Anyone Use 4GCommunity for cheap internet?

[W2R]

Very encouraging initial report, REWahoo.

 

[Rustic23]

ReWahoo,
When you use a repeater, I think the slow speed is only for the router that is doing the repeating as it used the same channel to send and receive data. If you use an older router and set it with a different SSID you will know when you are on it. Place the sprint router where you are going to be streaming and use the other for places where email and such is the primary use..

If there is a router expert on here, I may be wrong.

 

[REWahoo]

ReWahoo,
When you use a repeater, I think the slow speed is only for the router that is doing the repeating as it used the same channel to send and receive data. If you use an older router and set it with a different SSID you will know when you are on it. Place the sprint router where you are going to be streaming and use the other for places where email and such is the primary use..

Good suggestion and I think you are correct. Fortunately it looks like I have found a location that gets both a decent cell signal and is centrally located to provide good wifi to the areas where we need it. May not have to worry about a repeater.

 

[youbet]

Perhaps others will offer plans like this in the future. Would be nice to have options.......

Actually, Verizon offers a similar plan now. The aggressive sales guy at the local Verizon store was trying to push it on me a few weeks ago when I was in there. I think I recall it was $55/mo + you buy the hotspot. And, of course, Verizon likes to tack on misc fees (beyond gov't taxes). So Verizon would be about 3X to 4X the cost of this Sprint plan. The Verizon plan seems to work the same way. You get a wifi hotspot device and unlimited access to 4G data via their cell system. It just costs more but has better coverage. The costs more part kills it for me since I'm in a good Sprint area.

Just waitin' to see how REWhahoo does with his.........

 

[REWahoo]

Actually, Verizon offers a similar plan now.

Are you sure? I can't find anything online from Verizon beyond their $80 plus fees and taxes "unlimited" plan that throttles you back after 22GB of data usage per month. And tethering/hot spot use is limited to 10GB per month.

This is from February, is there some newer offer? Verizon unlimited plan

 

[youbet]

Are you sure? I can't find anything online from Verizon beyond their $80 plus fees and taxes "unlimited" plan that throttles you back after 22GB of data usage per month. And tethering/hot spot use is limited to 10GB per month.

This is from February, is there some newer offer? Verizon unlimited plan

Don't have time to look online right now but will later. I was given the offer in their local retail outlet. The equipment was on display. You purchased a hotspot and paid a monthly fee for unlimited data access. This was not a cell phone plan. There was NO voice service associated with this, just like the Sprint plan. It did not involve tethering or using your cell phone as a hot spot.

 

[youbet]

Are you sure? I can't find anything online from Verizon beyond their $80 plus fees and taxes "unlimited" plan that throttles you back after 22GB of data usage per month. And tethering/hot spot use is limited to 10GB per month.

This is from February, is there some newer offer? Verizon unlimited plan

OK, after enduring another aggressive Verizon salesperson more interested in the sale than in sharing info, I think the Verizon plan is not "unlimited data."

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/lte-internet-installed/

And it costs more. But for folks whose only other alternative might be satellite, perhaps it would have some value. Data comes in on the Verizon 4G LTE system, you get a wireless router and you pay Verizon lotsa money.

The salesguy was also talking about plans that would tie to your cell phone plan and would offer unlimited data, but I was getting dizzy by then and excused myself.

 

[pb4uski]

No roaming but it should work wherever Sprint has an LTE network - shown here.

No coverage.

 

[Texas Proud]

Good suggestion and I think you are correct. Fortunately it looks like I have found a location that gets both a decent cell signal and is centrally located to provide good wifi to the areas where we need it. May not have to worry about a repeater.

Just my opinion, but a slower speed is better than no speed....

If I needed, I would go with a repeater...

And half of the speed you quoted is still faster than I had with ATT.... but a tad slower than Comcast... well, on the download at least... I do not care about upload as much....

The good thing about this is I could then go with a cheap internet phone and drop my bill by a huge percent...

 

[spncity]

Pretty sure this is what our daughter is using.

Here's an article. Scroll down for links to the providers.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/review-center/sprint-non-profit-unlimited/

 

[ERD50]

... Does the basic hotspot provide for plugging in a computer directly? My desktop has no wifi capability and currently plugs directly into the ATT wireless router. ....

Here's a few options:

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Ada...ewire-20&ascsubtag=2377825|lifewire.com||||2|

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY35HGO/ref=psdc_13983791_t3_B00JDVRCI0

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JDVRCI0/?tag=aboutcom02lifewire-20&ascsubtag=2377825|lifewire.com||||2|

-ERD50

 

[youbet]

Here's a few options:

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Ada...ewire-20&ascsubtag=2377825|lifewire.com||||2|

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY35HGO/ref=psdc_13983791_t3_B00JDVRCI0

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JDVRCI0/?tag=aboutcom02lifewire-20&ascsubtag=2377825|lifewire.com||||2|

-ERD50

Thanks ERD50!

You know, some days a fella just has to have one of those "Duuuuh...." moments. I actually own something like you suggested already that I could use. It's an external, usb based wifi adapter designed to help you with weak/distant wifi sigs. The electronics and antenna are remotely located and attach to my laptop usb port via a fairly long cable. By having the electronics and antenna remotely located, you get the antenna elevated and in the clear and send the data back to the laptop digitally avoiding RF loss in the cable.

