MiFi instead of cable or DSL?

[schoaty]

I have hispeed cable at the house and DSL at a small farmhouse that has been in my wife's family for years. We now have a truck camper and will be on the road more, so I'm wondering if I should look into MiFi. The plans seem to offer around 5 GB for $50. Since we don't use netflix, I'm wondering if I should drop the cable and/or the DSL.

Any words of wisdom from those who have used MiFi a lot?

Thanks!

(FWIW, we are in the southeast US and plan to do most of our camping in this area for a while, so the lack of service in some areas is not a concern, yet.)

[Tom_M1]

1492 wrote:
I switched over to using Clear 4G mobile hotspot for both home and travel.

If you go to Clear's web site it now directs you to Sprint. Sprint has purchased Clear.

[schoaty]

OK - The "Rest of the Story"

We went with Verizon - 5gig for $50/mo. Could have gotten a similar deal from T-Mobile, but thought we would see how another carrier does, since we have voice cell phones with T-Mobile, and know that we are kinda on the fringe of good reception at the house and farm.

I used the MiFi exclusively for the 1st month, keeping tabs on data usage. We ended up using about 7 gig, so I kept the cable at the house for all the heavy bandwidth stuff. Since then, the MiFi has never busted the data cap, although we came really close this month when my wife was at the farm most of the time, while overseeing a renovation of her Mom's house. She was watching "how to" videos of tile work, flooring, etc.

I did take the magic jack along on a trip, but found I'm better off just leaving it at home. Most folks call me on the cell anyhow, and I use the cell to return messages that the magic jack emails to me (they send you an audio file). The only time I would carry it along would be if I had free wifi at my destination, so that I save cell minutes.

I also went to the cable company and asked about a lower speed plan. They gave me higher speed for less money instead. Guess it doesn't hurt to ask!

Thanks for all the good tips, advice, and helpful comments!

[jcpainter]

Voice and data coverage for the same carrier in a given area can be quite different. Be sure to do your homework.

garry1p wrote:
I am in the same situation home in the country in MS and home in OK in major city.

I have the Verizon USB ULM 290 modem since we only connect with the one computer we do not need the MIFI. We have 2 flip phones.

So far we have never had a problem receiving 3G and most of the time we have 4G I do not download large files other than map updates from Garmin and the 5 GB is more than enough for surfing and most on line stuff but not movies.

For my use 3G is OK @ 5+Mbps However 4G is a lot faster @ 10+Mbps but for e-mail either one works just fine.

Depends on how remote your cabin is from a major highway or fair size town for reliable service. If you get good cell phone then MIFI will be OK.

[garry1p]

I am in the same situation home in the country in MS and home in OK in major city.

I have the Verizon USB ULM 290 modem since we only connect with the one computer we do not need the MIFI. We have 2 flip phones.

So far we have never had a problem receiving 3G and most of the time we have 4G I do not download large files other than map updates from Garmin and the 5 GB is more than enough for surfing and most on line stuff but not movies.

For my use 3G is OK @ 5+Mbps However 4G is a lot faster @ 10+Mbps but for e-mail either one works just fine.

Depends on how remote your cabin is from a major highway or fair size town for reliable service. If you get good cell phone then MIFI will be OK.

[wittmeba]

We had the Verizon 4510 then went to Millenicom. Then back to Verizon 4620.

Right now the device indicated data @ 23.4. When comparing with Speedtest.net it is only 6.93. So which number is referenced can significantly affect claims of speed.

[Happytraveler]

We have a MiFi for traveling and high speed internet for the house. The Mifi is fantastic because I would say most always we get service and another thing it's so much faster than the WiFi at a park. The only thing with us is we always go over the 5 GB limit, we use 10 GB's a month. That is why we're not getting rid of the cable at home.

[Kathy_of_Arcadi]

yes it is the 4520. Seems like the magicjack and MIFI are conflicting some, so now will load magicjack only when planning to make calls. Also my 6 month old laptop seems to have to resolve connection issues often with MIFI occur 4Xs today.

[wa8yxm]

For me 5 MB (25 bucks) is ... A bit snug (I used 5.1 in Oct/Nov billing period) Thankfully the .1 was low speed data.

The major issue is do you get full 4G speed where you park.. If you do, go-4-it

This message posted that way. (Tethered T-mobile 4G phone).

[jcpainter]

I believe the 4510L and the 4620L (new, improved version) are both JetPacks.

I have the 4620 and it says JetPack on the front, under the Verizon logo.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Kathy of Arcadia wrote:
Using 4G Verizon Jetpack MIFI:
I connected today and phone worked fine. I bought the 4GB access. By virtue of the majicjack plugged in and menu residing on desktop is it drawing the GB usuage. The MIFI is flashing purple which is suppose to mean data usuage, I thought?

I'm not familiar with the Verizon Jetpack - we have the Verizon 4510L. On ours a purple LED signifies a 3G signal, while a greed LED signifies 4G. Other than that when it's flashing it's actually transferring data.

[wittmeba]

schoaty wrote:
I have hispeed cable at the house and DSL at a small farmhouse that has been in my wife's family for years. We now have a truck camper and will be on the road more, so I'm wondering if I should look into MiFi. The plans seem to offer around 5 GB for $50. Since we don't use netflix, I'm wondering if I should drop the cable and/or the DSL.

Any words of wisdom from those who have used MiFi a lot?

Thanks!

(FWIW, we are in the southeast US and plan to do most of our camping in this area for a while, so the lack of service in some areas is not a concern, yet.)

If I were you Id first try to determine if 4G is available where you will be online the most as 3G is not very good.

Once you determine that, then you could look at Verizon 4620 Mifi or Millenicom for your service.

[wintersun]

With Millenicom you can use the service with no contract and if you buy a modem or mifi device you can restart the service very easily when you need it. If it works at the farmhouse then you can eliminate the DSL and use your cell phone for voice and the mifi for data. The slowest cable connection is going to be 10x as fast as mifi/EVDO.

We found that using a Cradlepoint 802.11n router with our USB modem installed we got much better signal strength as the modem was able to use the three antennas of the router instead of its tiny internal antenna. Last week I installed a marine antenna on the roof of our camper and its cable feeds down to a RF booster which runs off 12v. From there the antenna cable adapter connects the booster to the EVDO modem. I get overall about 4x the signal strength with this setup. I use the same equipment but with a house roof mounted antenna on a mast when at home. We cannot get cable or DSL or 4G, or cell phone service for that matter where we live which is 5 miles from the nearest town. We are stuck with whatever the local telco, AT&T decides to provide which at this point in time if plain old telephone over twisted pair wires circa 1960.

[Kathy_of_Arcadi]

Using 4G Verizon Jetpack MIFI:
I connected today and phone worked fine. I bought the 4GB access. By virtue of the majicjack plugged in and menu residing on desktop is it drawing the GB usuage. The MIFI is flashing purple which is suppose to mean data usuage, I thought? I wanted to have the phone plugged in to ring for incoming calls. What did you find happening?
I am layperson so go easy on the tech terms for me? lol
Kathy traveling in AZ

[RTompkins3]

jcpainter wrote:


When you have multiple devices using your home connection, how do you monitor your usage?

Thank you,
Jean Painter

We use "XFinity" (Comcast) at home and they have a total usage graph on their web site.