WiFi & Hotspot

[SkiSmuggs]

While I would like to say how much I love my 7730L Verizon prepaid unlimited, this one cell tower town has me beat. I get 3 bars vs 1-2 on my ATT based phone, but speed test are discouraging, typically less than 1Mbps download because the 3500 people in the area are all using that tower. I will have to wait until we hit the road to a more populous area to see how it is working.
One the plus side, I ordered the SIM and plan on Saturday and had the SIM on Tuesday. I inserted it into the 7730L after removing the battery as advised, replaced the battery, powered on and it was connected. A couple of simple setup items like changing the SSID and connect password and done. Then I connected a PC and ran the speed test. Ugh! I drove to a grocery store closer to the tower, still had only 3 bars and speed was still almost unusable. I am glad I didn't cancel my 20Mbps DSL. LOL

[Alllayne]

That is good but Verizon does slow down after max gigs! FMCA Sprint does not limit at all no matter how much you use and it is the same price and no contract. We have had he Sprint and love it.

[docj]

Originally Posted by Alllayne

That is good but Verizon does slow down after max gigs!

With all due respect, that is not true of the Verizon Unlimited Prepaid plan that we have been using since early November. We use >100GB/mo and have experienced NO slowdowns!

[SkiSmuggs]

My slowness on the non-FMCA Verizon plan was right from first use and, I believe, has nothing to do with anything more that 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag for the solitary cell in our area. It is a 3 tier plan with prepaid at the bottom priority.
Another cell tower for our area would be a good start, but Vermont tends to run 50 years behind and tries to keep things from changing.

[docj]

Originally Posted by SkiSmuggs

My slowness on the non-FMCA Verizon plan was right from first use and, I believe, has nothing to do with anything more that 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag for the solitary cell in our area. It is a 3 tier plan with prepaid at the bottom priority.

I just used my laptop to check download speed using the Fast.com and the Speedtest.net app. Here are the results:

Speedtest: 24.98 Mbps
Fast.com: 9.1 Mbps

Here's what the phone itself reported using Speedtest.net app: Verizon LTE as tested on Google Pixel 2XL: 19.4 Mbps

Fast.com is supposed to be more representative of your streaming speed and it is always slower in my tests, presumably, because Verizon limits streaming resolution on these plans to 720p.

[CWSWine]

I just checked fast.com using my laptop and the Pre Paid Jetpack and got 9.4. Then I tried I phone 7 as a hotspot and got 0.5 and then used the web browser on the phone to check and got 8.9. That confirms that my unlimited plan on cell phone limits hotspot uses to 600kbs. I have used my phone running Netflix using lighting connect to HDMI and watched many hours of streaming video without it being throttled.

[Brecklundin]

Originally Posted by docj

I think you misunderstood what you were being told. No one said that your phone couldn't act as a hotspot. However, I don't believe any cell phones can operate as hotspots while, at the same, being connected to the internet via WiFi rather than via LTE.

The capability to receive WiFi and then rebroadcast it in a local WiFi network is called "WiFi as WAN" and it is a feature found in specialized routers such as those made by WiFiRanger, Pepwave, Cradlepoint, and others. It is not, to my knowledge, a feature offered by any currently available phones.

another good observation. A phone can't be a hotspot if it doesn't have a cellular data connection. Wifi is simply a way to connect to other wifi devices/networks not cellular. I believe there is also no ability to place a WIFI based phone call while acting as a wifi hotspot.

I'm uncertain about a Bluetooth setup or if a hotspot might be possible, i have a sense nope...

[R0k0la]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

Short answer, NO.
You can turn your phone into wifi hot spot utilizing your cell carrier. What sort of data plan do you have? Another option is, forget the open wifi system the park offers. Generally speaking its useless to all but the first dozen or so that are lucky to get signed on. You can buy a mifi or what ever its called now from either Verizon or ATT. They I believe do have a month to month plans that you can get. Remember streaming movies can eat up a lot of gigs of data in a hurry, so do a lot of research, educate yourself before making the plunge.

I have Verizon and use a jetpak - MIFI and it works well for multiple devices. I have an unlimited data plan so you need to check out what plans are now available. Good luck. I haven't run into the "only one device" situation yet.

[Brecklundin]

a side note i realized the 7730l (assuming 8800l too) offers. It has a USB-C port to charge device but also a USB-A port on the other side that let's you use it to charge a device if desperate. I tried a variation, i left MIFI connected to lower the connected a USB cord to other port then connected that to my phone as it and the mifi needed charging. Surprised me but that worked overnight (charging is slow for my phone's big battery). I used the phone's 15w fast charger to handle it all... no overheating and both charged. This can be handy if stuck with one charge brick and the mifi plus 2nd device. Kinda cool

[BikesAndGuns]

Originally Posted by Alllayne

That is good but Verizon does slow down after max gigs! FMCA Sprint does not limit at all no matter how much you use and it is the same price and no contract. We have had he Sprint and love it.

Actually, you are referring to a different plan than some of us have. Our prepaid ($65/month) Verizon JetPack plan is 4G LTE, full HD streaming (720p) and does not have "max gigs". We average 50,000 MB/day and there is no throttling. You read that right--50 GB/day!! Yesterday, we used 65461.04 MB.

Occasionally, I get a "limited connectivity" message which I understand has to do with congestion, but that lasts for only a couple minutes and only happens every few days or so. I just did a speed test on my personal computer: 15.5 Mbps download, 17.8 Mbps upload. In addition to that computer, two work computers are using the connection, two cell phones are active and my wife is streaming a show through DirecTVNow. When we leave the RV for the day to go shopping, doctor appointments, etc., we take the JetPack with us. This saves us about $20 a month on our Consumer Cellular data plan.

Our previous plan maxed out at 25 GB/month at which time it would throttle down to less than 1 Mbps. So, needless to say, we are VERY happy with our current pre-paid account.

[Alllayne]

We are also using unlimited Sprint and very happy. Even use it for our home WiFi

[Jgriff1954]

I invite everyone to google NetShare-no-root-tethering. This app is in the Google Play store

https://techwiser.com/create-a-wifi-...-from-android/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6v8XWd79Y

[Ehochuli85]

Thank you all for the great info on this thread.

I want connect my DirecTv to the wireless internet so that I can download DirecTv movies, on demand, and also use netflix, etc, thru the smart TV functions. (Right now, I am watching netflix thru my computer connected to my TV as a monitor).

I have a Verizon MiFi. I have a DirecTv HDVR, but not a genie. I have been unable to connect the DirecTv to the internet, because it's looking for an Ethernet connection. It sounds like there is a way to connect it to the wireless internet, but I must be missing a necessary device.

Thank you for any help!

[litzdog911]

Originally Posted by Ehochuli85

Thank you all for the great info on this thread.

I want connect my DirecTv to the wireless internet so that I can download DirecTv movies, on demand, and also use netflix, etc, thru the smart TV functions. (Right now, I am watching netflix thru my computer connected to my TV as a monitor).

I have a Verizon MiFi. I have a DirecTv HDVR, but not a genie. I have been unable to connect the DirecTv to the internet, because it's looking for an Ethernet connection. It sounds like there is a way to connect it to the wireless internet, but I must be missing a necessary device.

Thank you for any help!

What DirecTV DVR model?
Only the newer Genie DVRs have WiFi built-in. Older models need a Wireless Cinema Connection Kit.