edatlanta

On 1/28/2019 at 8:36 AM, edatlanta said:

My postpaid 8800L was auto renewed last night.  If there was any interruption in service I didn't know it.  It was working normally when I went to bed and was working normally this morning.  I did check the online site and it has auto renewed.  All is good ..... for now.

 

I just checked my credit card that this service is billed on and they processed the monthly payment at 11:10pm on the last day.

On 1/15/2019 at 6:19 AM, edatlanta said:

I have my second auto renewal coming up at the end of the month so we shall see.  I didn't notice any interruption on my first one last month.  I was a little concerned of interruption on the first one, but was surprised.  Maybe it will be third time is the charm?

My postpaid 8800L was auto renewed last night.  If there was any interruption in service I didn't know it.  It was working normally when I went to bed and was working normally this morning.  I did check the online site and it has auto renewed.  All is good ..... for now.

13 hours ago, docj said:

That's very similar to the behavior I observed.

I have my second auto renewal coming up at the end of the month so we shall see.  I didn't notice any interruption on my first one last month.  I was a little concerned of interruption on the first one, but was surprised.  Maybe it will be third time is the charm?

13 hours ago, docj said:

Please don't say that!   It's out of warranty and I don't want to pay $200 for a new 8800! 😪

I have 2 7730's post pay and 1 8800L prepay and the oldest 7730 quit picking up a good signal.  1-2 bars vs 4-5 (-114 eBm vs -80 dBm).  This happened for the first time a couple of weeks ago and a reset fixed it.  Yesterday it happened again and a reset did nothing so I contacted Verizon via chat. 

The agent did some checking on their end and had me reboot the 7730L a couple of times and called it bad.  She asked if it was damaged at all and I said no it was pristine and it is.  She offered a new 7730L for $150.00 vs the normal price since it was out of warranty.  I asked about getting the 8800L for the same price and it took a few minutes, but it was approved and it is in the mail now.  I have the 8800L on a prepay account and absolutely love it.  It seems more robust then the 7730's that I have.  Both of my 7730's have static IP's which will transfer to the replacement 8800L.

There does seem to be some negotiation for a better deal for replacements, but I had to push a little.  When you live and die with wireless internet you can't have too many jetpacks I guess.  

On 12/6/2018 at 8:50 AM, docj said:

Our largest TV is a 43".  On that the 720p picture is just fine IMHO.

That is the same size as my largest set and it looks great to me.

I have had my new unlimited plan with the 8800L jetpack for 2 weeks now and have used 67gb with no apparent slow down even this time of evening.  Time will tell.  I'm hitting it hard this first month to see if they are serious.

20 hours ago, docj said:

My WiFiRanger keeps track of usage by each device on my network.

I have multiple jetpacks with each performing a different function(s) and one of the 7730's is running a program that requires six specific opened ports and a static IP.  I only have 1 of the 7730's running  my router, but I am going to add the router to the new 8800L probably sometime today.  So far I'm amazed at the difference in the speed of the 8800L vs the 7730's even though they are rated virtually the same.  More will become obvious as I have had it longer I'm sure.

On 11/27/2018 at 8:11 AM, docj said:

That is what we have.  I can check both accounts online.

I took the plunge and ordered another Jetpack and plan on keeping my existing 2 7730's and see how the new one does before I give up one.  Neither is on contract so I can drop one of them easily.  I did decide to get the unlimited/prepaid with their new 8800L and wow what a difference in d/l and u/l speed.  I know this isn't a scientific test, but with the two 7730's sitting right by the 8800 the d/l speed of the 8800 is 40-50% faster and has been every time I tested them.  

Now time will tell how it all goes.  I did watch a couple of movies last night with the new 8800L and zero buffering.  We will see over coming days.  I plan to work it hard initially.

How are you able to monitor the usage of your new prepaid unit?  It doesn't show up on the verizon app that I have I guess since the new one is on another account.  I know I can look at the 8800 when I sign on to it at 192.168.1.1, but that only shows zero usage with a 10gig plan.  I'm not sure that that means, but zero usage obviously won't ever get to any upper limit.

13 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Would one of the dynamic IP services work for your application?

https://dyn.com/dynamic-dns/

https://www.noip.com/remote-access

Don't know at this point.  I will definitely take a look.  Thanks.

On 11/24/2018 at 8:57 AM, edatlanta said:

I have 1 smartphone and 2 7730L jetpacks.  My smartphone has a unlimited data, but 15gb limit as a hotspot.  My 2 jetpacks have the 15gb limit also, but I pay $20.00 each/month for them. 

I am interested in the prepaid jetpack program, but for two concerns:

1.  Both of my Jetpacks have static IP's which I need and wonder if prepaid will allow this and if the static IP's will migrate to the new plan.  I have already paid for the static IP's on these two devices and don't want to have to do it again.  If you walk into a Verizon store and even utter the words "static IP's" they look at you like you have 2 heads.

 

2.  The cost.  I don't see from the info at Verizon.com anyway other than each prepaid plan will cost me an additional $45.00/month - $65.00-$20.00.  Would it be worth it to me to have a jetpack with unlimited data when I have unlimited data on my smartphone that I connect to my TV (Samsung Smart View) and can and do stream a lot?

