Technomadia

We stayed in Fredericksburg for a month late last year (lovely area!). We found that during the week, any of our four cellular carriers worked fine with our roof mounted MIMO antennas. But during the weekends when the crowds exploded, almost all carriers ground to a halt. We were able to get Sprint usable during that time with a directional MIMO antenna to our 8000 hotspot. - Cherie

We have no reports of AT&T taking action for high data use or use of the Mobley plan in hotspot devices or routers.

Thanks for the sweet comment about our Mobile Internet Resource Center! Right on the front page we actually have some brand new videos out on these exact topics - current best data plans, the truth about unlimited data plans and TV & Video streaming. Between those, you should gain a lot of knowledge.

To address the original question as to which is best - hot spotting off a smartphone, or using a Jetpack - here is our guide to the pros & cons of both approaches: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/mifijetpack-usb-modem-or-smartphone-hotspotting/ And for the above mentioned video & guide on MIMO vs Boosters, you'll find that here: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/understanding-and-optimizing-cellular-signal/

Exciting times for sure! We published yesterday our reality check for how Starlink can play a role in an RVer's mobile internet setup - and timeline: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/satellite-internet-update-starlink-is-exciting-but-reality-check-needed-for-rvers-and-cruisers/

In some locations Sprint is fine.. even better than the other carriers if they're saturated. All depends on where you are traveling and how important internet access is to you. For us, they're a back-up option (we're using the Calyx unlimited plan - http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/nonprofit). Our primary are AT&T and Verizon. - Cherie

Unfortunately, it's really hard to suggest 'you should get' - as there really is no singular best option out there. And the options change all the time - a lot of the options folks have been using might not be currently available. We personally use a grandfathered Verizon & AT&T unlimited plans. We test them out regularly in a combination of high end routers (currently the Pepwave MAX Transit), consumer hotspots and WiFiRanger's new Converge line up. We prefer MIMO antennas to boosters for data performance in most places. If you want to see our current personal setup, we have it at: http://www.technomadia.com/internet - we also explain how it comes together. - Cherie

Great setup, and Pepwave remains a top pick option in our extensive testing. The MAX-BR1 has been a long time favorite of ours, and we keep hoping they come up with a refreshed model with a higher end modem soon. We just got in the MAX Transit Duo with dual Cat 12 modems that is now quite reasonably priced at $999 - and we put in a 7-in-1 antenna to go along with it. In active testing now, including load balancing and bonding. - Cherie

The new Party Pay is super cool! Our bill actually dropped down to $5/month as we had 12 months of referral credits stacked up. That said, before considering Visible as a primary internet connection - do know there are some limitations besides the 5 Mbps mobile hotspot speed cap and 1 device limitation (this is not currently reliably enforced): Only includes Verizon's LTE native towers (no roam, no 3G) Higher ping times Lower priority on the network Aside from our coverage of Party Pay linked above (thanks - super appreciate our content being shared) - we also have a full free public review of Visible, including some head to head speed test results against other Verizon based plans: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/visible - Cherie

The Explore is a much more capable device than the Mobley in terms of modem specifications - so in theory should give you equal or better results on an average. In some of our comparative testing of 6 different models of AT&T devices - the Explore often got 3-4x the speeds of the Mobley. But many things an impact the actual speeds. Such as the Explore can connect to different frequency bands than the Mobley, and those bands at your current location may not be performing as well. You also may need to spend some time in the settings of the Explore and make sure you have them set up properly (ie. LTE not 4G, etc.) We do have a full guide to the Explore at: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/att-unite-explore/ Also remember, the Explore gives you the option to use external antennas - which can help with signal enhancing. - Cherie

Also, from the 'see full terms' pop up off the ISP page - https://www.t-mobile.com/ISP (bolded highlights mine):

T-Mobile has been rolling this out since March - however in the terms of service and FAQ (https://www.t-mobile.com/isp/FAQs), it is supposed to be geographically fixed to your activation address: "The T-Mobile Home Internet LTE Wi-Fi Gateway will be geographically locked to your specified home's location so you won't be able to move it from one home to another." So this shouldn't work for mobile RVers who change locations. Please do let us know if your experience is different if you're not stationary. Also, when we initially covered it back in March, they did specify that the plan IS subject to network management. But it's possible they removed that, I'm not seeing it mentioned in the current FAQ. - Cherie

I have not heard anything about the Verizon Prepaid Unlimited Jetpack plan being offered again. In fact, I did a scan just today of their prepaid site in a routine check.

