More on Traveling with a Cell phone for Internet use.

[Janet Wilder]

Having some time to kill, I began to research our two RV trip
itineraries for this summer to see where I will have a data connection
on my Verizon Wireless Jetpack WiFi gizmo.

I am astounded that on the first month-long trip, I will be roaming one
night and, according to VZW's tech guy, I should be able to connect if
the coverage map shows coverage, which it does. The RV park we plan to
stay in has no WiFi.

On the second trip I will have only one night with no WiFi and an
extended network with 3G. There are 3 places in all where I will have
an extended network. There are NO places where I won't have coverage.

Extended network is when Verizon has a contract with another carrier to
cover their customers. There is no charge to me for this "roaming"

Trip one is from home to the West coast and back. Trip two is from home
to MA and back.

I recently looked at a review for a campground we are planning to stay
at and one reviewer said they had no bars on Sprint while another
reviewer who stayed there around the same time had 4G service on Verizon.

Many RVers are fond of touting Verizon as having the best coverage when
venturing off the Interstate highway system. I have always done well
with Verizon, having service when others with other providers did not,
but now I have actual proof based on the reviews of other RVers and the
coverage maps that it's really true. During the summer of 2011 we stayed
at Best Friends in Utah where other reviewers said there wasn't a single
bar of coverage, but I had great coverage with data on VZW.

BTW, I do reviews for http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ and I try to
remember to put a notation as to the coverage for VZW in my reviews.
These days it's important to a lot of RVers.

Just passing a little information along to my fellow RVers. Of course,
YMMV.
--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

[Lone Haranguer]

So far the only spot where my Verizon 3G broadband did not work
was at Ute Lake State Park at Logan NM. The coverage map shows it
just on the edge. Fortunately the Park HQ has a wifi.

Recently I upgraded to 4G service.

LZ

[D-R]

You guys lead a charmed life... when we are on the road we always
seem to have Verizon coverage BUT even though the maps show good
coverage 2 of our houses have such poor signal that sometimes it drops
to 1x and sometimes it can't connect. And Verizon wants to trouble
shoot our phones to find out why the signal is bad.... all they have to
do is call their local store and ask.... don't believe those maps!

--

AJ - up in the Arizona mountains

[Lone Haranguer]

Trust but verify when it comes to cell phone peddlers.

LZ

[Hunter Hampton]

On 4/30/2013 1:46 PM, D-R wrote:
>
> You guys lead a charmed life... when we are on the road we always
> seem to have Verizon coverage BUT even though the maps show good
> coverage 2 of our houses have such poor signal that sometimes it drops
> to 1x and sometimes it can't connect. And Verizon wants to trouble
> shoot our phones to find out why the signal is bad.... all they have to
> do is call their local store and ask.... don't believe those maps!

How old are your phones? The newer the phone, the better signal I get.
In the olden days I had to connect to my Wilson antenna.... now a days
the smart phones get amazing reception without even a stick up antenna...

Hunter

[D-R]

The cell is almost 2 years old and the air card is older.. a 760
but I just put it on pause 'cause here in PV I just got DSL. 20 megs
is nice.. The cell is 4G , got it the last day of unlimited data but
here in PV it is always switching and that eats the battery. I am sorta
curious what the future of access to the internet is.. gonna be
interesting as everything and everyone is there. And to think that
years ago I got one of the first IP addresses my company gave out...
DARPANET and teletype mode terminals.

[Mike Hendrix at dot]

-----------------------------
Janet, one word of caution when using the Jet Pack.

Turn the thing off with the switch on the jet pack when you are not
using it. Do not just unplug it because it will run on the internal
battery, shut if off with the switch.

I can not explain what the thing does just sitting there by itself but
it plays with itself or something ...... it used data.

Yep, with all your computers OFF and just the jet pack on the jet pack
will use data and a lot of it.

Back when I was tethered to a Verizon cell phone I was using 4-gig at
the most every month. When I went to the jet pack I went to 10, and
12-gigs per-month. Then I started shutting the jet pack down at
night and got it down to 6-gigs. Now I am working on my rememberer to
try and shut the jet pack OFF every time I walk away from the
computer.

