Running your laptop off your phone

[Hank Hill]

Several of the cell phone outfits are offering unlimited plans and I'm aware that that is not a truly unlimited plan and far as usage is concerned. What I'm curious about is how many people use the built in hotspot on their iphone as a WiFi hook up for their computer while on the road. If you do how well does it work? If you don't, why not??

[robkelly]

We thought about it, but settled for a JetPack instead. Biggest drawback for us was that if you're using the hotspot you can't use the phone for anything else, and incoming calls/messages killed the hotspot signal.

We made the decision about four years ago and with the rate technology changes these concerns may no longer be valid. At the time DWs phone was the only one with hotspot capabilities so if she left the rig for some reason I was out of luck if I wanted to go online.

[blujay40]

Be aware that those "unlimited plans" not only drop your speed way down at a given point, but from what I understand, also don't allow the "tethering" of other devices to your phone, such as a laptop. I know of no "unlimited" data plans that allow tethering.

Now, are there "hacks" that you can circumvent this? Possibly, but I gave up that game long ago.

With that said, we tether our laptop/tablet to our phones when traveling down the road to look up "next stop" information but try to limit it's use to necessary info only. It helps a lot when scouting out gas/rest stops down the road using google earth and other websites. And if we do use our laptop, we try to use "m" based URL's (ex: https://m.facebook.com) so we use a lot less data than the standard website.

[edatlanta]

Originally Posted by robkelly

We thought about it, but settled for a JetPack instead. Biggest drawback for us was that if you're using the hotspot you can't use the phone for anything else, and incoming calls/messages killed the hotspot signal.

We made the decision about four years ago and with the rate technology changes these concerns may no longer be valid. At the time DWs phone was the only one with hotspot capabilities so if she left the rig for some reason I was out of luck if I wanted to go online.

My Samsung Note 5 works great as a WiFi hotspot and all other functions of the phone work at the same. No WiFi dropout, etc. You can talk, text, and WiFi at the same time.

[etex211]

The data plan on my personal phone doesn't allow it to be used as a wireless hot spot.

I use my company phone as a wireless hot spot when I am staying in my camper.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by edatlanta

My Samsung Note 5 works great as a WiFi hotspot and all other functions of the phone work at the same. No WiFi dropout, etc. You can talk, text, and WiFi at the same time.

X2 and I am on Verizon. Phone is a Samsung Galaxy S4. Turn the hotspot on, get e-mail an d what ever else I need. Do what ever I need to do, then turn the hotspot off. I have a 12GB data plan and never come near the limit.
I do this for my laptop and Tablet. Sure saves me the money of the jetpack.

[Pfflyer]

I use AT&T and an IPhone. Went over my data usage on a week long trip but the extra data only cost $10. Works great for work and personal surfing. I started out just using it for work and security sensitive access and free wifi for forums and non-sensitive surfing but found it was easier and more reliable to use it all the time. I am able to talk and surf at the same time as well.

[norty1]

We have the hotspot feature on our iphones. I has worked out well for us, When activated on Verizon the phone will not accept incoming calls. No biggie for me, they can call back.

[Rustysocket]

I'm posting this tethered to a S7 right now. Do it all the time.

[clubhouse]

I travel for work 50% of the time. I always use my iPhone Hotspot.

The "hotspot or phone" was a Verizon limitation at one time. We are ATT users and have no issues accessing full phone capability while also using it as the hotspot.

Depending on your cell connection, video streaming can be a bit choppy.

[bansai]

Originally Posted by Hank Hill

Several of the cell phone outfits are offering unlimited plans and I'm aware that that is not a truly unlimited plan and far as usage is concerned. What I'm curious about is how many people use the built in hotspot on their iphone as a WiFi hook up for their computer while on the road. If you do how well does it work? If you don't, why not??

I use the hotspot feature on my galaxy S7 to power a small network in my camper. It works great for us and gives internet access to an iPad, iPhone, 2 laptops, and a PS4 gaming console - which we use to stream movies via Netflix to the Furrion TV.

Allows me to 'work from home' pretty much anywhere in north america. When we are doing what I consider to be actual camping, none of that stuff is on. Installing an external cell phone antenna / booster in the spring so I can 'work from home' where I like to go fishing. Getting a little off topic - but because I also have a Ham radio license, I can use the same wifi connection to make my camper an APRS digipeater which is a major benefit when working disasters with state / federal / local agencies (or civilians)

[bankr63]

I find it works fine for occasional use, but be careful of the added battery wear especially if you are going to use it a lot. My Galaxy SIII got very hot when being used as a hotspot, and I killed two batteries that way. One of them actually expanded (swelled up) because of the added heat. I have a Galaxy S7 now, and it still gets warm when hotspotting, but not as bad as the old phone; but since this new model doesn't have a user replaceable battery I do worry about the battery life. You can mitigate this a bit by actually tethering to your laptop or having your phone plugged into a charger. I tend to use it for quick periods when I am away from any other wi-fi access point.

