wifi solutions

[Second Chance]

So if you already have the prepaid unlimited plan you can keep it? They just aren't allowing new plans? Just to clarify...

John

Yes, John - we'll be grandfathered in (confirmed by Technomadia via Verizon).

Rob

[zenasboy]

We just signed up for the prepaid verizon yesterday and got it going last night. Seems to work well; we streamed some netflix on 2 tvs at home last night and did a good job.

[John612]

You guys must be having better luck than these folks, several reviews like this one don't look too great.

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆1 out of 5.
DO NOT BUY MIFI 8800L·1 day ago
DO NOT BUY
DO NOT BUY!!! Constantly restarts randomly every 2 to 5 minutes. I had the device and then battery replaced and it's still doing it. Everytime I talk to customer service, they make me run through the same troubleshooting everytime. No working solution has been provided. It also starts roaming randomNo working solution has been provided. It also starts roaming randomly even with a solid signal (>-76 dbm) and I can't use it for half a day if at all. So now I'm stuck in a 2 year contract with a device that doesn't work and I don't even get reliable internet out of it. This is my main source for at home wifi, and it doesn't even work! Also, even with the unlimited plans it's still a rip off. Again, DO NOT BUY! I wish I had read the reviews before I made the purchase in store. Don't make the same mistake that everyone else and myself made. Get an older model or something else entirely

[Second Chance]

You guys must be having better luck than these folks, several reviews like this one don't look too great.

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆1 out of 5.
DO NOT BUY MIFI 8800L·1 day ago
DO NOT BUY
DO NOT BUY!!! Constantly restarts randomly every 2 to 5 minutes. I had the device and then battery replaced and it's still doing it. Everytime I talk to customer service, they make me run through the same troubleshooting everytime. No working solution has been provided. It also starts roaming randomNo working solution has been provided. It also starts roaming randomly even with a solid signal (>-76 dbm) and I can't use it for half a day if at all. So now I'm stuck in a 2 year contract with a device that doesn't work and I don't even get reliable internet out of it. This is my main source for at home wifi, and it doesn't even work! Also, even with the unlimited plans it's still a rip off. Again, DO NOT BUY! I wish I had read the reviews before I made the purchase in store. Don't make the same mistake that everyone else and myself made. Get an older model or something else entirely

We've had the 8800L on the prepaid unlimited plan since last November - completely opposite experience and it has worked very well for us.

Rob

[John612]

Thanks Rob, good to hear, I've been looking at them.

[Scousers]

We have the 8800L and it works fine, connects to a weboost antenna, typically get download speeds of 20 Mbps.

Len

[boyscout]

You guys must be having better luck than these folks, several reviews like this one don't look too great.

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆1 out of 5.
DO NOT BUY MIFI 8800L·1 day ago
DO NOT BUY
DO NOT BUY!!! Constantly restarts randomly every 2 to 5 minutes. I had the device and then battery replaced and it's still doing it. Everytime I talk to customer service, they make me run through the same troubleshooting everytime. No working solution has been provided. It also starts roaming randomNo working solution has been provided. It also starts roaming randomly even with a solid signal (>-76 dbm) and I can't use it for half a day if at all. So now I'm stuck in a 2 year contract with a device that doesn't work and I don't even get reliable internet out of it. This is my main source for at home wifi, and it doesn't even work! Also, even with the unlimited plans it's still a rip off. Again, DO NOT BUY! I wish I had read the reviews before I made the purchase in store. Don't make the same mistake that everyone else and myself made. Get an older model or something else entirely

I had a lot of trouble with the 8800L I first purchased, got service almost nowhere but got good service in a couple of locations, spent HOURS on the phone with Verizon tech support following their scripted "remedies" which was quite useless.

After just under a month I took it back (to a store in a different city) and told them to make it work or refund my money. They gave me a new device and it worked very well from then on.

Maybe there's a quality issue in some of the devices?

[donself1]

Boyscout,

As a consultant still running our business (as wife and I love to spend time in the national and state parks and sometimes just BLM land), I have to say you are my new hero. I've got a Nighthawk LTE Mobile hotspot AT&T router with unlimited (grandfathered plan) and a rooftop Wineguard Connect (also on ATT - but not overly impressed with the Wineguard so far). That helps but I do not have the reception you have, but so dearly want to. I'm even thinking of getting a Verizon plan and hotspot device so that when I can't get on with ATT, we'll turn to Verizon. My income depends many times on being able to have Zoom conferences with clients or actually teaching live webinars to multiple folks while we're on the road (which is 6 months a year or more), so I'm willing to do whatever it takes. This means I'm making notes on your Nanostation antenna and I do not mind spending $200 a month for connection if it truly helps me stay connected since my income and freedom to travel is worth more. Thank you and you are welcome to email me at [email protected] with any additional advice (any advice is greatly appreciated). I avoid wifi spots in rv parks and using other people's log in info because of HIPAA and the fact I am kinda paranoid about hackers. Thanks again,


Don Self
2018 Momentum 376TH

Staying connected is not optional for us. In rough order of importance and usefulness we have the following:

Verizon MiFi 8800L hotspot device with a *PREPAID UNLIMITED* data plan. (We had a lot of difficulty at the beginning finding cell service with this device, but it was eventually replaced with a new one that works very well.)