I suspect that I will be in the 4 to 5-gig range this month since I am
being more diligent in turning the jet pack off when not in actual
use.

Don't ask me to explain it ........ I am just relating my experience.

mike
--

Pensacola, FL
http://www.travellogs.us/

[nothermark]

I believe the software protocols are to keep connected to look for
incoming calls. That would require traffic back and forth between the
unit and any cell towers available on a regular basis. Rather than
sit on line the optimum is probably to use an off line reader that
downloads everything then lets one reply and store then does a bulk
upload on command. That allow one to shut down between exchanges. If
one confines on line time to short periods it is probably not worth it
but heavy users may see a difference. OTOH it sort of defeats some
things that require a constant connection like some of the mapping
programs...

[ozm...@gmail.com]

Probably

I remember waaay back, with my first cell phone, when I left the area, someone could still call me, and I wondered.....

" How do they KNOW where I am? "

DUH

As with most tech, simple explanation (how do you stand an egg on end?)

[rvfulltime]

We have some local friends that we occasionally travel together in our RVs.
About a year and a half ago they changes phones and providers. They went with
an Apple Iphone using Verizon after years with someone else. In early April we
went to Organ Pipe Cactus NM. There was VZW coverage at the campground. They
turned on their WiFi hotspot feature on their Iphone and gave us the password
and we were able to use our laptop to download our email and other stuff. Then
last week the same thing happened at Zion NP. They said it cost's them an
additional $20/month for the months they use the hotspot feature and they get an
additional 2GB of data.

[nothermark]

Because your cell phone was constantly talking to the local towers on
the control channels. One of the last things I worked on at Harris
was a demo cell phone. One of the biggest laughs I get is all the
folks who were going to get rich supplying the phones.

[bill horne]

Mike Hendrix wrote:

> Janet, one word of caution when using the Jet Pack.
>
> Turn the thing off with the switch on the jet pack when you are not
> using it. Do not just unplug it because it will run on the internal
> battery, shut if off with the switch.
>
> I can not explain what the thing does just sitting there by itself but
> it plays with itself or something ...... it used data.
>
> Yep, with all your computers OFF and just the jet pack on the jet pack
> will use data and a lot of it.
>
> Back when I was tethered to a Verizon cell phone I was using 4-gig at
> the most every month. When I went to the jet pack I went to 10, and
> 12-gigs per-month. Then I started shutting the jet pack down at
> night and got it down to 6-gigs. Now I am working on my rememberer to
> try and shut the jet pack OFF every time I walk away from the
> computer.
>
> I suspect that I will be in the 4 to 5-gig range this month since I am
> being more diligent in turning the jet pack off when not in actual
> use.
>
> Don't ask me to explain it ........ I am just relating my experience.

You have been warned on numerous occasions by various right-wing
experts that these evil devices of Satan would eventually start
thinking for themselves. And you ain't seen nothin' yet - just wait
until it learns to bypass the switch and tap power from the magnetic
field.

--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.

[Dapper Dave]

>rvfulltime <rvfulltim...@isp.nospaam.com> wrote:

>We have some local friends that we occasionally travel together in our RVs.
>About a year and a half ago they changes phones and providers. They went with
>an Apple Iphone using Verizon after years with someone else. In early April we
>went to Organ Pipe Cactus NM. There was VZW coverage at the campground. They
>turned on their WiFi hotspot feature on their Iphone and gave us the password
>and we were able to use our laptop to download our email and other stuff. Then
>last week the same thing happened at Zion NP. They said it cost's them an
>additional $20/month for the months they use the hotspot feature and they get an
>additional 2GB of data.

In addition, that $20/month is prorated on a daily basis. We have friends who
turns theirs off and on as needed, so it just costs them $0.67 on the days they
use it.

--
DD

[bill horne]

I don't think you're a real person. I think you're a poorly written
artificial intelligence program with an internet connection.

[nothermark]

On Wed, 01 May 2013 13:47:06 -0400, bill horne <red...@rye.net>
wrote:

What is your problem?