I use it in my camper and it works great. With the antenna mounted up high, I often see several signals at a campsite while the receiver and antenna internal to my laptop see nuttin'. I'm sure I could also use this for my desktop at home. The ability to receive weak signals wouldn't be needed, just the feature that it introduces wifi into the computer via an usb port.

Or, the products you linked to are inexpensive and look like good solutions.

 

[youbet]

Are you sure? I can't find anything online from Verizon beyond their $80 plus fees and taxes "unlimited" plan that throttles you back after 22GB of data usage per month. And tethering/hot spot use is limited to 10GB per month.

This is from February, is there some newer offer? Verizon unlimited plan

No, I'm not sure. In fact, after reading the info provided at rvmobileinternet.com, I'm sure the [-]bag dragger [/-]salesperson at the local Verizon store either fed me some faulty info or I was a hopeful listener and didn't hear the limitations. (I did hear the high costs.)

Thanks spncity for the link.

Time for another update REWahoo. How's it workin' ?

 

[REWahoo]

Update on my 4GCommunity ISP hotspot experience:

After using the device/service for 10 days, it's a keeper.

That's not to say it works perfectly but it is reasonably stable here at home, 1.6 miles from a Sprint tower. The device was inconsistent and would require rebooting two or three times a day until I learned how to tune it to the optimum band. Once I did it became much more reliable, with download speeds between 20 and 35 Mbps and uploads of 10 to 12 Mbps.

Over the weekend I took the device on the road. We towed the RV 120 miles, mostly on Interstate highways, and the two teenage grandsons stayed connected the entire trip. Once off the Interstate the signal came and went, even though the Sprint map said we never left the coverage area. The device worked reasonably well (6 to 10 Mbps downloads) at the RV park, located about 4 miles from a tower.

I took the device with us to visit a relative living nearby and could get no signal at his house, even though it was less than 5 miles from a Sprint tower. That and the inconsistent performance once off Interstate highways indicates the speed and reliability of this device is highly dependent on being within 5 miles or so of a tower. Terrain, buildings, and other obstacles can also be a problem.

Bottom line, the hotspot works very well at our house, so I'm keeping it and canceling the slow, unreliable WISP provider we've been using the past few years.

 

[MichaelB]

That's good news.

 

[Dawg52]

Is it good enough to ditch Satellite TV and use Playstation Vue or Sling via 4G?

 

[REWahoo]

Dawg, I think so - at least at my location. As I said, I'm really close to a tower and our house sits on a hill so I have direct line-of-sight to it out my back window.

 

[Bestwifeever]

That's awesome, REW!

 

[zinger1457]

Sounds promising, I guess one would have to weigh the benefit of taking the hotspot with you when you travel with not being able to access to your wifi enabled devices at home (ip camera, thermostat, slingbox, etc.).

 

[REWahoo]

FYI, I just saw where 4GCommunity increased their "Initiation Fee" from $15 to $35.

 

[MichaelB]

FYI, I just saw where 4GCommunity increased their "Initiation Fee" from $15 to $35.

They must be following this thread.

 

[ncbill]

I bought the older, slower model last fall, then the newer one this spring.

I only use them for backup/travel, and they're fine for that.

IIRC, at least one of the models had failures when people left them on 24/7.

If I had to use it as my main internet I'd at least pull the battery and put it on a switch/UPS that I turned off every night, but more likely take it out of its plastic case & rig a metal heat sink.

For those currently on satellite internet or wireless ISPs, it could be a much better option.

AT&T has a new stand-alone supposedly unlimited plan for its $99 Mobley car device ($20/month plus fees/taxes), but it has been sold out for some time both in store and online (there are a few for sale on ebay at around $300!)

There are also resellers offering standalone, unlimited Verizon hotspots on ebay, but the monthly cost (after buying the hardware) averages $150/month, IIRC.

Still, if I only had Verizon (not Sprint or AT&T) coverage, I'd pick it over satellite...

 

[REWahoo]

IIRC, at least one of the models had failures when people left them on 24/7.

I saw somewhere that the failures were from Netgear Fuse Mobile Hotspots, the devices initially sold by 4GCommunity for their basic plan. Perhaps due to that issue, the basic plan now uses the Franklin R850 device.

If I had to use it as my main internet I'd at least pull the battery and put it on a switch/UPS that I turned off every night, but more likely take it out of its plastic case & rig a metal heat sink.

I do remove the battery from my R850 unless we travel with it. I need to remember to unplug it at night, something I've not done consistently. As to heat concerns, I have it sitting on its side (get 2 to 3 bars that way), the back cover off and the battery removed. It does not get warm to the touch at all.

Edit: I understand the ZTE device will not operate without a battery. That is one of the reasons I went with the R850.

 

[nvestysly]

I'm always amazed at the information I find on e-r.org. This thread is one of them.

I'm considering a ZTE Mobley device from AT&T and will start a separate thread for that discussion. When we travel in our RV (tow a trailer) we need good coverage and Verizon and AT&T are definitely the leaders in coverage. However, the 4GCommunity device(s) and plan may be just the ticket for our home connection.

Thanks to the OP for posting this and thanks to ReWahoo for taking time to post a hands-on evaluation.

 

[nvestysly]

I spent some time looking at the 4GCommunity web site.

Also did some research on signal strength for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. AT&T and Verizon don't work well at my house. Both have signal strength on the order of -105 dB. 4GCommunity utilizes Sprint and their signal strength at my house is indicated to be -95 dB