Learn me Mobile Hotspots...with signal boosters

This thread is from 2012

We are rural, internet options being dialup and satellite. And I hear nothing good about satellite (hughesnet). We've been getting by with smartphones for a year, but wife wants to go back to school and would prefer to be able to get online with the computer. Father in law is visiting and brought his Verizon Samsung 4g hotspot. It works pretty damn good, I downloaded the latest forza dlc in about 10-15 minutes. Previously, tethered to the cell phone that typically took me an hour....if it would connect through the laptop properly. Very convoluted.... But most importantly, swmbo has no problems using her laptop to get online. We're pretty sure we will get a hotspot soon, we are grandfathered into the unlimited data plans. Anyone try a hotspot with a signal booster, like offered by wilsonelectronics.com ? We were thinking something along the lines of a small antenna we could stick on the roof of the house to make the signal stronger inside, or around the house. We are on the outskirts of the 3g coverage area. Discuss.

I've got a cell phone booster (box with the brains and inside antenna in the kitchen, antenna on the roof) and we went from 1 to 4 bars for cell phone coverage.

Make sure the booster will work with your cell phone company and 4g -vs- 3g etc - sometimes the radio frequencies are different. Also note that what might work for AT+T will probably not work with Verizon etc.

If you want to increase signal on VZ's 4g then you need something that will pull 700mhz. VZ's 3G signal runs at 850mhz and 1900mhz.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/03/wilson-electronics-introduces-the-worlds-first-lte-signal-boost/
Industry announcement today that what you want will be available mid year and cost $150.
Wilson makes good equipment. But what they sell today will only boost your 3G.

What you think you want to do with VZ may be your only choice and it will be expensive. If you continue with things like DL'ing Forza expect the possibility of spending $200 per month.

I would expect that the grandfathered rate plan you have can not be combined with 4G or hotspots. To stay grandfathered you likely need to stay with a 3G handset or at least just a handset; certainly not a hotspot. Check w/ VZ to confirm.

Yessir, the 4G hotspot works great but it will blow a smoking hole in your budget. I'd do DSL first, maybe with a separate phone #. Sure it's slower but you will be able to eat.

A co-worker has a Verizon hotspot. They really like it, but as I recall it's ~$50 for 5GB of monthly data, and even without Netflix, gaming, etc. they've gone over.

I'd also suggest pressing real hard for DSL.

Father-in-law somehow pressed the magical buttons and got it installed to his house, complete with a distribution box just for his place.

I couldn't press those magical buttons, but I got an over-extension of the line, so my DSL is slower. Much faster than dial-up none the less.

Another thing about the hotspot: it acts as the wireless 'node' for everything. It can only run up to, IIRC, 5 devices. So if it is set up as your home wireless network then if you have more than 5 devices you have to log one off before you can add another. This may or may not be a problem for you.

It is battery powered so you can take it with you, it has a mini USB port so it can be charged easily from a cig lighter adapter etc. If you can get cell service, you can get high speed Internet, even in a moving car. That part is pretty cool.

It's $50/month up to 5GB, 10GB is $80 and at this time Verizon does not have a monthly plan over 10GB. So it is very easy to run up a $200 Internet tab each month.

Verizon will let you know if you are getting close and will provide you with a daily report but if you get close and it's only the 10th of the month, what are you going to do? For instance, my kid's school progress reports come via Email each day.

I do need to go talk to someone at Verizon, seems too good to be true that I could get a hotspot with an unlimited data plan, lol. But if I can, it may be a no brainer. Certainly makes it a lot easier to connect.

Of course, If we ONLY get a signal booster/antenna, that alone may make things much more tolerable, in regards to tethering things to the phone, using the PDA Net app. It would also discourage exorbitant data use, like attempting to stream videos, or really using xbox live a lot.

To clarify, we dont stream anything now, and I dont use xbox live. We also dont have 4G coverage and dont anticipate we will for years, if ever. I merely want to jump on once a month or so to get some download content. I was online with my xbox for 15 minutes max yesterday to download the 150 megabyte Car Pack for Forza 4, then I logged off. Wife needs a more steady internet option so she can take some online courses to continue her education.

I have a number of things to research and consider, and it depends on how much I want to pay per month. Less is good, I dont want to get into a hotspot contract only to find out that they are raping me on the bill. Maybe we'll just try the signal booster alone at first and see if it meets our needs, thats a one time cost and the better signal would be awesome, she gets 2-3 bars on her Droid X, I get 0-1 on my Droid Incredible 2 (and LG Ally before), WTF.

PS. About the DSL, We did contact a few carriers and said they dont service our area. We found another one recently on the county website that we need to contact to inquire about service. Currently do not have a home phone so I guess thats a perk if we can go that route. We did have a home phone for a month until I saw the bill. Local+Long distance was about as much as my smartphone bill, and we never used it. Cancelled it.

Okay, we've been running big LED billboards over verizon 3G broadband in remote locations, so I'll share what I know....

There are no longer unlimeted plans on verizon, period. At least in this area. My Verizon USB 3G for the work laptop is 250Mb of data for $50/month. If I had to use that connection all the time I would easily use much more data than that, probably 3-4x

The best way to run a local network off a 3G broadband connection is using a broadband capable router. This is a router like any other wireless router you would use in your home on a DSL or cable system, but it ads the ability to make the internet connection via a plugged-in 3G device. This also give you full control for local wireless security, IP addresses, etc, so you don't have to worry about others jumping on the signal. We use a Cradlepoint MBR1000 connected to a Verizon MiFi2200 hotspot device and it has been a very dependable system. These are mounted in a weather tight box on top of a billboard structure without heat/cool and have been rock solid (so far). The nice thing about this is connection of laptops, desktops, wireless devices, etc, functions just like any other wifi system.

