience that outside of bigger cities, Verizon wifi is only 3G and although I do not download movies, I don't think it will be all that good in the rural areas. I frequently get slow up and downloads just checking emails and surfing. Maybe others might have better experiences. If your are getting one for movies etc, you might see a lot of buffering. IMO.

[Lostdog]

Been using it for over four years. Works great and in most places it is plenty fast. In fact we were on Grand Isle in Vermont last summer and got 40 and sometimes 50 MB download speeds. But I don't know about streaming video, large amounts of data (over say 10 GB) is expensive as heck. If you go over your allotment it's around $15 per GB and that adds up fast. We only use the internet for connectivity with friends, occasional searches and keeping up with the news so it works for us.

[delmarrey]

I've been using T-mobiles Samsung LTE portable. So far it's worked very well and the battery lasts for a long time, considering use. And it's less expensive then Veri$on. it's good for up to 10 devices.

Samsung LTE Mobile HotSpot PRO | T-Mobile

[dbt803]

I brought mine at the good Sam rally in syracuse last year. Have used it on the road and also at home when my regular internet goes down. Very happy with it. No issues with connecting, recently used it at the airport to watch netflix when my flight was delayed.
Debbie

[Gary RVRoamer]

I've used a Verizon modem or hot spot for several years and just upgraded from a 3g model to 4g. Mostly they work fine, but any cellular-based (radio) service is subject to a lot of performance variability. You may be far from a broadcast tower, or there may be something in the way that blocks the signal. Or you may be competing with numerous other users for the available bandwidth. This is not uncommon for RV users who tend to be located well away from metro areas and often is places where usage peaks in the summer. Cell capacity may well be based on annual average traffic, not summer peak loads, so things can slow down on busy summer weekends.

For those reasons, streaming movies can be frustrating. I've seen data speeds drop dramatically in a campground when many people sit down at their computer after dinner and start surfing or streaming. It may stay that way until around 11 pm and then improve quickly as most people log off and go to bed.

Streaming can also get expensive, especially for HD movies. That's a lot of data and the carriers charge by the gigabyte. Millenicom has the best package rate for 20 GB/month and their service runs on the Verizon 4g network.

[MandG-Fun]

The Verizon hot spot works really well. As far as cellular Internet is concerned, Verizon has the best coverage over AT&T, Sprint & T-Mobile. My statement is based on over 10 years working for the manufacturer of the most widely deployed cellular data modems for industrial use. So I have daily experience with this stuff.

You will not find cellular service everywhere and the further into the boonies you go the less you will find. However, to the point by ghutch, this is somewhat correct however you will find 4G well outside of just the big cities and Verizon is upgrading towers every day and will have 4G LTE on every tower in the not too distant future.

As far as streaming movies, you do need to watch your usage as it can get real expensive depending on the data plan you buy. If you contract with Verizon you can login to your account and see what your usage is and get email alerts when you are getting close to your plan limit. Millenicom is another option that you can search on iRV2, many people use that. If you select the proper plan from them the service is actually on Verizon, so you get the great coverage with perhaps a lower cost and no contract.

Lots of posts about cellular Internet on the forum if you do a search. Good luck.

[vraines]

We have used it for over 7 years. The coverage is great, better than ATT, but like mentioned above it is often 3G in rural areas, but that is fast enough for most uses. I use it to post some photos on the cloud and my 16G plan gets busted pretty quick, and the overage is pretty costly. If you plan to do much streaming, plan to pay the price. Check our Millenicom, as they use the Verizon network and they have a 20G plan that looks pretty good. I will change over when finished with this trip.

[gbburgess]

We live in the country. We got rid of all land line 6 years ago and have been using Verizon hot spots ever since. They work well. We have used them all over the country and have only found a few places that did not support them. We do not download movies so I cannot address that.

[docj]

Originally Posted by ghutch

It has been my experience that outside of bigger cities, Verizon wifi is only 3G and although I do not download movies, I don't think it will be all that good in the rural areas.

This was true for the first year 4G was available. Now you can get 4G in some pretty remote locations. Verizon had claimed that 4G was going to be available over the entire coverage map by the end of 2013 and by our experience they came pretty close to doing that. Typical 4G speeds are 5-10 Mbps which is more than enough for streaming.

[plasma800]

We have run netflix through our mifi ... sometimes with success, sometimes without.

Log into your netflix account and turn the quality down, that will lighten the load on streaming. But watch your account, cause it eats bandwidth like crazy. We've used a gig on one movie

[plasma800]

Another thought would be to purchase and down load what you want through itunes, and the then airplay to an apple tv.

[Us out West]

We have Verizon's MiFi.

As mentioned different data packages to consider depending on your usage.