JETPACK oe AT&T Mobile Hotspot

[D_E_Bishop]

Currently we are relying on campground, McDonalds and other free hotspots, I wish to have my own, which of the two is best and does AT&T have pay as you go or is it monthly, finding out seems to be a hard thing to do at any sales locations.

Currently we have Boost Mobile and AT&T pay by the minute phones and I do not wish to learn and pay for linking my phones to the internet. We do not have smart phones, the DW will be getting one soon but I'm a long way off.

[wintersun]

There has to be a cell tower with the telco's transmitter on it for it to be usable without paying roaming charges. Most of the towers are located along major highways and if the tower near the campground has only a Verizon transmitter someone with T-Mobile or ATT is out of luck and if it is an ATT only tower than the reverse will be the case.

Verizon had the most towers across the USA but AT&T has been rapidly expanding its coverage and it is at least 80% as good. T-Mobile and Sprint are fine in urban areas but not a good choice for travel.

Verizon service through Millenicom used to be the best deal but now it looks like AT&T may be a better choice.

[ryoung]

Hardware wise I have had good service from the Verizon Jetpack 4620L (Novatel) device for the past two years. Prior, I had an AT&T Mobile Hotspot (Sierra Wireless) device that I had replaced 4 times within the 2 year warranty. On the 5th time I gave up and went to Verizon.

Also I think Verizon has the edge when it comes down to cellular coverage. Just my experience.

ryoung

[Robin1953]

louiskathy wrote:
I've only chatted online with Verizon and Sprint but it sure seems that it can get expensive in a hurry. If I remember correctly, Verizon wanted to add a $20 a month line charge to the monthly bill for the data charges.

All I really need is 3GB/month when we're not "on the road"... with the monthly line charge it gets to be $50 a month plus the cost of their device and taxes.

I have a Millenicom hotspot that gives me 20GB for $89. It's 3G/4G LTE and that's nice when we are hooking two or three devices to it. Just wish they had a
middle plan... 10GB for $45 would be nice. Dream on.

The cost increase and the fact that I left 12 to 15GB of unused data on the table every month is why I dropped Millenicom and switched to Straight Talk that also uses the Verizon network, 3G only. Two months time and 4GB of data for $40. I looked into Verizon but the monthly line access fee is ridiculous in my opinion. Straight Talk works for me since I only use it for banking.

[cpaulsen]

Have used the JetPack for over 2 years with no problems.Started with 8GB then moved to 10.With the new data plans till the end of the month....we swapped to 30GB. The 30 GB was only 17 dollars a month more then the 15. Now the cost is 130 a month for the 30 which was the same cost as the 15. With the 30 now.....it is almost unlimited for us as will never use that much.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

Verizon. Used it all over the US with no problems.

[louiskathy]

I've only chatted online with Verizon and Sprint but it sure seems that it can get expensive in a hurry. If I remember correctly, Verizon wanted to add a $20 a month line charge to the monthly bill for the data charges.

All I really need is 3GB/month when we're not "on the road"... with the monthly line charge it gets to be $50 a month plus the cost of their device and taxes.

I have a Millenicom hotspot that gives me 20GB for $89. It's 3G/4G LTE and that's nice when we are hooking two or three devices to it. Just wish they had a
middle plan... 10GB for $45 would be nice. Dream on.

[louiskathy]

Mountain Mama wrote:
I'm looking at a hotspot from Straight Talk. Device is $80 and then you add data, pricing starting at $15 for 1GB for 30 days. You refill as necessary. It's my understanding it uses Verizon towers but may limit your speed, but I don't think that will be a problem for us as we just need coverage when camping as we don't have smartphones yet but do like to check email, weather, etc.

Google Straight Talk Hot Spot if you're interested. Here's the link to the Data Plan website. Hotspot data plans

Reading through the info on the web page... Straight Talk hotspot is for 3G speed only. Just be aware of that.

[Mountain_Mama]

I'm looking at a hotspot from Straight Talk. Device is $80 and then you add data, pricing starting at $15 for 1GB for 30 days. You refill as necessary. It's my understanding it uses Verizon towers but may limit your speed, but I don't think that will be a problem for us as we just need coverage when camping as we don't have smartphones yet but do like to check email, weather, etc.

Google Straight Talk Hot Spot if you're interested. Here's the link to the Data Plan website. Hotspot data plans

[jswat]

After trying two different MiFi devices with Verizon, I just switched to AT@T. The Verizon had almost no signal at my house and on the road coverage was very spotty. Since changing to AT@T we have strong signal and wifi that we can use. I just upped the data and we are pleased. I know it is different in different areas, but Texas is AT@T territory.

[mobilefleet]

I'd use verizon.. We bought an ATT hotspot from best buy which was supposed to be $50 for 5 gigs, and $10 per gig whenever you just wanted to refill it anytime. I used my card online at att website to refill it, and apparently they thought they could just keep charging my card every 30 days which I never authorized. Plus, come to find out that after trying to refill a gig twice ($20 total) and we still had no wifi, we called them and they said "oh, you have to spend $50 each time again, no refill 1 gig increments after 90 days. Lame. Closed my card and got my money back. Tired of catches and gotchas, don't have time for that. Advertise something and mean it

[WyoTraveler]

Jetpack is Verizon stand alone. Sierra is ATT stand alone. If you have cell phones with the company data is a little cheaper. We pay about $200 mo for 2 smart phones and 15 gb on the stand alone sierra. We have an extra 5 gb with Verizon Jetpack and no phones that costs about $50. Sometimes one works and the other doesn't depending on area.

[hanzfranz60]

I use a 4G Verizon mifi with 10G a month for $80. I use it for business so that may be more than you need but they have lots of plans available. We usually have good coverage everywhere we go. We have only had a few cases where others with AT&T had a better signal then we did. They are both good service providers so whatever plan they have that works best for you is the way to go. Also, for doing financial stuff it is worth having a secured network so you protect yourself from hackers!

[JohnG3]

Also have the Verizon Jetpack. $50/month for two years. Was told I could turn it on and off during that two years but my contract would extend until I used it for 24 months. Then come to find out I could only turn it off twice a year for two months at a time or some such schedule. Coverage is like any other wifi device. We happen to go to a place on a yearly basis that had, up until this year, poor verizon coverage. Works great at home where we also have cable internet with wifi.

[AdamBryner2012]

At AT&T, we pay $250 for 30GB/month. :E
But, we use it for work...

Since cellphone companies don't make much money from phones and plans anymore, this is their last stand.

I can't wait until it becomes more cost effective!