[Computer Corner]

Originally Posted by glwcww

Anyone using the Verizon 4G Mobile Hot Spot for internet access in TV? Still trying to decide about Comcast vs Verizon vs ???? I realize I'm probably making this more complicated than I need to...it's just that there are so many options to consider. We head to our new home in a couple of weeks in TV and want to be able to access the "outside world"!

A couple of things to keep in mind before making your decision:

• In today's world, of home internet use 4GB is not a lot of data provision. So you need to ask yourself, HOW will you use your internet? Will you be streaming movies, music, and the like? If so, 4GB might not last you long. Then you will faced with overage charges, or worst 'throttling' down to 3g speeds.
• Also keep in mind, 4g is not readily available in most areas in Florida, including the Villages, which means you will be attempting to access the internet on a 3g network. Once again, you need to ask yourself; HOW will you be using the internet. If you are going to be doing anything more than email, and a youtube clip here and there, hotspot may not be right for you. And unfortunately, there is no real way to test the connection speed until after you have purchasd your device and attempted to use it at your home. :-(
• Another thing to think about is; will you be paying for TV, and/or phone at your home anyways? If the answer is yes, the cost of bundling in a data plan is negligable, especially in light of the previous two points.

Overall, I would go with a local company.. I personally use Century Link at my home and Comcast at my business.. There are two important things to remember with either of these companies is;

• Don't get the most basic plan. I find that the best bang for your buck is the next step above their basic speeds. Anything more than that is overkill for a home, and anything less, will leave you frustrated with your internet.
• Get everything in writing! They are huge companies and you are just a number, so, when you set up your plan with them, get the details and the pricing in writing.. Tell them you want to know exactly what your monthly bill will be. I had to switch from Comcast because of the unreliability in our monthly bill at home, and poor customer service. We have been more than pleased with our embarq internet at home!

Hope that helps your decision! Good luck in your move to the area, and (shameless plug)if you need any help setting up your gizmos, give us a ring, we're right down the road!

[Xavier]

We've been Verizon Wireless Internet customers since 2003. The service included a variety of speeds as they became available. We have used the 4G broadband service for the past 16 months and we have been completely happy. Our cost is $50 a month for 5 gigs of service. If we go over, which we never have, there is an additional cost of $10/gig. We consider ourselves as heavy users, but we don't stream/download movies much. If I see my usage getting close to going over my limit, I switch to my Smart-phone as a hot-spot. I don't buy the hot-spot service. I don't come close to using my allotted data amount on the Smart-phone so I just use the FoxFi app to access that data for hot-spot use. It's free and it allows me to use data that's already paid for and never used up.

We travel the country in our motor home and I have almost always gotten service with the wireless hot-spot even when it's not suppose to be a Verizon Service area. If you are in an iffy area, just call Verizon and they'll really work with you. I've known them to actually tweak towers to improve signal for longer term usage.

A little idea of a common speed:
Xavier

[scarecrow1]

We do indeed have 4G in the villages as my son works for Verizon and says its in the villages. If you have a 3G device then that is what will run on your device. My devices run very well in Buttonwood on MiFi 4G LTE from Verizon. I agree that you will need more G's if you do a lot of movies and video. I really like being able to use the Internet on the go. We will be changing to the hot spot on our phones soon but again if your phone is 3G the that's what you will be running.

[batman911]

I used Verizon 4G with my Ipad during our recent visit to TV. We stayed in a Villa South of 466A and had continuous service. Speed was great. I have the the 2Gig data plan. We used the access for hours at a time every day and barely made a dent in the data allowance. If you stream videos it will use a lot more data. Never had an issue with connectivity in TV or Texas where we spent Christmas. I got the 4G plan mainly for when we travel and use the WiFi when at home or near a hotspot.

[VillagesFlorida]

Originally Posted by ducati1974

We had a Verizon Hotspot and it would have cost us a fortune to keep it as we kept running over on our GB usage. We're back on Comcast and loving the unlimited internet, reliability, and speed. We were so unhappy with the Hotspot that we gladly paid the $125. penalty to terminate before the contract ends.

We used my cell phone this past summer as a hot spot while on vacation. I chose the 4GB Share Everything Plan since my daughter went with Verizon at the same time. We used almost no data at all until one day my husband updated his Tom Tom, using our laptop. Within a half hour or so I received a text notification that I was at 50% of my 4GB. Ten minutes later a text arrived tellling me I was at 75%. I thought there must be a mistake. Each time I got the text notification I went online and increased my data by 2 more GB. Since I didn't make the increases retroactive to the first day of my billing cycle I was hit with 3 $25 overage charges on my next bill. I WAS able to get those charges removed. We weren't downloading a movie or music and I never gave a thought to updating a GPS unit as a huge data user. ( In the end we used over 6GB on that one update......AND, how many updates of our electronics might we do every month??) We finished the summer on the hot spot but returned to Comcast, which we thankfully had not canceled. While many Villagers have had issues with Comcast we have, for the most part, been happy with the service.

