Internet on the road

So you my be wondering why I have been posting about all of these cell services. While it would be easiest to find a unlimited AT&T or Verizon plan and be done with it, those plans are expensive and have their own limitations. My plan is to have a little something on each carrier so that if there is a connection to be had, one of the devices will get it. Be the device that gets the signal or be the fastest at any given location and you will be lavished in extra data while we are there. Otherwise you will sit in the drawer until needed.

Now having something on each carrier can be expensive. That's why the services I use are not the all mighty unlimited plans. I call it affordable versatility.

On AT&T I have my Cricket Phone with 10 gigs of high speed and then unlimited 2G afterwards. It's my main phone as AT&T has good service here. Up in the mountains it is 2G in the mornings and TnT all of the time. This plan cost me $65 a month on auto pay with the use of the hotspot.


FreedomPop and Ringplus are my free Sprint solutions. After buying the devices there is no monthly cost. I get a gig of data on each the Freedompop hotspot and RingPlus phone. Sprint is the weakest of the big four but if their signal is best, you can get some blazing speeds out of them.

4gas is my T-Mobile solution and while not free, at $19.71 a month for 5 gigs is a affordable solution for T-Mobile. ( $17 a month for service, the rest in fees)It also includes Binge on for free watching of the services listed, most are pay services though.  T-mobile says they cover the southern half of our boondocking areas, I really hope to get a band 12 4G signal up there.

Up there you may get service from one carrier on one side of the ridge and another on the other side. This also happens at times from one side of a sky scrapper to the other downtown.

Honey also has a Cricket phone so before we hit the road, one of them will be switched to a Verizon account so that we have all four carriers.

So for me it's 17 gigs of data and two phones for $85 a month. At home we get service from all of the carriers so I will combine them to make it possible to kill off the xfinity internet. I thought I needed the unlimited high speed until I started paying attention to how much data I really use. In reality 17 gigs is more than enough for cruising the forums, checking emails, playing pogo games and even occasional streaming of a hockey game.

So that's Jimmys get online anywhere plan. 

4GAS T-Mobile service

4Gas- 4gantennashop.com is a business reseller of T-Mobile services. I am on the $17 for 5 gigs plus unlimited 2G and binge on. They have packages ranging from 5 gigs and up. I did buy a hotspot from them for $89 and had it 5 days later.

The hotspot I choose first was the Rocket aircard because it could be used on the 10 and 20 gig plans if I decided to upgrade. I am swapping it for a ZTE Z915 because it supports the 700 mhz band T-Mobile deployed in Colorado. When I enquired of the swap, the answer was of course we can. Just send back the Rocket when the 915 gets there.

Like with most carriers, T-Mobile has good coverage in Denver and I even have a tower near my house. Where I am really hoping to see a advantage is from the 700 mhz ( band 12) in the mountains. The lower the spectrum, the farther it carries and better penetrates buildings. I hoping to see something better than 2G up there.

You can call and get a real person 24/7. My account managers email is nicholas@4gantennashop.com and I have spoken with the owner twice. All very kind and helpful.

Again I have no connection except as a happy customer.

RingPlus free phone. text and data service.

RingPlus is another carrier like Freedompop where you buy the device, set up the account and pay nothing there after. They are on Sprint so make sure you have service . The deal I have with them was called the Leonardo 4 plan, comes with 1400 mins talk, 1400 text and 1200 Mbs of Data including using the hotspot for free a month. I did have to put $20 into a account in case I went over. Extra gigs are $8 a gig.

Unlike FreedomPop, RingPlus does not have hotspot only plans. I bought a Sprint Prepaid LG Tribute Duo on sale at Best buy for the service. I ran it through the MEID checks and signed up in minutes. You can buy and even lease phones from them if you wish or switch one over from another service.

Besides paid plans, they make their money using music and ads instead of a ring tone while you call someone. Sometimes when you sigh up for a promoted plan, it will have a survey or you will need to link to  social networks. Those promotions are paid for by the company wanting the survey. Each promotion usually only last for days so keep watch for the kind of plan you want. Some are heavier in TnT, others include more data or free use of the hotspot. There is a set of paid and lower tier free plans that are constant.

As for the service. I have had good luck using the phone for calls and text. The signal and data speeds are the same as with my Mingle Hotspot, weak when the signal is, blazing fast when the signal is good. (up to 33 Mbps so far)

So if you need a emergency back up, something to connect when other services may not or just a extra bit of data a month, RingPlus may be for you.

You can check them out at RingPlus.net and I am happy to answer any questions I can but I have no connection except being a happy customer.