[MaxD]

Early onset Alzheimer's

[MaxD]

Me too.

[K Miller]

MaxD wrote:
>
> Early onset Alzheimer's

Just remember - snip, Max, snip....

[MaxD]

On 5/1/2013 4:49 PM, K Miller wrote:

> Just remember - snip, Max, snip....

Damn! I wish someone had told me that when I was about 16.

[ozm...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 5:49:17 PM UTC-5, K Miller wrote:

> Just remember - snip, Max, snip....

Second semester at Rabbinical College..........

[Janet Wilder]

Mike,

For two months I was trying out the Jetpack as a whole house WiFi
system. I did not shut it off. My data use never exceeded 4GB a month.
Could yours have had a problem?

I do turn it off when not using it when we are on the road.

[Janet Wilder]

Jetpack is not a phone. It's a WiFi hotspot. It doesn't make or take calls.

[gregz]

The electronics might be better, but in general, the internal antennas used
to help prevent too much concentrated rf near the head, are not as good.
The extendable
Antennas were better. They older phones had antenna jacks, which I never
used, but added coax was not a good thing.

Greg

[Hunter Hampton]

On 5/1/2013 7:17 PM, gregz wrote:
> The electronics might be better, but in general, the internal antennas used
> to help prevent too much concentrated rf near the head, are not as good.
> The extendable
> Antennas were better. They older phones had antenna jacks, which I never
> used, but added coax was not a good thing.
>
> Greg

I always use mine on speaker, never next to my head.... I have a
bluetooth speaker in the truck...

I used a Wilson antenna with my old phone, now I use the antenna to hold
the PVC my super duper wifi antenna is attached to.

Hunter

[Mike Hendrix at dot]

On Wed, 01 May 2013 21:09:43 -0500, Janet Wilder

Janet, you may be 100% correct. What I will tell you is that if the
jet pack is left ON your bill will show data usage......just because
the damn thing is ON. Your computer can remain OFF.

I can not explain how or why but that jet pack will put data usage
gigs on your bill if you do not shut it off. I can attest to that.

[bill horne]

Since it's a wifi hotspot, is someone else maybe using it?

[nothermark]

On Wed, 01 May 2013 21:09:43 -0500, Janet Wilder

As far as the tower system is concerned it is a phone. It takes and
makes digital data calls the same as your phone does. It does not do
voice calls though it may have the same internals but no microphone.
The basic design of the cellular system is for short to very short
range links shifting between towers as the user moves. The way it
does that is to do a data exchange every so often with the phone. If
it not moving it may reduce the number of exchanges but not the
frequency of checking.

[Will Sill]

On 5/1/13 1:47 PM, bill horne wrote concerning more output from nothermark:

> I don't think you're a real person. I think you're a poorly written
> artificial intelligence program with an internet connection.

Artificial what?

Will

[Janet Wilder]

On 5/2/2013 12:57 AM, Mike Hendrix wrote:

> Janet, you may be 100% correct. What I will tell you is that if the
> jet pack is left ON your bill will show data usage......just because
> the damn thing is ON. Your computer can remain OFF.
>
> I can not explain how or why but that jet pack will put data usage
> gigs on your bill if you do not shut it off. I can attest to that.
>

Mike, I did not have that experience when I was trying the Jet Pack as
whole house WiFi. My gizmo had something in it that made it go
"dormant" when data was not being transferred. Even though it was on and
the computer was on, I was not racking up data use. The dormancy
feature was what made me go back to my previous ISP. If I took longer to
read a web page than the Jet Pack thought I needed, it went dormant.

We got ours in September, so maybe the technology has changed?

[bill horne]

Good point.

[Lone Haranguer]

When I turned mine on it started registering data even before I
ever got connected to the internet.

My G3 broadband was still running and the MiFi1150L wouldn't
connect to the internet until the G3 broadband service was turned
off by Verizon.

I had the G3 plugged into a cheap router and it required zero
attention from day-to-day. I'm somewhat peeved that the MiFi
requires me to turn it off every time I leave my laptop.

I DO have better speeds but it's a step backwards for convenience.

LZ