We tested the Winegard ConnecT 2.0 hardware on our all metal bus conversion - and found the signal still quite usable inside. The Togo/ConnecT (same hardware) is a nice simple package - and the plan is one of the best options out there right now. For our overview of it: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/togo

There have been numerous reports of problems with porting numbers into Visible (and even worse, porting your number out later). We're definitely recommending that folks NOT port in a number they want to keep and set this up as a new line of service.

Yes.. the Netgear MIMO antenna is an amazing low cost option to have in your setup - and a long time recommendation of ours. It has T-S9 antenna connectors to work directly with mobile hotspot devices (Jetpacks, etc.). Here's our full review of it: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/netgear-mimo

Thanks for posting our video and Visible review. Up until a couple weeks ago, we were regularly seeing over 5Mbps hotspot speeds - it's only been recently that we're starting to see the throttling. As we stated in the video, we recommend making a choice on the plan assuming the clearly stated limitation and being presently surprised if you don't immediately encounter them. Also, needing to change the APN on your Jetpack means the plan is not intended for use on that device. Just because you were able to make it work does not mean it is supported as per their terms of service. Keep in mind also that the R2 phone, while a great deal, is only a Cat 4 modem and only covers 4 of Verizon's major frequency bands - you will not benefit from carrier aggregation or Verizon's newer bands with that phone. But it is a great way to try out the service with minimum investment. - Cherie

This is the smartphone plan - and if you look carefully, it includes no mobile hotspot use at all. This should not be confused with the Unlimited Prepaid Jetpack plan (ie. 'pUDP' - http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/pudp) that retired on May 21, 2019 - which did not have hard throttling, but was always subject to network management. And for more on understanding the lingo used when describing "unlimited" data plans: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/unlimited

The Togo Roadlink C2 did come out earlier this year, but it's based on the Winegard ConnecT 2.0, which came out a year earlier. And even then, the modem they released it with is rather old. A lot of integrated systems are going with inexpensive Cat 4 modems these days. But the form factor is simple, and the ability to get the $360/year unlimited plan are the benefits. Here's our coverage of the Togo Roadlink, with links to our full review of the hardware it is based upon: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/togo

If anyone would like information on the new product line up - what is released now, and what is coming later - here's our independent news article: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/wifiranger-releases-converge-details-and-pricing-new-outdoor-and-indoor-cellular-enabled-wi-fi-routers/

There actually are some suitable options for all of the carriers presently .. here's our current top data plan picks for RVers: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/planpicks AT&T in particular has some appealing options starting at $30/month (prepaid annually) with the Togo Roadlink C2 roof mounted unit, or there are rental vendor options starting at about $60/month on standard consumer mobile hotspot devices. And if you're keen on T-Mobile, there are cheaper rental options that RVDataSat. The equipment RVDataSat is selling is the Pepwave MAX Mini router with the MobileMark antenna - which are quality products for sure But the modem is pretty old/lower end (that product line is due for a refresh in the coming months) and doesn't support T-Mobile's newest band 71. For price and simplicity - a setup like this is likely overkill, and you can keep it cheaper and better/equally performing with other options. Also, since you have specific locations in mind, check campground reviews for the places you stay for which carriers work best. For more on travel planning around connectivity, here's the article we wrote for the Xscaper's blog: https://xscapers.com/planning-your-rv-travels-around-cellular-coverage/ - Cherie

If your Nighthawk is unlocked from AT&T, it would work on some of Verizon's coverage map. But the device is missing support for Band 13, which is a core long range band that Verizon uses. So it would not be optimal in some locations.

For anyone who'd like to understand the differences between the Jetpack models, we have a quick video at the top of this guide that explains things like modem category, carrier aggregation, frequency band support and internal antennas. And, we have a head to head comparison of potential speeds between all of the recent Verizon models. Guide: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/lte-modems The 8800L is indeed the current flagship that came out last October, and is Cat 18 with internal 4x4 MIMO antennas. It was riddled with reboot and disconnect issues, but the 1S firmware update that was pushed earlier this month seems to make it much more stable than most. If you have the now retired prepaid unlimited plan - definitely purchase 3rd party, not directly from Verizon. If purchasing a new plan, the 8800L is not yet available for purchase directly with prepaid (but some reps are able to sell it that way) - it shouldn't be locked into pre or post paid that way, and you can swap SIMs as desired. - Cherie

If in solid signal areas without congestion, those are fairly expected speeds for the Nighthawk - it's a very high end modem. AT&T has come a long way in the past couple of years in increasing their capacity too.

One of the cool features of the Nighthawk is that it can be connected to mobile routers that support USB cellular tethering and WiFi as WAN (such as the WiFiRanger GoAC or Core, or Pepwave SOHO) AND it also has ethernet out so you can use it with most any residential router too (or on the mobile routers mentioned above in addition to a second cellular USB input).