Providing my own WiFi

I'm working from home, which is now in a campground.

Primary internet is OTR Mobile, which is "unlimited", it is capped at 300G.

Secondary for work, is my work hot spot, which in our permanent location is questionable signal.

Tertiary for work and secondary for personal use is personal phone hotspot.

4th level is campground wifi, which us unusable at all in the summer. It's marginally useful after Labor day, but not on the weekends.

How much data will you use ? The cellphone ( most ) will put low data cap on hotspot data on your “unlimited “ phone The dedicated hotspot will cost more but give you multiple WiFi connections tv laptop etc.” Verizon “ works well for you now but are you traveling ? How’s sprint/ t mobile? For example …. FMCA. Offers members 50 bucks a month for truly unlimited hotspot ! lease the hotsopt for 40 bucks upfront .
calix institute for and annual 400$ donation will give you a truly unlimited-free hotspot (that works out to 33 bucks a month). After you buy the hotspot .
there are many more solutions. How much do you need and want to spend ?
Btw we never used campground WiFi in the last 5 years full time . We have att on the phone 40g ea hotspot. And an old att hotspot Mobley plan long gone - 23 bucks .. Verizon ( no longer avail ) 65 a month unlimited hotspot. We no longer use satellite for tv and stream youtube tv with others and my DW zoom business calls for well over 200 -300g a month.

jorbill2or wrote:
How much data will you use ? The cellphone ( most ) will put low data cap on hotspot data on your “unlimited “ phone The dedicated hotspot will cost more but give you multiple WiFi connections tv laptop etc.” Verizon “ works well for you now but are you traveling ? H

We've found the costs are generally lower using the phone. The dedicated hotspot device needs it's own plan and we already have phones.

We can connect multiple devices to a phone, just like a dedicated device.

D.E.Bishop wrote:
W We would like one device or program to provide WiFi for both phones.

I am confused by this statement. Why would you bring on another device to provide WIFI for your phones and not just use your data plan? You already have both major carriers to get better coverage so it would probably be better upgrade your data plans (if needed) rather than get a third line from a single carrier.

If you want WIFI for your PC's, my wife and I cruised for 6 months both working full-time on our laptops using my Samsung and AT&T unlimited data as a WIFI hotspot. I was also in conference calls at least 4 hours a day while we used the hotspot. I did need to keep the phone plugged in the entire time we worked (and at night while it monitored our anchor for drifting)!

Dave

In Canada, there are no cell plans with unlimited data for NON phone devices.

Bell has one for phones which allows unlimited tethering.

Telus has unlimited data for phones which does NOT allow unlimited tethering. When the high speed data is gone, tethering is not allowed.

SaskteL has two plans for phones which include unlimited data and tethering. One is throttled at 540 kps and the other more expensive throttles at 2 mps. I find that sometimes the 2mps is much preferred.

As a with a lot of things, the answer is - it depends. If you are planning to use multiple devices, working, streaming tv/movies etc I would definitely opt for a dedicated hot spot with an unlimited data plan. If you are just browsing, checking email etc, I am sure your phone's hot spot will suffice.

way2roll wrote:
As a with a lot of things, the answer is - it depends. If you are planning to use multiple devices, working, streaming tv/movies etc I would definitely opt for a dedicated hot spot with an unlimited data plan. If you are just browsing, checking email etc, I am sure your phone's hot spot will suffice.

Why?

Everything you say can be handled by the phones just fine...at least it has for us.

valhalla360 wrote:

way2roll wrote:
As a with a lot of things, the answer is - it depends. If you are planning to use multiple devices, working, streaming tv/movies etc I would definitely opt for a dedicated hot spot with an unlimited data plan. If you are just browsing, checking email etc, I am sure your phone's hot spot will suffice.

Why?

Everything you say can be handled by the phones just fine...at least it has for us.

Well, if you don't know than I doubt I can explain it in a way you will get it. Tons of articles describing the superior capabilities of a hotspot over a phone acting like a hot spot. Speed, reliability, the ability to receive a weaker signal and re-broadcast, ability to add an antenna, multiple devices, security, etc, etc. A phone is a phone that has limited hot spot abilities. A hotspot is a device dedicated to the purpose. I am glad it works for you. Someone with much higher demands - like myself who works remote - prefer a dedicated device.

So taking the most oft suggested way of creating a hot spot, we decided to go with using the phone. We went to the closest Verizon store and the sales guy finally got it staight and found we all ready had 4 GB of data to use and a hot spot in my plan. It did take about 60 seconds for him to set it up and send us merrily on our way back to the campground.

When I bought my phone, I did so to have bluetooth to use with my hearing aids. I never discussed the features of the plan with the sales guy as all I wanted was to be able to hear phone conversations.

So thanks again for jumping in with suggestions, it helped a lot. Now to determin how much data we will be using and upgrade my plan if needed.

Thanks again.

valhalla360 wrote:

way2roll wrote:
As a with a lot of things, the answer is - it depends. If you are planning to use multiple devices, working, streaming tv/movies etc I would definitely opt for a dedicated hot spot with an unlimited data plan. If you are just browsing, checking email etc, I am sure your phone's hot spot will suffice.

Why?

Everything you say can be handled by the phones just fine...at least it has for us.

Because I’d venture You aren’t a real big user of internet.. ok but but some people are. Go over to rv mobile internet and see.
In our case We use almost 300gb a month and are minor users ….there are those who use that in a few days.. how much are you using in your phones hotspot a month? 1movie is 2-3 gb If your a weekend warrior sure the phone may work. We started out full time that way and quickly adapted .. DW had a provided business phone with rare unlimited hotspot .. most don’t have much more than 15-30gb a month hotspot on their unlimited phone and don’t know it ! that’s a day for us . Using the phone became a hassle and I need cameras security etc online 24 7 Open up to the idea your method isnt the only way. Or even the best way for someone else The question was what were the options. Let the op decide