I went to a corporate Verizon store yesterday and got an answer to my questions.

The static IP will have to go away with the prepaid plan.  Since I can't live with that my options for the current prepaid jetpack plan is off the table.  They did say that if the IP issue wasn't an issue I would have to have a separate account for the prepaid jetpack.  It can't be on the same account as an unlimited postpaid smartphone.

5 hours ago, docj said:

If you move one Jetpack to the new plan and cancel the other, you would decrease your costs by $40 which would offset much of the $65 cost of the new plan ($5 discount for automatic payment).  

As for using the smartphone to connect to the TV, I don't know how you do it, but my experience with Miracasting (Samsung Smart View) was never all that satisfactory with my particular phone (S7) and our Samsung TV.  Neither of our phones has an HDMI output port so that approach doesn't work for us; maybe you have a port which would be a very different situation.

So far, our use of the new plan continues to provide excellent results.  We've used ~28GB in two weeks on it.  I'm pretty convinced that the streaming is limited to 720p so the data usage is less than I might have anticipated.  

Joel

My phone is a Note 8 and the Smart View works great and is wireless to the new TV.  I replaced my 8 year old non-smart TV a couple of months ago and used a bit over 32gb on the smart phone last month and I didn't notice any issues either, but I am in a rural area.

I still don't know about the static IP which I absolutely have to have for one particular hardware/software package.  If the static IP can go along with the new prepaid plan I may try one of the jetpacks and see how it all goes.  Fortunately both jetpacks are off contract.

I have 1 smartphone and 2 7730L jetpacks.  My smartphone has a unlimited data, but 15gb limit as a hotspot.  My 2 jetpacks have the 15gb limit also, but I pay $20.00 each/month for them. 

I am interested in the prepaid jetpack program, but for two concerns:

1.  Both of my Jetpacks have static IP's which I need and wonder if prepaid will allow this and if the static IP's will migrate to the new plan.  I have already paid for the static IP's on these two devices and don't want to have to do it again.  If you walk into a Verizon store and even utter the words "static IP's" they look at you like you have 2 heads.

2.  The cost.  I don't see from the info at Verizon.com anyway other than each prepaid plan will cost me an additional $45.00/month - $65.00-$20.00.  Would it be worth it to me to have a jetpack with unlimited data when I have unlimited data on my smartphone that I connect to my TV (Samsung Smart View) and can and do stream a lot?

On 3/21/2018 at 6:21 PM, docj said:

We've had DirecTV DNS for >7 years and have never been asked to recertify our eligibility.  We get local channels at our "home base" in south TX.  Some people claim that if you have DNS you're not supposed to get local channels, but we've always had ours and we have changed the service address a couple of times over the 7 years.  However, in recent years we've left the address set for our home base even when we were traveling because I was always nervous that someone would try to shut down our locals.  However, I can't advise you with respect any changes to the DirecTV TOS.

X2.  I have had DNS and my home base locals since 2010.  I NEVER change my service address and get local news and weather via the internet.  I don't want to tease the DirecTV Gorilla.

7 hours ago, TheLongWayHome said:

 

Ed,

Thanks for you input. Will try to use a screwdriver antenna on HF. Ground planes are always a challenge on fiberglass RVs.

Are there any other HAMs out there? I thought Escapees had a HAM BOF, but it does not appear to be very active. Worth joining?

Gerry

I monitor Reflector 30C on DStar and on C4FM FCS2 Room 90 or FCS2 Room 1.

If I'm not on one of these I'm napping - Retired You Know!

I full time and am a ham (General) also.  I use the digital modes and have zero interest in HF due not only to antenna limitations in the RF, but poor propagation right now.  If I live long enough for the cycle to change I may revisit HF, but not for now.

I work DStar, DMR (limited), and C4FM.  My equipment is:

2 DStar hot spots (battery or 120v capable) on raspberry pi"s, 2 ICOM ID51A+

1 TYT MD380

1 Yaesu FT1DR

1 Verizon Jetpack

1 RAV power supply

1 Open Spot

I pretty well have the digital modes covered but spend most of my time on DStar or C4FM.  I'm not a big fan of DMR.

Ed

KM4STL, 3101156

My original Rhinoflex hose lasted 6 years and would have gone longer, but it got stepped on and partially flattened. I'm sure I didn't do it, but I have no idea who or how. I just replaced the hose section and continued using the original ends. I full time and my hose is outside 24/7/365 and 4-5 months of each year it is on southern exposure on the Florida Gulf Coast in the sun. My experience is that this hose if very durable and long lasting. I have had a problem with the Rhinoflex clear 45 degree swivel fitting like a previous post. Mine was leaking between the clear plastic and the colored plastic end. I just bought a new one and no more issues.

It depends upon your needs and preferences. I have used the pumps like those you listed for my entire RV experience of more than 30 years. Because I was not real happy with the performance, I added an accumulator which takes out the pressure surging from the basic pumps and lowers the pump run time so that pumps tend to last longer. It also helps to lessen the noise from the typical pump.

X2 on the accumulator