I haven't dealt with 4G much, but I think it's mostly just a marketing ploy except in limited (urban) areas.

If you decide to go that way, and have any questions, just ask. I'm happy to help.

thanks for the tip on the broadband router, thats something we havent really considered. I havent had a chance to ask my neigbor but I suspect he may be doing something similar to that, we've detected a secure network from time to time. Been meaning to ask him what his setup is.

failboat wrote: Of course, If we ONLY get a signal booster/antenna, that alone may make things much more tolerable, in regards to tethering things to the phone, using the PDA Net app. It would also discourage exorbitant data use, like attempting to stream videos, or really using xbox live a lot.

To verify if a booster will improve the user experience, get outdoors. That is, take your phone and laptop outside where you are more likely to get a full 4 bars of coverage. Is the user experience and DL speed improved enough?
What you are hoping to get from a booster is the elimination of signal degradation from barriers. Steel, stone and terrain are your enemy; glass and wood not nearly so much unless that glass is mirrored. An eternal mounted booster can only gain as much signal as typically possible outside. What it tries to do is then replicate that outside signal, inside.

failboat wrote: I have a number of things to research and consider, and it depends on how much I want to pay per month. Less is good, I dont want to get into a hotspot contract only to find out that they are raping me on the bill. Maybe we'll just try the signal booster alone at first and see if it meets our needs, thats a one time cost and the better signal would be awesome, she gets 2-3 bars on her Droid X, I get 0-1 on my Droid Incredible 2 (and LG Ally before), WTF.

The difference between the two phones is just differences in Internal antenna. It is very possible that you have two FM radios in the house as well and one does a better job of pulling signal than the other.
If you think the ability to pull signal has degraded on the Incredible and it is in warranty then it may be worth to bitch about it at the store. You will need to stress the point that the capabilities have degraded. If you tell them it has always been that way then they will just say that is the limits of the equipment.
If the handset is insured through the optional insurance then it may be wise to make an insurance claim (there will be a deductible so find out what that is.) Of course, this switching of handsets will not guarantee any improvement.

failboat wrote: PS. About the DSL, We did contact a few carriers and said they dont service our area. We found another one recently on the county website that we need to contact to inquire about service. Currently do not have a home phone so I guess thats a perk if we can go that route. We did have a home phone for a month until I saw the bill. Local+Long distance was about as much as my smartphone bill, and we never used it. Cancelled it.

For DSL, contact the traditional home phone provider in your area, likely the one that you previously had the home phone through. They will be the ones who know if your home can do DSL since they are the ones who provide the actual phone line. Sure, there are many vendors of DSL but most just resell the services of the original phone company in your area.

Is there a cable company that services your area? Contact them as well. The cable companies are usually the most receptive to expansions of services since that brings them options of new revenue.

A good video from Wilson:
http://wilsoncellboosters.com/wilson-blog/video-how-wilsons-cellphone-signal-boosters-work/

no prob. That router is only about $100, so it's an affordable way to go too.

Agreed, Cradle Point makes very good equipment.
http://cradlepoint.net/products/home-office/mbr1000/

I've bought 3 of the cradlepoint MBR1000's. Two for me, one for my mother.

The cell phone repeater I bought works great... for cell phones. Doesn't work at all for 3G data.

An advantage of the Cradlepoint is that you can place the box and the incoming signal antenna on the side of the house where coverage is the strongest to pull in data. From there the Cradlepoint will then, like any wireless router, send the signal up to another 300 ft.

As an example, you can keep the router and incoming cellular signal in a second story window on the proper side of the house (maybe a bedroom) but still keep your desk/office on the lowest level and on the other side of the house.

jrw1621 wrote: For DSL, contact the traditional home phone provider in your area, likely the one that you previously had the home phone through. They will be the ones who know if your home can do DSL since they are the ones who provide the actual phone line. Sure, there are many vendors of DSL but most just resell the services of the original phone company in your area. Is there a cable company that services your area? Contact them as well. The cable companies are usually the most receptive to expansions of services since that brings them options of new revenue.

We had home phone through Verizon, they said we could not get DSL. I guess I will have to check other providers to make sure. Not suprised if they are just another vendor using someone elses line to our house....

Cant get Fios here, Comcast doesnt serve us either. We were told the last time we inquired, they had inquiries about Comcast service from 4 different addresses on our street. Maybe its time for a petition.

We are literally within a mile or two of a gated community that has everything available to them. All the streets leading up to ours, however, are, shall we say....an eyesore. I mean people living in camper trailers with a freakin roof from a house sitting on top to keep it from leaking. Its a lot of folks from the same family that own a lot of the properties, and I am convinced they mostly live off welfare and wouldnt be interested in paying cable internet. I can only imagine thats what Comcast sees when they try to assess if its worth their time to run a line.

To follow up on this...

Local Best Buy carried one of the Wilson signal booster/repeaters. It was a lower end "desktop" booster, but they had an open box unit, figured we would give it a try, also expecting this particular kit was not going to suit our needs.

And it didnt. But, it did work. I had the antenna temporarily mounted in the attic, 30 foot cable run down to the booster box thing, and then to the desktop antenna.

It boosted my phone's signal by 3 bars. It was pr0n overload! But move more than 5 feet away from the desktop antenna, and the signal started to drop off.

So we promptly returned the kit (which, even the open box unit was $50 more than a new kit on amazon), but will be picking up one of the better kits from Amazon in a few weeks, and will mount the reciever antenna outside on the roof of the house, and have a better, uh, inside booster/antenna that will spread our signal further through the house.

It was nice to see that this setup may very well work for us.

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