[North of 49°]

I recently upgraded my cell phone from my old iPhone 4 to a newer iPhone SE, and changed my plan. I knew monthly how much data I used and got the next plan higher, because we sometimes listen to streaming internet radio while on the road, and I tether my laptop to the phone for checking email and reading online newspapers while camping. The setup works pretty good, it's just not as fast as what we have at home.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Hank Hill

Several of the cell phone outfits are offering unlimited plans and I'm aware that that is not a truly unlimited plan and far as usage is concerned. What I'm curious about is how many people use the built in hotspot on their iphone as a WiFi hook up for their computer while on the road. If you do how well does it work? If you don't, why not??

Kids have Cricket phones that's about as Truly Unlimited as you can get. But you cannot tether with than plan. You can tether with their lesser plans.

I have ATT with 20GB and I can tether.
It works very well as long as you have cell coverage.

The only downside is that if you exceed the plan's data usage limit, the overage charges are exorbitant.

[BuddyRay]

I tether my laptop, my wife's laptop and her non-Cell enabled tablet all to my iPhone 6 using AT&T Cingular. I also can do anything - call, text, internet while running the hotspot.

I have a Family Dataplan with 6gb and rollover. For some reason I have yet to understand, last year ATT sent me a nice e-mail saying they were doubling my data for no additional charge. So I now get 12gb per month with rollover. Because we rarely use that much, I usually have 18+ GB available on any given month.

Last month we took a long weekend trip. I used WAZE, going and coming. My wife watches lots of Facebook video's, etc. - none of that ever uses more than a few Gig a month. But on this trip I also hooked my Laptop to the TV in the Jayco, tethered the Laptop, Connected to the Xfinity website, via the Xfinity website told my home system to record the Georgia Tech/Georgia game. Then, because XFinity will let you watch anything you've recorded at home, I started watching the game on the laptop a few minutes after it started recording. Barely had 1 bar of cell service yet it never faltered, buffered or broke up at full HDTV resolution. GO Jackets!

I was pleased to find that I could watch an entire football game and it only used 1.2GB. So even in November, with normal usage, and we streamed a few episodes of Big Bang Theory, and the football game - and we didn't get close to our 12gb most tethered to the iPhone.

I love technology!

[M&A]

Verizon and Nexus 6 feeds my Roku stick, DVMega/PI for D-Star, and Surface Pro work (sorry for the 4 letter word) VPN.

[FishAr]

I usb tether my nexus 4 to my laptop to get internet. I can't answer the phone unless I unplug.
Cricket doesn't like it but they haven't charged me.

[Pfflyer]

Originally Posted by BuddyRay

I tether my laptop, my wife's laptop and her non-Cell enabled tablet all to my iPhone 6 using AT&T Cingular. I also can do anything - call, text, internet while running the hotspot.

I have a Family Dataplan with 6gb and rollover. For some reason I have yet to understand, last year ATT sent me a nice e-mail saying they were doubling my data for no additional charge. So I now get 12gb per month with rollover. Because we rarely use that much, I usually have 18+ GB available on any given month.

Last month we took a long weekend trip. I used WAZE, going and coming. My wife watches lots of Facebook video's, etc. - none of that ever uses more than a few Gig a month. But on this trip I also hooked my Laptop to the TV in the Jayco, tethered the Laptop, Connected to the Xfinity website, via the Xfinity website told my home system to record the Georgia Tech/Georgia game. Then, because XFinity will let you watch anything you've recorded at home, I started watching the game on the laptop a few minutes after it started recording. Barely had 1 bar of cell service yet it never faltered, buffered or broke up at full HDTV resolution. GO Jackets!

I was pleased to find that I could watch an entire football game and it only used 1.2GB. So even in November, with normal usage, and we streamed a few episodes of Big Bang Theory, and the football game - and we didn't get close to our 12gb most tethered to the iPhone.

I love technology!

I haven't heard anyone refer to Cingular in quite a while. The Wife retired from AT&T/Bellsouth and worked for Bellsouth Mobility which became Cingular after she went to another division. We come a long way since the bag phone.

[Wrascal]

My wife and I both use our phones hotspot when traveling; when we arrive at our destination we switch it back and look for a free wifi connection. The drawback is it uses more expensive data and depletes the phones battery quicker.

[robkelly]

Sounds like the hotspot technology has come a long way in the past four years and we're going to have to try it again. We have another year on the JetPack contract, but if the hotspot works we'll let the contract expire and save some money.