Portable mobile wifi hotspot for cruising

[Pendragon35]

Originally Posted by sailor_ed

I am confused by the information I seem to be reading in this thread. I am on East coast US with AT&T. I was under the impression that their "Unlimited" service did not include wifi Hotspot usage which was capped at 15GB. Am I missing something here? (getting info out of an AT&T rep is sometimes difficult[emoji852]️)

Thnx, Ed

I think this is correct. We are all all Apple (iphone, iPads for navigation); we is four lines. The hotspot thing has to apply to ALL lines and gets expensive. Plus it's capped as you say.

[Peregrine1983]

When you say "capped" you mean it just ceases to provide an internet connection through the phone's wifi network?

[roland stockham]

I have use a mobile phone as a router (android) for exactly that and had no problems. Before you spend on a dedicated device take a close look at the signal strength and continuity. That may be the problem rather than your phone.

[skipgundlach]

ATT has nothing (I checked - they'd love to have me as a new customer bringing my own phone) resembling my unlimited hotspot (that's nearly all I use it for other than straight data for phone calls over Google Voice and Hangouts) plan with T-Mobile, no junk charges cuz I auto pay, at $70.

I'm using it now as my wife is using her ATT phone over my WiFi to do everything she does; when my signal is not available she quickly runs into over-data charges...

[Scrimshaw4]

My experience with T-Mobile was that it had the poorest coastal coverage of any cell phone provider on the east coast. I even had a booster at the house in Annapolis and would drop calls consistently. Check the bars / signal strength where you're cruising. JMHO

[Jdeuel]

At our place in the mountains, we don't pay for cable or wifi because we're not there all that often. We have an adaptor that plugs into the iPhone (Lightning connector) and has a female HDMI port on the other end. Works fine for Netflix, Hulu, etc. Here's an example: https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Ada...o+hdmi+adapter

[waterman46]

Do you have the problem only when using WiFi hotspot or would the same problem manifest itself if you are accessing internet directly from the I-phone?

I believe T-Mobile has the market on unlimited data worldwide (mostly). We used T-Mobile with both Android and I-phones in CA and along W coast of Mexico. Usually configured my Android (Samsung Galaxy) as a WiFi hotspot and connected my laptop to that. In some areas we could get only a voice connection to wireless, other places only 2G, but near cities 3G and 4G with mostly reliable connections.

Within the US you should expect nearly bulletproof connection to 4G from T-Mobile anywhere it is within range.

[Suijin]

I have Verizon, an iPhone, and an unlimited data plan at @ $100/month. I tether my laptop constantly and have never noticed any throttling when watching Netflix or doing any other streaming or downloads.

Verizon's coverage is superior to that of T-Mobile, by a country mile, along the east coast. I can't think of anywhere along the coast that I've not had coverage. Has even worked out to 25 miles along the coast at times.

I would not add a hotspot, at additional expense. Just get a phone and provider that works.

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Do you have the problem only when using WiFi hotspot or would the same problem manifest itself if you are accessing internet directly from the I-phone?

I believe T-Mobile has the market on unlimited data worldwide (mostly). We used T-Mobile with both Android and I-phones in CA and along W coast of Mexico. Usually configured my Android (Samsung Galaxy) as a WiFi hotspot and connected my laptop to that. In some areas we could get only a voice connection to wireless, other places only 2G, but near cities 3G and 4G with mostly reliable connections.

Within the US you should expect nearly bulletproof connection to 4G from T-Mobile anywhere it is within range.

My issue is not with T-mobile's coverage. In my experience (NY-New England) it's been fantastic and fast. It's even faster than the cable internet at home that I pay $$$ for (another issue altogether.)

My issue is with the laptops not seeing the wifi network that my iPhone claims to be broadcasting. It often will not show up as an available network even though I have "mobile hotspot" turned on in the iPhone's settings. I have to toggle wifi on and off several times on the laptops and phone before the laptops see it.

[ShawnMack]

It is also worth keeping an eye out for providers that are teamed up with streaming outlets that may charge less or none of the data streamed against your datacap.

Just an example certainly not an endorsement, TMobile doesn’t count our Netflix data against our cap at all.

[Maka]

Any one with thoughts on this for the PNW ?

[Jerry Woodward]

I have a Google Pixel phone and use Google Project Fi for my “carrier”. Project Fi actually uses whatever carrier has the best signal, so your service is actually much better: it will switch between Sprint, T Mobil and US Cellular for 4G LTE or it will use most of the foreign carriers GSM, whichever is best. They charge a base price of $20.00 a month for unlimited voice and text. Then an additional $10.00 a month per GB up to 6GB. But they only charge for what you use each month. After that, there is no further charge up to a 15GB ceiling. After 15GB, they slow your data unless you opt to pay for the usage over 15GB. I normally don’t go over 15GB except one month when we were doing a lot of streaming of TV programs. So, my monthly bill ranges between $30.00 and $80.00 depending on my data usage for that month. If I am in a Marina with WIFI, I would not be using the 4G data much and the bill would be $30.00 for that month. Their international roaming is supposed to be pretty good too, but I haven’t tried it: they say that the same data rates apply for 170 countries including the Bahamas, BVI and all of the Caribbean, so you don’t need to switch sim cards when you go to a different country. They also will give you an extra sim card in addition to the one that goes in your phone. I put the extra sim card into my Netgear modem with an external MIMO antenna mounted on the stern rail. The Netgear modem and a Bullet are both connected to the boat router via a switch. Of course the downside is that you need to buy a Pixel phone, but it is generally regarded as one of the best Android phones out there.

[Dooglas]

I have an AT&T hotspot which works like a Go-phone. That is to say that I purchased the hotspot for $40 and now buy data packages for 30 days when needed. When I don't use it, I pay nothing. Has been quite cost effective and works great in the inside waters of the PNW where I do my cruising.

https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/at...e-hotspot.html

[Midnight Son]

Please go to Youtube, and check out 'Technomadia', they do wifi, phone plans and other issues for people who boat or RV. I have been following since they got their Cruiser.

[knockabout]

Telstra 4gx is ok