pay-as-you-go wifi

Before we start the 2012 camping season I'd like to get a pay-as-you-go
wifi connection to use when a CG has no connection or the connection it
offers is poor.
I know there are several companies that offer this type of plan but thought
I'd ask if anyone has anyexperience (good or bad) with Virgin Mobile, T-mobile,
Sprint or Verizon.
We have cable at our home and only need this type of service as a back-up.
Thanks for any suggestions.

I got the Verizon 4510L MiFi device last summer from the 3G Store for that very purpose. Our seasonal campground has free public WiFi, but if the park is full, it can be virtually impossible to get on it. Since our cell phones are already Verizon (and we get a discount), adding it to the account was almost automatic. And with the Verizon, you can discontinue service for up to 3 months at a time without having to pay for it.

I had a little difficulty getting it to make the connection at the campground, at first, but once it figured it out, it's been problem free. We're surrounded by trees at our site, but it doesn't seem to bother it. We recently took it with us to Myrtle Beach (no trailer) and used it instead of the resorts WiFi. I've even used it at home a couple of times when the cable system was acting up (like yesterday).

We've got the 5GB data plan and have not run over, even with both of us online at the same time. We typically spend two weeks at a time at the CG, too. And you can set up the account to email you warnings when you get to pre-set usage levels, just in case.

I use my AT&T iPhone 4 personal hotspot with great success both at home and on the road.

Like JohnDar - we also got the MiFi from Verizon. We have used the usb aircard for a number of years but really like the ability to have the 4G when traveling when available. Even when you can't get 4G, the system on 3G is still faster than the ATT dial-up. It cost around 40or50/month (can't remember) for the standard plan which so far we haven't gone over it. We do not have cable at the house (have DirecTv) so being able to have internet anytime, anywhere is great.

Cable internet just went out again, so I just powered up the MiFi and voila!

Thank you all for the information. It sounds like you have monthly contract service from
your phone providers. I need a "no contract" plan. One that I pay for only when I need
to use the wifi. I understand that this way the mifi / usb gadget will cost more up-front
but I don't want to be paying monthly when I will only be using it during the RVing months.
Our monthly cell phone service is provided by our employer and a TracFone so there is no
plan to add the internet connection to. I may be able to addd it to my son's Verizon plan
and pay him for the monthly added cost, but I really don't want to pay when not on-the-road.
John - does the 3G store have their own service?
Nabo - wish we had talked about this when we were in SC together. That's when I decided
we needed our own connection.
I appreciate all the help. Thanks again.

I have the Verizon USB WiFi, I bought it at Best Buy, but opted NOT to have a contract. I pay $50 for 1 month/1Gb WHEN I NEED IT online with a credit card. The Verizon service lets you on to add new time to the account, or you can do it over the phone. I have found that 1GB a month is more than enough for me.

We've been using a VirginMobile MiFi with a pay as you go plan. The upside is that it provides unlimited data for $40/month (although I think new users may pay more and may get less). The downsides are 1) speed is relatively poor - generally no more than 250Kb/sec and sometimes worse, 2) it uses the Sprint network but there is no roaming support so there are large areas of the country where there is no service. You need to check their coverage map to see if they cover areas where you travel.

We'll probably spend 5-6 months RV'ing per year and recently signed up with Verizon/4510 MiFi to get better speed and coverage.

The AT & T Hot Spot is a pay per month. We use ours while traveling and it allows my wife to surf the internet while I drive. At home we cancel it. It works for us.
Ted

I use Virgin Broadband2Go. Start and stop on a monthly basis, with no reconnect fees when restarting the service.

I have been pleased with the download limits and so far, while travelling in the Pacific Northwest, have not had any coverage or speed problems. As noted in a previous post, the Virgin site does include a coverage map.

does anyone use a smart phone as a "mobile hotspot" connection instead of a mifi?
I just found that Verizon offers phones with this option. I might consider this instead
of having a phone AND a mifi.

Jim & Harriet said:

does anyone use a smart phone as a "mobile hotspot" connection instead of a mifi?
I just found that Verizon offers phones with this option. I might consider this instead
of having a phone AND a mifi.

Click to expand...

I think you'll find that the data plans on the phones are 2GB after which you pay extra per GB vs 5GB on the MiFi.

Also, if you take your phone on a walk or out to the store, there's no internet back at the ranch.

They are going to get you one way or another so you really just have to pick which is the easiest to swallow so to speak.
I'm like JohnDar and went with the Verizon 4510L MiFi. You pay $50/month for 5GB and you can turn off service for 3 months at a time if you want. So you only have to pay once every 4 months if you are not using it, so 3 times a year. Bonus if the month you pay falls during your camping season so you don't turn it back on for 2 consecutive months if you're not using it.

