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Old 04-14-2019, 05:24 AM   #1
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On board WIFI

WE own a 30 foot Greyhawk Class C. On our last long trip, 40 days. We bought a hot spot from AT&T. They allowed us so much Data I guess it is called for a month. Well, since I do all of our banking and send a blog each day, we very shortly ran out of Data. AT&T charged us an additional 15 dollars for more DATA. Then we used that up very shortly. The AT&T policy on overages of DATA use has changed. They no longer charge for additional date, they simply slow your stream down. It became so slow that we were unable to even get on line let alone use the WIFI. Plus they got rid of the unlimited data plans.
Stopping at a McDonalds with a 30 foot motor home is not always an easy thing to do. Plus our plan was to boon dock as much as we could with out using paid camping grounds.
I know there must be something out there that we can use to up grade our WIFI availability, without busting our bank.
WE are not trying to make a living while on our trips. WE are both retired and just want to travel and still stay in touch with family and friends.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

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Old 04-14-2019, 05:39 AM   #2
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Depending on your AT&T contract this may not be an option for you, but it might be worth considering Verizon.

They still offer an "unlimited" plan, though depending on traffic, they may slow your bandwidth once you've used a preset amount of data. IIRC ours is 20GB per device. DW and I each have a phone, and we also have a hotspot, so we essentially get 60GB of high speed data per month. If the hotspot is close to it's "limit" we'll use one of the phones as a hotspot. Verizon also offers some good military discounts - kicking myself for not inquiring about them sooner as we're now saving ~$20/month.
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Old 04-14-2019, 05:59 AM   #3
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Who's your home internet with? I know Spectrum and Xfinity have hot spots all around the country where you log in with the same user name and password as at home. There are also tons of other restaurants, grocery stores and malls that offer free wifi. Just do a free WIFI search and there is usually a map that will show you those spots.

iF you belong to FMCA they have a "deal" with Verizon. Their annual membership offers lots of great benefits it's well worth looking into.

https://www.fmca.com/fmca-verizon-4g-mifi
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Old 04-14-2019, 06:09 AM   #4
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We always had Verizon ever since cell phones came out. We are full time now and needed a good data plan. Verizon offers several "unlimited" plans, but NONE...I repeat NONE of them are truly unlimited. We finally switched over to T Mobile. They are truly unlimited. I know I have hit well over 70gb a month many times, with no throttling. They also give a nice military/veteran discount, and give you free Netflix. We are very happy with them.
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Old 04-14-2019, 06:57 AM   #5
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From T Mobile's website:

On all T-Mobile plans, during congestion, the small fraction of customers using >50GB/month may notice reduced speeds until next bill cycle due to data prioritization.

I would say data that is reduced in any way is not truly unlimited.
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Old 04-14-2019, 07:34 AM   #6
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I just applied for and was credited with my veterans discount at Verizon. Tomorrow, I plan to apply for their 55 and over unlimited plan that is not widely advertised. I don't care if it is somewhat limited, I'm just tired of having to buy a gig or 2 when we are on the road.

CG wifi has become almost useless due to everyone streaming or trying to stream tv.
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Old 04-14-2019, 07:43 AM   #7
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Well one of my kids turned off the tv with I love Lucy still streaming on the appletv for probably 14 hours. Chewed through all my data on our first trip. Lesson learned... Don't bring your kids on your trips, they ruin everything ��
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Old 04-14-2019, 07:50 AM   #8
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I just applied for and was credited with my veterans discount at Verizon. Tomorrow, I plan to apply for their 55 and over unlimited plan that is not widely advertised. I don't care if it is somewhat limited, I'm just tired of having to buy a gig or 2 when we are on the road.
But you lose the Military with the GO 55.
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Old 04-14-2019, 08:33 AM   #9
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But you lose the Military with the GO 55.
I'll go with the biggest discount. I'm a bottom line man.
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Old 04-14-2019, 10:43 AM   #10
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Verizon's $65 unlimited prepaid data plan is a good one too.
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Old 04-14-2019, 10:46 AM   #11
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...…..Stopping at a McDonalds with a 30 foot motor home is not always an easy thing to do. Plus our plan was to boon dock as much as we could with out using paid camping grounds.
I know there must be something out there that we can use to up grade our WIFI availability, without busting our bank.
WE are not trying to make a living while on our trips. WE are both retired and just want to travel and still stay in touch with family and friends.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

1SG Pete
There are a few things you can do.

Cell / Cell data service:

First I would recommend a cell phone signal booster. The first thing to remember when buying these units is, "You get what you pay for!". I went out an purchased a Commercial version, Uniden U65. I opted for an exterior "Directional Antenna" and a interior "Directional Antenna". I figured since the TT is stationary and the directional antenna has better performance than a omni directional antenna, I would go with that. For the interior antenna, I also went with a directional antenna. Omni directional antennas can have the signals bleed out to the exterior antenna and will reduce the signal strength. Mine faces away from the exterior antenna. Your cell phone data will also be improved with the booster.

