Using smart phone as a hot spotI am getting ready to dump Sprint and go to Verizon with a Galaxy 7 for a hot spot, eliminating the need for my curing Spring hot spot and cell phone. I was reedy to do the transfer when a Verizon representative informed me this was not a good idea and that using the Galaxy 7 with a non-replaceable battery was not good and that I should use a separate device for a hotspot. I am so confused over this as I have never owned a smart phone. Any help would be appreciated.r0n….

I use my Galaxy S5 for a hot spot all the time. Battery will last almost all day. S7 has bigger battery and should last longer. I'm on AT&T so maybe Sprint uses more battery? Doubtful.

Well Verizon wants to sell you a MiFi device right? Yes the hotspot will use additional power on any smartphone. So you need to adopt power saving and charging strategies. When at home or in the RV leave it plugged in all the time, etc. Very doable.

I have an AT&T smart phone that use as pay as you go. I only got the smart phone because the screen was big enough for me to see. Last fall we were going where there was my WiFi and I went to AT&T to ask about a hot spot. They took my phone and showed me how to turn on the hotspot and said I just needed to buy data. $45 a month ($40 with a contract) and all is good. I used it 2 months last fall and turned it off. This spring I paid the $45 and when the month was out I paid the $45 again and the unused data carried over. It works for me plus the wife can play words with friends with her kindle while we are on the road.

Also check this. On our one year old Verizon Samsung phones, they works great as hot spots, BUT while using them as a hot spot, you can't make a call on it. Say, that you're using your laptop with a phone aas a hot spot looking at RV camp grounds and you want to call one. On our phones you can't do it unless you shut down the hot spot or use a second phone to make the call.Bill

I have a galaxy tab 4 7.0 from att and it does great in hotspot mode.

Using smart phone as a hot spot | Good Sam Community

strollin
Explorer
Jul 09, 2016
MrWizard wrote:
That depends on which version of Android is on your phone and which phone carrier you have
Everytime the phone companies change something on a new phone model for foxfi had to be updated to work for that model

The OP says he has a Samsung S7, same phone I have. FoxFi works fine on it.
MrWizard
Moderator
Jul 08, 2016
That depends on which version of Android is on your phone and which phone carrier you have
Everytime the phone companies change something on a new phone model for foxfi had to be updated to work for that model
strollin
Explorer
Jul 08, 2016
You can use the FoxFi app to turn your wifi hotspot on and use only your data.
camper_ron
Explorer
Jul 07, 2016
magicbus wrote:
camper_ron wrote:
Another update, Bought the Samsung S7 for $99 also got free 32inch smart Tv, all good so far. Whent to activate my phones hot spot capability's and found out I need to pay extra for this. was under the impression it was free except for the data used?

Sad r0n....long hard lurning curve.:(

I think it depends on your carrier and plan.

Dave

WE are using Verizon, when I called the customer service person told me i needed to update my plan to newer one then I could activate the hot spot. I was also told it would be cheaper and offer more data, so far it looks good.

r0n....
magicbus
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2016
camper_ron wrote:
Another update, Bought the Samsung S7 for $99 also got free 32inch smart Tv, all good so far. Whent to activate my phones hot spot capability's and found out I need to pay extra for this. was under the impression it was free except for the data used?

Sad r0n....long hard lurning curve.:(

I think it depends on your carrier and plan.

Dave
camper_ron
Explorer
Jul 05, 2016
Another update, Bought the Samsung S7 for $99 also got free 32inch smart Tv, all good so far. Whent to activate my phones hot spot capability's and found out I need to pay extra for this. was under the impression it was free except for the data used?

Sad r0n....long hard lurning curve.:(
2oldman
Explorer II
May 05, 2016
Trackrig wrote:
Say, that you're using your laptop with a phone aas a hot spot looking at RV camp grounds and you want to call one. On our phones you can't do it unless you shut down the hot spot or use a second phone to make the call.
Your second phone is your laptop using Google voice.
WeBeFulltimers
Explorer
May 05, 2016
Trackrig wrote:
Also check this. On our one year old Verizon Samsung phones, they works great as hot spots, BUT while using them as a hot spot, you can't make a call on it. Say, that you're using your laptop with a phone aas a hot spot looking at RV camp grounds and you want to call one. On our phones you can't do it unless you shut down the hot spot or use a second phone to make the call.

Bill

I use my almost 2 year old Galaxy S5 as a hot spot and can make/receive calls/texts while online. Works much better than the separate Verizon hot spot I previously had and saved me $20 per month.
camper_ron
Explorer
May 04, 2016
new twist the $199 deal with 2 year contract is only for curint Verizon customers for the Galaxy 7. Otherwise it is $28 month for 24 months that is $627 that is a lot of money to Me.

r0n.....:S
Chuck_thehammer
Explorer
May 04, 2016
I did something different..

No smart phones.. (thank you)
2 flip phones... picked up a Verizon 8 inch tablet.. it also works as a hotspot. and it uses smartphone apps. (that I wanted) Android operating system 5.1

the tablet is $1.00 yes one dollar. on sale Now. and has a 5,000ma battery.

and it has an 8 inch screen... the Satellite Finder app.. is Large and easy to find the correct satellite.

and retired my 5510 Mifi.

and my bill went Down 20 dollars a month, and got 6gb at same price of 5gb.