what is the best and cheapest internet access solution for a laptop while traveling?

I just upgraded the other day from 10gig to 30gig for an extra $30 Total bill is $130 w/mobile share

 

You are right technically they don't without paying extra $$.

But there are ways around it.

 

That is just the mobile part of the bill at AT&T. Then they get $15 per phone or $40 per phone per month if you take a subsidized phone. If you take an IPhone 6 on the next plan they charge $15 but also about $27-31 extra a month for $18 months for the new phone.

 

I will be getting my Iphone 6 plus in November,,,so they say I did the 37.50 a month for 12 months

 

My son is still on our old Sprint plan. He doesnt travel much and Sprint does well in Florida. So I can still compare unbias'd.

When I switched over to Verizon we still had 8 months to go before our Sprint contract was up. I was so fed up with Sprints signal coverage my wife and I went ahead and switched to Verizon to try them out. I got a new number and took both phones out on the road with me to compare. Verizon signal runs circle around Sprint. More coverage in more areas that Sprint simply has no signal at all. I90 soon as you get out of Spokane across to most of Montana, Sprint has zero signal. Verizon only lost signal in the valleys of the mountains. There is like a 150 mile stretch that Sprint had no signal at all. Colorado along I70 by Junction City was the same,.. all the way past Vail, Sprint would constantly have no signal. All along up through Moab, Green River,.. Sprint dropped signal all over the place. Wasnt until SLC that Sprint signal became steady. Verizon never dropped.

That and Sprint didnt have 4G LTE up until almost a year ago. They had to boost their 3G in order to compensate everyone who had 4G LTE phones because they wont do standard 4G, but will do 3G.

That and Verizon bandwidth blows Sprint away. What phone did you have with Verizon? That may have had some to do with your signal. Many of the free phones pretty much suck. I always have the newest best non-apple phone. I started out with the Samsung S4, then switched to the Note 3 when it came out. I just got the Note 4 yesterday. Phenomenal phone.

Here is an example. I'm in Ga right now. I have hotspot turned on and just did a speed test.

3 bars of 4G.



I know people who's cable internet at home cant do that. I have Fios at home, so cant really compare. But its faster then my last cable company before I bought the place I'm in now.

The only advantage Sprint has is that they are more affordable. I pay more with Verizon. Worth every penny in my opinion.

 

as i stated in my copied and pasted comment.

you all haven't tried them LATELY.

i know all too well how sprint was in the early days. but that's in the past, and the future is tomorrow.

 

Well... show me a speed test.

I know what Sprint is like in Florida right now. As I said.. my son is still on Sprint. I pay his bill. Done speed tests on Sprint and they didn't compare. Last one I did was 3-4 months ago.

I won't be back home till Nov. You have me curious. Can you run some speed tests at various places (from time time) and post them here? It's not really the speed I'm interested in. Usually anything over 5 mbit is enough to do what I need. I'm more interested in the pings. For wireless.. anything under 150 ms is pretty good.

Thanks. Hurst

 

i don't have a clue how to do that hurst. give me instructions and i see what i can do.

the only problem would be the fact that locations pop up different. last test i ran, verizon was very slow and server was in riverside, ca. sprint was fast 4g and had the actual location. i can't remember the town but i think it was le grande, ore.

the other problem would be, none of you would be able to know which test was V and S. and wouldn't beleive. the phones are the same model with both carriers. but no way to have the same location or carrier posted in the pics.

if anyone knows of an app or a way to include the pertinent details. that might help.

i can say sprint now works from salt lake to reno. has 4g along the entire 84 stretch in idaho. and worked for the most part from salt lake to cheyenne.

 

It's easy. With laptop you just go to speedtest.net , do a test and then click share and use the image url. Then post and image herd with that link.

Or they have Android and Apple apps that do the same thing. It's by ookla.

Verizon is far from perfect. I praise them because of my personal experience comparing them with Sprint. The coverage area and signal quality was so much better.

Tell you what. I'll keep track of where I have signal issues with Verizon and do periodic speed tests to find out where Verizon is weak and where they are strong.

Hurst

 

Verizon 40 gb plan here for just me. Gotta hotspot and I use it frequently. Gotta heck of a deal for the 40 gigs. Had 18 gigs and their new promo allowed me to switch to 40 for $10 less than the 18 gb plan. Grandfather in when that pro.I ends. Yeah baby. Certainly not cheap though, but if you want the best, certainly best not to complain about the price. Truck stop internet is crap, and prepaid services will offer the same quality of internet...when you want it the most you ain't got no service, and when you don't need it you get full coverage.