Unlimited data on our T-Mobile cell phones and an iPad

A WeBoost RV cell phone amplifier to boost weak signals - outside antenna permanently mounted on the ladder

A WeBoost Connect 4G cell phone amplifier to boost very weak signals - outside antenna has to be mounted on temporary mast at least 25 feet above the trailer to avoid cross-talk with the inside antenna, and is directional so needs minutes of fussing to set up, but it works well when the above device just can't pull out a signal.

A good wi-fi router to securely supply wi-fi to your user devices; never connect directly to free wi-fi. (Our router is over-kill but don't go cheap, get a good one from Asus or Netgear.)

A Ubiquiti Nanostation M (http://www.ui.com/airmax/nanostationm/), a point-to-point panel antenna that is inexpensive and *very* effective at finding and keeping wi-fi signals for the aforementioned router's internet connection. We've often used the antenna just propped up at a window inside the trailer, but sometimes had to put it up on the aforementioned 30' mast at the back of the trailer and carefully pointed towards the source. Where wifi exists in a miles-wide radius the Nanostation will find it and maintain a strong connection to it - amazing device - but it does require some networking know-how to get it set up.

HOWEVER note that good wi-fi that is also unsecured is not common these days. We've been using cell-based networking FAR more than wi-fi lately.

We've used every part of this arsenal during our travels. It was certainly expensive to buy all the hardware, and it cost over $200/mo to maintain all our cell-based options, but we have never had a day offline even when others around us were complaining about service. We've been in some very under-served parts of the U.S. southeast and midwest.

Good luck with your choices.

[boyscout]

Boyscout, As a consultant still running our business (as wife and I love to spend time in the national and state parks and sometimes just BLM land), I have to say you are my new hero. I've got a Nighthawk LTE Mobile hotspot AT&T router with unlimited (grandfathered plan) and a rooftop Wineguard Connect (also on ATT - but not overly impressed with the Wineguard so far). That helps but I do not have the reception you have, but so dearly want to. I'm even thinking of getting a Verizon plan and hotspot device so that when I can't get on with ATT, we'll turn to Verizon. My income depends many times on being able to have Zoom conferences with clients or actually teaching live webinars to multiple folks while we're on the road (which is 6 months a year or more), so I'm willing to do whatever it takes. This means I'm making notes on your Nanostation antenna and I do not mind spending $200 a month for connection if it truly helps me stay connected since my income and freedom to travel is worth more. Thank you and you are welcome to email me at [email protected] with any additional advice (any advice is greatly appreciated). I avoid wifi spots in rv parks and using other people's log in info because of HIPAA and the fact I am kinda paranoid about hackers. Thanks again, Don Self
2018 Momentum 376TH

Don, I'm flattered at your note, but I'm not an expert. Like you, I'm just someone who has to stay connected no matter what, so I've equipped with an arsenal of tools and - so far, touch wood - been able to get work done everywhere we've been.

I'm a bit confused by your note though, as you express enthusiasm for the Nanostation but later say that you don't trust wi-fi connections, and you make a reference to $200/month.

The Nanostation is a WI-FI antenna. It's inexpensive and works very well, but it will only help you connect to whatever free - or paid, if you have a plan with someone - wi-fi service it can find. It is a great antenna/server with great performance and features, but often the wi-fi you're connecting to isn't that great. You can often have the best connection of anyone in your RV park - which gives a bit of an edge in performance - but still be getting poor service because the park's service is poor.

We've relied much more on cell-network data, and that's where we've paid over $200/month for service for several devices on T-Mobile and the MiFi device on Verizon, not for anything related to the Nanostation. We ensure cell-network access with two different cell phone boosters when required, one stronger than the other for deployment in locations where cell signal is seriously weak.

Back to the Nanostation: a few companies (Xfiniti is one) are moving towards a claim of nationwide wi-fi service. They provide it often by piggy-backing on the equipment they have supplied to their existing customers. I've not used this - we didn't have an account with them and were usually able to make cell-network data systems work for us - but I did see password-protected Xfiniti access points in many places when viewing my wi-fi access options on the Nanostation.

Final bit of advice on the Nanostation - it can be run directly by your computer but we use it as the WAN connection on a wi-fi router. The router provides an additional measure of security and distributes wi-fi signal to all devices in and around the trailer that need access (if they have been granted access to it). Either way, use of the Nanostation requires some network knowledge to set up... it's not dead-easy plug-and-play stuff.

Re: Verizon, I've recently seen a post indicating that Verizon is about to cancel the Prepaid Unlimited plan that we purchased for our Verizon MiFi 8800L. It was a month-to-month plan, high performance and seemingly truly-unlimited costing $65 month. I don't know if the cancellation means just that they won't offer it to new customers, or if it means that everyone on it will have to make another arrangement, but in any case investigate it sooner rather than later.

Hope this is of some additional assistance but, again, if I'm the best you've got you may need more-expert advice. Good luck.

[We2RV2]

I went the mofi route / ATT . I have bought two Omni ( none directional) antennas to mount outside but I have not been in a situation were I needed them...yet.
I travel for work so I'm usually pretty close to towers. This summer when I'm off I will mount the antennas just because it bought them and one day I might really need them .
As of right now I'm super happy with streaming live TV and having no issues.
YouTubeTV is the best !!