verizon mobile hot spots

[lands]

Trying to figure out internet on the road and wondered if anyone has taken advantage of fmca's deal for unlimited verizon hot spot for 49$ a month. Wondered how well it worked and if you could use it for your home internet use as well?

[450Donn]

It works OK. It is basically another phone with no duplex capabilities i shut mine down a couple years ago relying on my phones wifi hotspot instead. Works just fine with no additional numbers.

[deaton]

I don’t believe there is any technical difference between what Verizon or Sprint is offering under their FMCA programs and what you would get if you walked in the store and signed up. Just a lower price and pretty good data package.

I have been using Verizon jet packs on the road for years. Currently on my fifth upgraded unit. The service seems to get better all the time. I’m not on the FMCA program because my unit is supplied by my employer (semi-retired). But I have several friends who have signed up for or switched to the FMCA Verizon deal and they seem pleased at this point.

When I eventually lose my sweet deal at work, I likely will switch to FMCA Verizon, unless something better surfaces in the meantime.

[deaton]

Oh, I don’t use the Verizon Jet Pack at Home because I have a fiber optic Internet connection there and we stream a fair amount, so I don’t want to chew a big hole in my data plan.

That said, the Verizon Jet Pack with a strong 4G signal will work just fine in a S&B setting if you want to use it that way. When I used to have a Time Warner cable connection at the house, the Jet Pack was actually faster in most cases.

[Dan McMartin]

That FMCA deal comes with a 25GB HARD limit on high speed data. After that, it's unclear what speeds you'll see. Could be email only speeds or DVD quality streaming...or more likely somewhere in between. If that suits your needs, it's probably a decent deal unless you already have a Verizon plan. In that case, just add a hotspot to the plan and get 15GB before it's throttled for $20.

[BBelanger]

I have the Verizon hot spot and it is a hard limit at 15 gig. It stops immediately and you get a text saying you’re limited to up to 600 mbps. The limit is 500 mb in Canada if you roam there. You can then use your phone or tablets as hot spots giving you 15 gig each, although they don’t seem to handle multiple devices as well, there’s no network shuffling like you get with a router. They act like a hub if you’re familiar with the difference. When traveling I buy a T mobile phone as there is no contract and their limit says 50 gig but I often go over, in fact I’m at over 60 gig this month and am still getting 20mbps download speeds to stream movies such as Netflix. I use more data than most people as I upload a load of photos and video and I work on the road. I have dish and use dish anywhere to watch local shows and football games that are not available in my current location. T mobile is heads and shoulders above Verizon for data but their network has much more limited coverage. When you call T mobile customer service you get real people who understand and can help rather than verizon’s Folks who just continue to read a script. Unfortunately T mobile doesn’t work in Northern Maine, but when winter comes and I head south, I pickup a t mobile phone and use it as a hotspot Velcro’d to the wall. I can squeeze Verizon by using their 600mb download speed by setting up a download that is not time sensitive, while I use the T mobile for the high speed.

Since I use so much data, maybe 80 to 90 gig per month, I have done the research. This is the best option if you need a lot of internet. I travel from Caribou Maine to Tucson so I cover the country pretty well, down through Texas and Florida as well as up through Indiana and Pennsylvania.
HTH

[rewillia]

Being existing AT&T users for our phones, we purchased their hotspot which at the time was the Netgear Aircard 815 and added is as an additional phone for $20.00 per month and with also have the AT&T shared unlimited plan which gives us 25GB of capacity use per month. Tethered it to the onboard WiFI ranger using the supplied mini USB cable and all works as should.

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

When traveling I buy a T mobile phone as there is no contract and their limit says 50 gig but I often go over, in fact I’m at over 60 gig this month and am still getting 20mbps download speeds to stream movies such as Netflix.

You're describing network management. Over the specified limit, can still get regular speeds unless you're on a congested tower. Then you're data MIGHT be deprioritized in favor of those that have used less data. But on less congested towers, those you'll typically find in rural areas folks like us boondock in, data speeds will remain high.

The hard limits for hot spot data are exactly that. You hit that data threshold, 25GB in the case of the FMCA/Verizon hot spot, and you're are throttled to much lower speeds until the end of the billing cycle regardless of tower congestion. So it's not really unlimited high speed data. It's just unlimited data, some high speed and some not.

But depending on usage, 15 or 25GB might be enough. We're two days into our billing cycle and we've already used 25GB on our AT&T Mobley. But we've been streaming Netflix and YouTube. That 25GB hard limit would make the FMCA deal a terrible one for us.

[BBelanger]

Sounds like ATT Mobley runs similar to T mobile. I think the issue I had was the two year contract, and I only need Service half the year.

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

Sounds like ATT Mobley runs similar to T mobile. I think the issue I had was the two year contract, and I only need Service half the year.

We bought our Mobley so we don't have a contract but AT&T no longer offers that deal. I'd be worried if you suspended the service, the unlimited data for $20 a month might go up in smoke. Wouldn't make sense to get it in that case.

[lostinfla]

We change to unlimited data on Verizon when we travel and use the phone as a hot spot. Have been over 25 gig with no discernible decrease in speed. I was told they only cut back if the tower you're on is under high demand, then it is cut back a little with priority going to the users under the limit. As I said, I've never had an issue with it and when we get back home, I cut the plan back to 4 gigs.

[BBelanger]

Originally Posted by lostinfla

We change to unlimited data on Verizon when we travel and use the phone as a hot spot. Have been over 25 gig with no discernible decrease in speed. I was told they only cut back if the tower you're on is under high demand, then it is cut back a little with priority going to the users under the limit. As I said, I've never had an issue with it and when we get back home, I cut the plan back to 4 gigs.

Is it only the one phone Jim?

[lostinfla]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

Is it only the one phone Jim?

The unlimited data applies to my wife's phone also. We can use one or both as a hot spot. She usually just links up with mine if I have the hot spot on. As far as I know, Verizon limits the 4g to 15 gig on hot spot usage then switches to 3g. I'm not streaming movies all the time, just internet and mail with a few shows so it works fine for me.

[BBelanger]

Originally Posted by lostinfla

The unlimited data applies to my wife's phone also. We can use one or both as a hot spot. She usually just links up with mine if I have the hot spot on. As far as I know, Verizon limits the 4g to 15 gig on hot spot usage then switches to 3g. I'm not streaming movies all the time, just internet and mail with a few shows so it works fine for me.

Right, with Verizon’s unlimited plan each phone gets 15gig of hotspot data, so you have 30 if you manage it correctly. After that it’s 600mbps which is OK for email and light browsing.