This bandwidth is only used by that MiFi. I entertained the thought of using my iPhone as a hotspot but they charge you an extra $20/month on top of your current plan just to be able to use it plus it shares that data with your everyday phone activities. They are just hoping you go over your allotted minutes.
We have 4 iPhones on ATT but I decided to go with Verizon for the MiFi and love it. It can have it's own account with Verizon because the MiFi is basically treated like a cell phone with only a data plan, it has it's own phone number. Has to have one for the SIM card.

I jumped on Verizon and picked the lowest talk plan at 450 minutes/month, lowest texting plan at 250 texts/month and the cheapest data plan with hotspot which was 4GB and the monthly cost is $95/month before all the other fees. So if you do not need another phone, I personally wouldn't go this route. $150/year minimum for MiFi or $1,140 minimum for phone w/ MiFi.

I do know on Verizon that your data plan is 50 bucks for 5 GB, so 10/1GB it is also $10/1GB if you go over so it's not like you're getting corn holed for going over your data.

I am also trying to research all of these options. Another thing to watch out for with AT & T is if you have the unlimited data plan grandfathered into your iphone contract, they will make you change your data plan, thereby losing your unlimited data.

thanks everyone for all your help.
I have been looking at the Verizon mifi and thinking that I my just buy it outright and not
have a contract. The gadget is about $240 and would be $20/month for 2 years. I could
then just buy the "online time" as I needed it and not have to pay $50/month for nine
months of the year even if I did not need it. Also - I have been told that there is a re-connect
fee at the end of the three month non-usie time. Have any of you been charged that fee?

Are any of you using the Verizon mifi without a contract?

Thanks again...

Bought mine under contract and only paid $50 for the device, I forget what kind of deal was going plus I own a business and haggled with the business rep at the store a little. I personally haven't turned mine off just because I end up using it at least 1-2 times each month for some reason or another being going out of town or unexpected outage at home.

Funntheson is correct that if you are still in the unlimited plan with ATT and decide to enable the hotspot feature they will remove you from unlimited and place you on a tiered plan + the cost of the ability to use the hotspot feature, which also means you can not change back to unlimited again. Once you're out, you're out.

If one was so clever as to cough cough, jailbreak their iPhone you can then enable the tethering feature without paying the additional fee. Just be smart with it and don't go streaming netflix movies for hours on end and give them a reason to go looking why you suddenly are using 5x times your normal bandwidth/month. I did this on my stepsons phone and he has been using it since the iPhone 3G first came out to tether to his laptop on vacations. I also had this myself but since I have the MiFi now and develop on the iPhone, I am always updating my phone which breaks the jailbreak so I'm all stock now besides running beta iOS on the phone.

wdk450 said:

I have the Verizon USB WiFi, I bought it at Best Buy, but opted NOT to have a contract. I pay $50 for 1 month/1Gb WHEN I NEED IT online with a credit card. The Verizon service lets you on to add new time to the account, or you can do it over the phone. I have found that 1GB a month is more than enough for me.

Click to expand...

I have this as well but I've paid by the day.

Jim & Harriet said:

thanks everyone for all your help.
I have been looking at the Verizon mifi and thinking that I my just buy it outright and not
have a contract. The gadget is about $240 and would be $20/month for 2 years. I could
then just buy the "online time" as I needed it and not have to pay $50/month for nine
months of the year even if I did not need it. Also - I have been told that there is a re-connect
fee at the end of the three month non-usie time. Have any of you been charged that fee?

Are any of you using the Verizon mifi without a contract?

Thanks again...

Click to expand...

If you look up my previous posting on this thread, I have what you are proposing. As I remember, I paid $149 at Best Buy for the USB device. They also had prepay cards in stock that you could use for service credit. I pay $50 for 1 month or 1 Gb whichever comes first. I only activate it now when RVing, but my home service is almost that much. The big problem with leaving my home service is my established e-mail address thru their service.

tomorrow I'm heading to the Verizon store and Best Buy to see what their options are.
thanks for all your suggestions...

wdk450 said:

If you look up my previous posting on this thread, I have what you are proposing. As I remember, I paid $149 at Best Buy for the USB device. They also had prepay cards in stock that you could use for service credit. I pay $50 for 1 month or 1 Gb whichever comes first. I only activate it now when RVing, but my home service is almost that much. The big problem with leaving my home service is my established e-mail address thru their service.

Click to expand...

Not sure what your service restrictions are, Bill, but with the Verizon MiFi, I still use Comcast (our home service) as my home page and get my e-mails there.