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by VillagesFlorida

We used my cell phone this past summer as a hot spot while on vacation. I chose the 4GB Share Everything Plan since my daughter went with Verizon at the same time. We used almost no data at all until one day my husband updated his Tom Tom, using our laptop. Within a half hour or so I received a text notification that I was at 50% of my 4GB. Ten minutes later a text arrived tellling me I was at 75%. I thought there must be a mistake. Each time I got the text notification I went online and increased my data by 2 more GB. Since I didn't make the increases retroactive to the first day of my billing cycle I was hit with 3 $25 overage charges on my next bill. I WAS able to get those charges removed. We weren't downloading a movie or music and I never gave a thought to updating a GPS unit as a huge data user. ( In the end we used over 6GB on that one update......AND, how many updates of our electronics might we do every month??) We finished the summer on the hot spot but returned to Comcast, which we thankfully had not canceled. While many Villagers have had issues with Comcast we have, for the most part, been happy with the service.

Updating the maps on a GPS really uses up the data. I update four times a year and I almost always wait until I'm on WiFi somewhere. For instance, I updated at an RV dealership in October and In July I updated my maps while camped in Tennessee. Last Spring I did update with our Smartphone. Our GPS is a Garmin and I believe the biggest update was just under 3 gigs.

Xavier

[Computer Corner]

Ran into an issue today while I was servicing a client in The Villages that made me think of this post, and all those 'praising the hotspot'. The couple are using a wifi hotspot for their internet and they wanted me to connect a wifi printer to the network.. Sadly we couldn't, because she had reached her '5 device limit' on it.

2 laptops, 2 Smart TVs, and 1 iPad.. But no room for her wifi printer.. So, they had to choose one of their devices to disconnect, so we could install the printer.

This is just something to think about, especially when you consider how many more of our devices are becoming network-able.. lights, thermostats, electrical plugs, etc.

#Eddie

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by CflGeek

Ran into an issue today while I was servicing a client in The Villages that made me think of this post, and all those 'praising the hotspot'. The couple are using a wifi hotspot for their internet and they wanted me to connect a wifi printer to the network.. Sadly we couldn't, because she had reached her '5 device limit' on it.

2 laptops, 2 Smart TVs, and 1 iPad.. But no room for her wifi printer.. So, they had to choose one of their devices to disconnect, so we could install the printer.

This is just something to think about, especially when you consider how many more of our devices are becoming network-able.. lights, thermostats, electrical plugs, etc.

#Eddie

I guess you always use Bluetooth. Any 5 devices "at a time" can use the hotspot. How many times would they be using both laptops, 2 smart TVs, the iPad and the printer all at the same time? I have a Samsung Smart TV and I find that I almost never use the Internet capability. As a matter of fact I took the Samsung Wireless LAN Adapter off the TV and threw it in the desk drawer about a month ago. I guess I would say that if you are going to be a big Netflix user you probably should use Comcast unlimited.

Xavier

[MrRich]

Yes. I'm on one right now. I love it. Got it about a month ago. Its fast! However, as usual, Verizon's plans are so convoluted its like doing algebra. I went from a Family plan to the Share Everything plan. I have 4 smart phones on the plan and now have 8 gigs to use per month. Could be close but I can always bump it up to 10 for another $15. Everything counts on this plan, including internet searches on the network when you're out and about. I had an old 3g aircard but it was not worth reactivating that and was cheaper overall to go with the 4g hotspot. You can run up to 10 devices on it. Signal is good in The Vill.

[VillagesFlorida]

Originally Posted by MrRich

Yes. I'm on one right now. I love it. Got it about a month ago. Its fast! However, as usual, Verizon's plans are so convoluted its like doing algebra. I went from a Family plan to the Share Everything plan. I have 4 smart phones on the plan and now have 8 gigs to use per month. Could be close but I can always bump it up to 10 for another $15. Everything counts on this plan, including internet searches on the network when you're out and about. I had an old 3g aircard but it was not worth reactivating that and was cheaper overall to go with the 4g hotspot. You can run up to 10 devices on it. Signal is good in The Vill.

If you find you have to "bump" up your data amount be sure to make it retroactive to the first day of your billing cycle. I thought that if I bumped my data, effective the day I saw that I was getting close, I would be covered. Apparently, the data usage I saw when looking at my account was not up to date. Verizon will dock you $25 each time you go over your data amount. We also tried Verizon's Jetpack but returned it within 14 days so we wouldn't have to commit to a 2-yr. contract on it. In the end we opted to stay with Comcast. There is something to be said for knowing what my bill will be, and knowing I don't have to worry about data usage.