So, how well does this system perform. We are in the mountains in a valley. There are 2K' and 4K' high mountains between the TT and the cell tower that is 4.3 miles away. Without the Uniden signal booster, we get a solid "0" or max "1" bar, sending pictures never happened. Inside the TT, forget about using the cell phone. Now, inside the TT we get 4 bars and the pictures are sent within 4 - 5 seconds. I have nothing but good things to say about the Uniden 65. Mine is about 3 years old and is setup for 3G, but all cell phones work on it.

Since you have a Class "C", I would recommend an "Omni" directional exterior antenna. This will allow you to use the Cellphone Signal booster while you are driving around. Stick with the directional antenna for the interior. You can mount the exterior antenna on the rear ladder.

Internet Wi-Fi signal boosters:

Here again "You get what you pay for!". For the Wi-Fi signal boosters I would not recommend the ones that plug into your USB port or do not have an external antenna. I am on my second EnGenius Wi-Fi signal extender (Booster). I upgraded to a more powerful EnGenius ENS202EXT model ($75 on Amazon) from my original one. Once they are set up, you can change the AP (access point) using an app on your tablet/smart phone. You need to tell the units which AP you want to connect to (campground, McDonald's, Home Depot, Lowes.....).

With the ENS202EXT (EXTernal antenna) I was able to connect to a Home Depot store that was located (with in view) on a higher location about 1.5 miles away, and watch a home base ball game on my SlingBox at home. Should I have been using Home Depot's Wi-Fi, well if you saw what I deposit in their annual net income account, they should have been running a cable to my TT, but there again, your service will only be as good as the AP you are connected to and the data service the CG is getting from their ISP. You can also mount the Wi-Fi signal booster antenna on the rear ladder.

Below are 2 screen shots of the current weather. You can see the cell signal strength in the upper left corner, 1 Bar with the unit unplugged (pause for lightning/thunder) and 4 bars for cell Signal booster on, even in the middle of this nasty electrical storm. Need to shut down now the lightning is really getting bad.


Forum cell phone booster community.

Forum Wi-Fi signal booster community
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Old 04-14-2019, 10:53 AM   #12
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From T Mobile's website:

On all T-Mobile plans, during congestion, the small fraction of customers using >50GB/month may notice reduced speeds until next bill cycle due to data prioritization.

.
And the 50gb they quote there is only "On your phone" data, If you are tethering to a laptop or another device - they limit at 10g, 20 if you pay a premium One + plan.
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Old 04-14-2019, 11:18 AM   #13
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From T Mobile's website:

On all T-Mobile plans, during congestion, the small fraction of customers using >50GB/month may notice reduced speeds until next bill cycle due to data prioritization.

I would say data that is reduced in any way is not truly unlimited.

They say that, but I have went over 50GB almost every month I've had it, and have never been throttled. With Verizon, it slowed down so much I couldn't even watch Netflix.
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Old 04-14-2019, 11:27 AM   #14
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And the 50gb they quote there is only "On your phone" data, If you are tethering to a laptop or another device - they limit at 10g, 20 if you pay a premium One + plan.
Not correct. Most of my data usage is from me using the mobile hotspot on my phone to operate my smart TV and watch Netflix.
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Old 04-14-2019, 11:42 AM   #15
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You can get a free sim card for your hotspot from Google FI if you have a phone with them. Data is $10 per gig but no charge over 6 gigs for one phone, 10 gigs for two phone.

phones cost $25 1st, $10 additional lines

No startup, no contract, month to month.

If you have a friend or relative you get a bonus $20 off first month if they refer you.

I use my phone as a hotspot or the sim card, whichever is handier while traveling.
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Old 04-15-2019, 07:44 AM   #16
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Who's your home internet with? I know Spectrum and Xfinity have hot spots all around the country where you log in with the same user name and password as at home. There are also tons of other restaurants, grocery stores and malls that offer free wifi. Just do a free WIFI search and there is usually a map that will show you those spots.

iF you belong to FMCA they have a "deal" with Verizon. Their annual membership offers lots of great benefits it's well worth looking into.

https://www.fmca.com/fmca-verizon-4g-mifi
Comcast but they offer Xfinity which is Hot spots. Which are difficult to find in the desert or the mountains.
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Old 04-15-2019, 10:02 AM   #17
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I just applied for and was credited with my veterans discount at Verizon. Tomorrow, I plan to apply for their 55 and over unlimited plan that is not widely advertised. I don't care if it is somewhat limited, I'm just tired of having to buy a gig or 2 when we are on the road.

CG wifi has become almost useless due to everyone streaming or trying to stream tv.
Not to sound stupid, but, What is CG?
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Old 04-15-2019, 10:06 AM   #18
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Not to sound stupid, but, What is CG?
Camp Ground
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Old 04-15-2019, 10:33 AM   #19
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Verizon's $65 unlimited prepaid data plan is a good one too.
I want to thank everyone for tier assistance and comments,. I did a chat with Verizon and from that we are going to visit the local Verizon store to see what they have to offer.

Thanks again.

Plus with our over 55 ( way over) and my military retirement, we should be able to get some thing that will work for us.
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Old 04-15-2019, 10:37 AM   #20
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ah yes. I found that their WIFI is not very good to start with and it depends on how far you are from the office or the source. We stopped at Dancing Eagles Casino New Mexico for the night and for their WIFI,
It worked great that evening but the next morning it was as if they had turned us off in anticipation of us leaving.
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