Looking at AT&T Hotspot

newell · March 2018

Fergie, Thanks your very thorough review. I did end up purchasing the AT&T Hot Spot and as I do the go phone pay as you go plan for my iPhone, I just got 2 additional gigs to get the feel of the hotspot with our two laptops. We will be leaving for a 6 week trip out west in May and I should have the bugs worked out by then. So far at home it seems to be working great and I'm thinking it will be just we need.

Fergie · March 2018

To: newell

Thanks for your thanks! Just looking at the latest report from "Technomadia" and looks like you got it just in time. AT&T just changed their plans effective yesterday. The new options seem rather hard to understand and I expect that you would have to actually talk to an AT&T rep to find out exactly what would work in each specific case as they now seem to have conditions on what connecting devices qualify for the "Unlimited" if you were to sign up today.

One other thing I should mention is that we did use our 3G AT&T "flip phones" while moving on the road. Actually my wife half made almost all our reservations ahead while we were moving on the road, along with other phone calls to the families and friends we were visiting. As I said before, we were on mostly main highways on our trip. We had good moving cell phone connections everywhere with the exception of a few spots in remote Canada and on the ALCON in the mountains. We did all our computer stuff through the "hotspot" while at the campsites.

Have fun planning your trip and keep us all posted once you get going!

Fergie

newell · March 2018

To Fergie,
I've learned the hard way with AT&T that you can deal with them online, go through a retail store that is "licensed" to sell their products such as Walmart or even some of their so called AT&T stores and then there are the "corporate" stores that are actually AT&T employees. Fortunately, I have one of those near me. As our needs change such as needing more or less data or traveling outside the lower 48, I'm hoping they will guide us in the right direction. I'm already thinking I need to confirm that we will have service in Canada.

I've seen on their coverage map that things might get a little spotty once we get west to Texas. Our main concern with the hotspot and the laptops is to keep up with bill paying and life left behind at home and of course this forum. We're hoping most of that can be done at the campground. As you suggested, that will probably be the most reliable service. All the navigation and communication can be done with an iPhone and our GPS.

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. We'll let everyone know how this device works out once we get it out on the road.

dsatwork · March 2018

So we just entered the world of hot spots and went with Verizon because of the coverage. @Verna we don't have a Verizon phone or account until we walked into the Verizon store to sign up for their pay as you go plan. We paid $50 for the hot spot and $60 for 5 GB of data that we have 60 days to use. They do assign a phone number to the account so in theory I have a Verizon phone number now. All we have to do is add something to the account every 60 days, it can be as little as 2GB for $30. We haven't actually had it for 60 days yet. So if it's different I'll correct my info down the road.

Verna · March 2018

Thanks, @dsatwork. I did find the AT&T store employees that I had previously asked about “Off Network” really didn’t know what I was asking about. So now I know the Verizon store down the street doesn’t know all the options either. Oh well, I’m happy with what I’m paying.

Five more ore days until my 400 mb of Off Network data is available again

Marceline · March 2018

dsatwork said:

So we just entered the world of hot spots and went with Verizon because of the coverage. @Verna we don't have a Verizon phone or account until we walked into the Verizon store to sign up for their pay as you go plan. We paid $50 for the hot spot and $60 for 5 GB of data that we have 60 days to use. They do assign a phone number to the account so in theory I have a Verizon phone number now. All we have to do is add something to the account every 60 days, it can be as little as 2GB for $30. We haven't actually had it for 60 days yet. So if it's different I'll correct my info down the road.

What state are you in? I wonder if it makes a difference. Or maybe this is a new option from Verizon. I shopped last summer and Verizon would not offer hotspot unless I had a Verizon phone

Fergie · March 2018

Newell makes a good point regarding AT&T stores. Since they now just ended some old plans and introduced some new ones, it is really important to get your information (and sign-up if you so decide) from a corporate store with actual AT&T employees. We were fortunate to have one near our home and the rep was very knowledgeable and helpful. I had to make a couple of visits to get the billing straightened out for the trip. The rep at the other "licensed" store in our area was clueless about solutions for our "on the road" situation.

Fergie

Verna · March 2018

I love my AT&T store near my house, but I am 2100 miles from there. It’s disheartening that I cannot get a “good” answer from two of the top carriers’ store employees in corporate stores.

dsatwork · March 2018

@Marceline We are in San Diego area if that helps. I will see if I can find anything about the plan that would help force a store to make it available. Not sure why they wouldn't want to offer it?

newell · May 2018

Well we're four weeks into our cross country trip and at present resting comfortably at our youngest son's house in Southern California. The hotspot is working great. It does consume data a little faster that I thought it might but it's easy to add more online and hasn't been a problem. For checking email or searching something online, we use the campground WIFI when available but for banking and personal business it is a comfort to know the hotspot is secure. (I guess). Anyway, we're very glad we invested in the hotspot and would definitely recommend it.

Fergie · May 2018

To Newell:

Glad your hotspot has worked out for you.

Another advantage that we have realized is the portability of the internet connection is a plus no matter what your situation is. When we first arrived in Alaska after our 8 week trip up here we rented a house and set up our iMac (that had arrived with our household goods) and used the hotspot for our laptop, our wireless printer and the desktop with no problems. We just bought a house here and finished moving last weekend. Instead of having to deal with either a dish or cable company, we just took the whole setup with us and had access our first night at the new house! I am using the hotspot as I type this.

At our location the signal strength seems a little weak, but the data speed seems fine. Depending on how this all works out for movies and other data intensive stuff, I might have to invest in a cellular booster, but so far it is working good. When we have traveled to relatives in another area of Alaska a couple of times since we arrived here, we just took our hotspot and our laptop with us and had our own secure connection there.

Keep 'trucking" on your trip, have fun and keep us up to date!

Fergie

newell · May 2018

Fergie, congratulations on the new house. What a thrill moving to such a great place with so many opportunities for adventure. I can see where the hotspot would come in very handy as you're getting set up in your new surroundings.
We also found out how versatile the hotspot can be for everyday things such as setting up a laptop in a cabin or remote location where there is no internet network and a cell phone just won't do. I only intended to keep data on mine while we were traveling but after getting used to it, I will at least keep the minimum current just for situations like that.
We leave Sunday for the trip back home which will include Wyoming, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and then up into Ontario for a trip around the Great Lakes and then back home to New York through Toronto and Niagara Falls. Thanks for the kind words and well wishes for our trip.

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