internet on the go

Thank you everyone for the great advice.

We use Straight Talk hot spot; a pay as you go option. It works for us when we are on the road 2 months at a time or so, not full time. I believe on Verizon signal, works fairly well.

We are full time and use the jet pack. If we are in park we will use park WiFi but never for anything secure. The smartphone is part of our data package as we also use a tablet and a laptop.

pianotuna wrote:
I use a dongle, and use my phones as wifi hotspots.

It is possible to buy an unlimited plan for Verizon on Ebay. Do not purchase a 3G unit as that technology is being phased out.

Don, from what I'm seeing on the Verizon related forums, the 3G phase out will take at least 5 years to really become noticeable in most locations. Their plan so far seems to be to cut down on the number of 3G equipped towers in the more heavily populated areas rather than completely eliminating it so far. I fully expect my $55 dollar investment that includes the first 6 months of unlimited service will be more than paid back by then. That said, I certainly wouldn't depend on it as my primary service. ;)

We use celcom based in Wisconsin. Great for phones internet. We live in the forest, no hard wired Internet use their wireless internet $35 a month. 3G Take it everywhere with us, even to Hawaii. Works great!

dtrink wrote:
OK, you rver's that have been at it for awhile. I need some good advice. What's the best way to get internet on the go that is secure? I do banking, etc. online and want to start traveling more. Not sure I want to trust public WiFi, but I don't want to really spend a lot for private internet either. What has been your experience with the best way to get on the go internet? Thanks.

You are pretty safe. Most banks use encrypted web pages. Public Wifi isn't as dangerous for THIS type of application as many people think. People can capture your packets on wifi regardless whether you are on public or private wifi. It's the encryption that matters that keeps you safe. I am NOT talking about the WIFI WPA or WEP passwords either. I am talking about the browser based encryption from your bank/credit union to your browser itself. It's pretty safe. You are much more in danger of viruses/backdoors revealing your password than a hacker targeting your encrypted bank packets.

Rock

I have a USB stick, a hotspot and a phone all on Sprint service. The only difference is the USB stick has to be connected to the computer and the other two can be directly connected or used wireless. That is nice because the device can go where the signal is best and multiple users can get on with the password.

Data plans can be expensive but if you keep an eye out for sales it is pretty cheap.

We were watching sales last year as we have 6 phones on our account as we switched from unlimited data to the shared plan. We went to 20 gigs and it suited is fine using our phones for hot spots( iPhone 6 Plus and other iPhone models). We were watching sales and we happened to see the ad for if you call in and speak to a rep they will double your monthly data for nothing.
We called in and they doubled it. Took about 10 minutes and it is for life.
When we travel we maybe go through 10 gigs. Sometimes more because the 2 kiddos use up a lot. But the other phones are all adults and don't use the Internet very often.

I use the hotspot all the time at work to do my bills and banking online because I'm not always home and have a heroic work schedule. Never had an issue.

But keep an eye out for those deals.
The last one we saw was for they will give you half more data a month for free. So if you had 10 they will give you an extra 5.

rockhillmanor wrote:
I on the other hand will do nothing using a cell phone. IMHO, JMHO not secure enough and if it was, there is the issue of using your phone data, many phone contracts prohibit you from doing so, being tethered, and not being able to use the phone on some, etc.

I would never do any banking using a cell phone period. Just saying that is 'MY' reason for not using a cell phone for internet access.

When I went full time I bought a Sprint USB broadband. I plug in a USB stick into my computer, secure and I have internet anywhere with my laptop. In the MH or out in the woods!

I bought it in 2004 and I am still using the same usb stick. Albiet I am grandfathered in with unlimited data. The newer ones have data plans but at least you don't have to worry about using all you data up on your phone plan which is usually less data and more expensive anyway.

You do know that your limited coverage Sprint USB stick is using exactly the same cell service that you think is too insecure on a tethered or hotspot enabled smartphone, right? WiFi is actually much less secure. There are many different phone data plans with allowances up to about 40GB/mo or so, depending on your carrier. And for the last day or so, I've been testing one of the reflashed hotspots offered on eBay with a 3G only $5/mo plan. Working ok so far...

rockhillmanor wrote:
I on the other hand will do nothing using a cell phone. IMHO, JMHO not secure enough and if it was, there is the issue of using your phone data, many phone contracts prohibit you from doing so, being tethered, and not being able to use the phone on some, etc.

I would never do any banking using a cell phone period. Just saying that is 'MY' reason for not using a cell phone for internet access.

When I went full time I bought a Sprint USB broadband. I plug in a USB stick into my computer, secure and I have internet anywhere with my laptop. In the MH or out in the woods!

I bought it in 2004 and I am still using the same usb stick. Albiet I am grandfathered in with unlimited data. The newer ones have data plans but at least you don't have to worry about using all you data up on your phone plan which is usually less data and more expensive anyway.

A Sprint USB broadband "stick" is just a cell phone. Take a look in the detail information for the USB stick and you will find the phone number of that device. You are not anymore or any less secure using a USB stick, a Mi-Fi device or your phone as a hotspot. They all use the same technology and the same cell towers.