Toss me your WIFI ideas...

ReleaseTheKraken · 02-19-2015, 07:03 PM

We are Canadian and traveling in the USA means hefty internet and roaming charges when we use our phones. My $1000/weekend bills have been staggering, so clearly using our existing phones and data are not an option.

However we will be travelling and blogging through the US and aim not to rely on the McDonalds free wifi to get by.

What options do we have to get wifi access in the States, when we don't have US phones?

Anyone with experience in this?

EastCoastCB · 02-19-2015, 07:32 PM

When you get to the US, get some pre-paid phones. Fifty bucks gets you a nice data package.

lornaschinske · 02-19-2015, 07:55 PM

This is what is CURRENTLY working for me and may not work for you...

I have a netzero mifi hotspot. It is a no contract. Cost me $23 including taxes for 1 GB per month and I can add more GB. I normally use the free wifi at the park but it goes down and I use the 1 GB in short order. I have gone thru 1.09GB since 1 day ago when I reset the meter on my laptop. In January, I had to buy an extra GB to get me thru the month while the park's wifi was down. I seriously think that they are using a signal jammer at the nearby airport (civilian and military use it). But living in Roswell may make me over suspicious of the Government. My daughter recently bought a no contract Straight talk mifi because she has a hard time connecting reliably to her park's internet. I think she is getting a little better rate than me. I cannot use the Straight Talk in Roswell as there is not antennas for it to run off of. NM sucks for cellular connection so we will wait until we head back east to find a cheaper solution.

The no contract wifi is cheaper than getting Verizon (your best bet for the most complete coverage) but no one plan will cover 100%. Until we stop traveling and settle back down in a mobile home park, it looks like we (Das Mel & I) will be running multiple no-contract hotspots. Once we get parked again, we will get broadband internet via a local cable company.

There is no one single solution for what you want to do. It all depends on how much money you have to spend, how many GB you need and where you will need wifi at. But I do think the no contract is what you need to be looking at since you will only need it for a short length of time and the contract plans have a hefty cancellation penalty.

gizmoq · 02-19-2015, 09:53 PM

I have the "no contract" Straight Talk phone with everything unlimited for $45/mth. I selected this phone over a year ago because I knew I could unlock it and have been using it as my mobile hotspot. My data needs are a tad bit on the extreme side since I get all my TV, radio, and comms over the internet while I'm out on the road. I would guess my usage is about 10G/mth when traveling.

EastCoastCB · 02-20-2015, 03:37 AM

How do you deal with Straight Talk's "throttling" after two or three gigs???
Lorna- at least here, Straight Talk uses the Verizon network.

lornaschinske · 02-20-2015, 08:51 AM

In Roswell, Straight Talk was using the Sprint towers. Then the Sprint towers shut down one day and never went back on line. Roswell had a lot of pissed off customers. I think Das Mel had service last time she was here though. So Straight Talk may have contracted with another carrier. Roswell is bad for cellphones. What works on one side of town doesn't work on the other. And the town is simply not that big.

ReleaseTheKraken · 02-20-2015, 09:15 AM

Roswell kinda has a reputation as a place with anomalies! ;)

lornaschinske · 02-20-2015, 10:16 AM

No, just mostly morons who can't drive, think or work. Can't hardly wait to leave this place. Only 199 more days until we leave. So much to do, so little time (and money).

jazty · 02-20-2015, 02:50 PM

I'm a Canadian who is currently in the states. My phone is unlocked so I picked up a SIM card and $50/month package for Net10 wireless (Tracfone, essentially). It's been working fine so far, except for the occasional dead spots throughout the country.

s10ryan · 02-20-2015, 07:45 PM

If you can find a clear internet WiFi hotspot that may work for you. they were bought out by sprint I have ones and be up to sell

mad_wolf · 02-21-2015, 05:03 AM

OuterNet : Free Internet to Everbody , Anywhere , Anytime

claydbal · 02-21-2015, 05:18 AM

perfect fixture for propaganda machine.

nat_ster · 02-21-2015, 09:45 AM

Don't the USA have Coffee shops with wifi like here in Canada?

I'm currently using Tim Horton's. Good Coffee too.

Nat

jazty · 02-21-2015, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nat_ster

Don't the USA have Coffee shops with wifi like here in Canada?

I'm currently using Tim Horton's. Good Coffee too.

Nat

On the road, that's actually not a bad way to go. In the states every town has a McDonald's with free wifi right off of the highway. That's what we usually do to find directions to places of interest and check email, weather, maps, etc. I don't much care for their food, but the coffee isn't bad and the free wifi keeps me coming back for a cup.

This trip, since we are planning on being away longer and I'm still technically working, we opted to get a phone with unlimited talk+texting and a good chunk of data. On a similar note, the bus makes an awesome office

gmarvel · 02-21-2015, 02:00 PM

We are using a Verizon hotspot for the $20 per month fee. I have a family account, so any data used by the hotspot on the bus will come from the general bucket of family data.

In my bus I set up an antenna that hooks to the hotspot so it gets really great signal strength even in fringe areas. I intend to use the Wi-Fi in parks and campgrounds if available so cut down on the use of my Verizon data bucket.

I also set it up so that the Verizon hotspot feeds to a Wi-Fi router than allows my TV's to get things like Pandora and Netflix using the hotspot's signal.

The-Breeze · 02-21-2015, 04:39 PM

I've been using a T-mobile HOTSPOT here at home for over a year now. They have various monthly prepaid plans. I currently get 7G's for $50.00 a month. It's a 4G system and works well. Depending on the weather here it sometimes drops to 3G and even 2G at times.

I bought the hotspot off of one of the shopping channels for around $80 and it came with 5G's to be used over 3 or 5 months (don't remember right now). They frequently have deals that basically will sell you a phone or hotspot for the price of the free service that comes with the deal so it's worth a try.

I just signed up for their autopay, which is they automatically renew me each month. With them, once you use up your monthly alotment....they cut down the speed of your service but you can still get service.

Last month I only used 5G's & paid for 7 and thought of dropping service down to the 5G for $40 a month but decided against it. Needless to say by the 15th of this month I had used up all 7G's but as mentioned I still have service only slower.

They seem to be a good company to work with and the reception here at home is doing pretty well (I live in rural Georgia at the end of a dirt road and there are no towers close by). I even have to tell 911 when I call on my cell phones to transfer me to Hall County as the closest tower is in Dawson County.

I have been using TRACFONES for our home phones for quite awhile too and the service seems better than any of the bigger services I 've tried thru the years.

Anywho......I'm hoping to continue using my T Mobile Hotspot when we get on the road.

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