Questions about mobile Hotspot

[Francis]

Hey I know there was a thread about this in the past, but it hasn't really answered my questions. I know that the USB modem kinda sucks and I was recommended the mobile Hotspot if possible. I contacted Verizon and they told me I could buy a Verizon Jetpack for like 100$ and have a 1 month contract for 10GB for like 90$. Now, I don't know if this is actually true, but since I don't live in the USA, this would be ideal for me.

So I was wondering if anybody knows about this? If it's true that I can just go into the store and buy this? If nobody knows, could someone stop by after work at a Verizon shop and ask as a favor? Lol, I know it's asking a lot, but we are heading out in May to chase for a couple of weeks and we want to stop on our way to the Great Plains in Fargo, ND at a store and pick it up. So this plays a major role in our trip and since I live in Canada, I can't go ask in person myself. I'll try calling again at the store to get a second opinion.

Also, I was wondering if this was a good deal? What do you use/recommend for someone like me that will just want to use this for like a Month?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I contacted Verizon and they told me I could buy a Verizon Jetpack for like 100$ and have a 1 month contract for 10GB for like 90$. Now, I don't know if this is actually true

Verizon isn't lying to you about their own products. Yes, you can do this. It's also not a 1 month contract. You pay up front and you get the data without a contract. There's a cheaper alternative that uses the same carrier (Verizon) and gives you more bandwidth for less money and on a mobile hotspot device:
http://millenicom.com/plans/#hotspot-plan

Yes, you can walk into a Verizon store, buy a hotspot and activate it there, or online, or via phone. No need to check after work, many chasers are already using one of these solutions and are quite satisfied with them.

Other international chasers might have a cheaper, easier solution for you.

 

[Francis]

Thanks Skip Talbot, this reassures me for my trip. Hopefully, everything will work fine and we have a good time chasing out there!!

 

[Todd Rector]

A few words - Make sure the Verizon store you are visiting has whatever unit you are looking at in stock and/or is holding one for you. I recently (like, YESTERDAY) visited a local Verizon store for a warranty equipment replacement of my JetPack MHS291 and I took the last one they had. Second of all, many of the newer units don't have external antenna options, so if you have specific needs (like you know you are going to use an external antenna and are bringing it with you) make sure you have your product selection nailed down and don't make assumptions about the capabilities of whatever they have in stock.

Personally, the MHS291 has worked well for me the past two months in testing (although I broke it - long story) , and although I haven't chased with it yet I am confident it will do a good job. I have a small external antenna and I didn't drop a signal on a 200 mile trip in Iowa today.

Bonus: Even if you are paying $100/month for this unit with a data plan, it will pay for itself on a several-week chase because you can use it in your motel room(s) rather than pay whatever sucky internet access fee the motel wants to tack on

 

[Bob Schafer]

it will pay for itself on a several-week chase because you can use it in your motel room(s) rather than pay whatever sucky internet access fee the motel wants to tack on

I don't mean to be a troll. I really don't, but are you serious? Have you actually paid for motel WiFi in the last 7 years?

edit: Another thing. All you guys should stop spazzing about the need for external antennae and signal boosters. You don't need them any more. Not if you have Verizon and semi-new equipment. I have used neither for several years, I drove 22K miles chasing in 40 days last year, and I never once suffered for lack of data, including on May 31.

 

[John Wetter]

I don't mean to be a troll. I really don't, but are you serious? Have you actually paid for motel WiFi in the last 7 years?

edit: Another thing. All you guys should stop spazzing about the need for external antennae and signal boosters. You don't need them any more. Not if you have Verizon and semi-new equipment. I have used neither for several years, I drove 22K miles chasing in 40 days last year, and I never once suffered for lack of data, including on May 31.

Take it easy there Bob... I found my amp to be quite useful in western Kansas, eastern Colorado and central and western Nebraska last year. Yes, coverage is much better than it used to be, but I've personally still seen great advantage to an external antenna and amp.

I agree that paid wifi at hotels in the plains is gone, but paid wifi in larger cities in better hotels is still the norm unfortunately... And, if you need to upload video at the end of the day to try and market it, your 4G is going to be a lot faster than the hotel wifi in many instances, especially if the hotel is invaded by chasers.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I found my amp to be quite useful in western Kansas, eastern Colorado and central and western Nebraska last year. Yes, coverage is much better than it used to be, but I've personally still seen great advantage to an external antenna and amp.

How do you even know that? You didn't drive 100 miles WITH the amp and antenna, then turn around and drive the same 100 miles WITHOUT them, then compared the difference in the data received, did you? I chased all those places, too, more than once, and had data 99% of the time. Even in SE Colorado.

Besides, the amps don't work with 4G/LTE, right? So then it follows that you don't have 4G equipment? Why would you not, for heaven's sake?

 

[John Wetter]

Hi Bob, actually, I had a card that was plugged in to an amp & antenna and a device that was not. Both devices had similar built-in antenna properties and the same carrier. The device without the amp and antenna was 4G because we wanted the speed, but in several cases, we fell back to using the data card with amp because the device without lost all connectivity. I locked the device with the AMP to 3G because that's all the amp supported. I was also recording the RSSI on both devices and there was a marked difference in them. Have no fear Bob, I've done some homework in this area.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Excellent work, John. I wonder why my testing from a few years back yielded such different results.

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

Is Verizon the go to company for air cards? Does ATT offer less coverage or inferior service?

 

[James Gustina]

Is Verizon the go to company for air cards? Does ATT offer less coverage or inferior service?

ATT has better speed but Verizon has better coverage in the corners of the Plains that are rather devoid of larger cities (SW KS, N TX PH, almost all of NE).

 

[Brett Roberts]

Is Verizon the go to company for air cards? Does ATT offer less coverage or inferior service?

If you're going to invest the money in a data plan just for chasing, Verizon is the only sensible choice right now. As James said, their coverage is significantly better than anyone else when averaged over the entire Plains, and coverage is far more important than blazing 4G speeds for chasing. You might also look into Millenicom, who resell Verizon business service, if you need a higher data cap than Verizon offers on consumer plans.