I found an inexpensive phone plan

[Tampajohn]

Might want to check out Republic Wireless. I just signed up. I have nothing to do with Republic, just a good deal it seems to me. We do a lot of traveling and the new phone is suppose to have very few dead spots and all three services for only $19 per month. Been on the list waiting for a long time. Friend of mine just got his and is very satisfied. Nothing to do with TM, but we are on the road 100 days plus per year and need the service. John

BTW phone is a bit pricy, but figure I will make it back in the price of the service.

republicwireless.com

 

[Scottie Dogs]

Might want to check out Republic Wireless. I just signed up. I have nothing to do with Republic, just a good deal it seems to me. We do a lot of traveling and the new phone is suppose to have very few dead spots and all three services for only $19 per month. Been on the list waiting for a long time. Friend of mine just got his and is very satisfied. Nothing to do with TM, but we are on the road 100 days plus per year and need the service. John

BTW phone is a bit pricy, but figure I will make it back in the price of the service.

republicwireless.com

Hi-

Does this setup provide a Hot Spot so I can use my laptop camping? we camp 6 months a year. That is my main concern. We use Verizon on our smart phone and they provide a Hot Spot but it is not cheap at all, but we need it and I have been looking around.

I will check this out, Thanks for this great tip...

Dave

 

[Tampajohn]

Don't know about hot spot

Sorry don't know about hot spot, but I am going to try to see how it works. Friend of mine says you can put a 32mg micro sd card in it and download to a laptop and print out what you want. I will know more when I get mine. They said could take up to 4 weeks. A run on them apparantely when they went out of the beta testing. John

 

[wmtire]

From what I read, they use wifi to provide VOiP. If you are in an area that doesn't have a wifi connection, then the phone is supposed to revert to the Sprint network.....so you would be limited to their coverage too.

The company states that they believe most people will use wifi instead of true cellular (which they have to pay Sprint for usage). Off the top of my head, it seems that if many people used a lot of Sprints services, the price wouldn't be able to stay that low........but I'm in the tire biz not the phone market.

My biggest concern would be the phone seamlessly switching from wifi to cellular (without dropping the call) while driving down the road.

Let us know how it works out..........as the price is enticing.

 

[rumbleweed]

According to their web site, it can not be uses as a hot spot, but rather it "should be" used with a hot spot. It is WiFi first and Sprint as a back up. The web site is correct, there are lots of wifi sites around, but today most are secure and not available to everyone. If you are at a Starbucks or Panera Bread you are ok. If you are driving in the middle of nowhere , better check Sprint coverage as that is the network you will be using. Be sure to keep what you need for the 30 day money back guarantee. This might be fine for a major city, but I am guessing no so good for camping.

 

[Tampajohn]

Here is what I know.

A friend of mine purchased the single band a few weeks back and loves it. He has no complaints and does not know if he is on wifi or Sprint. The new dual band phone, XT, is suppose to eliminate any problem with coverage and you can go to the website and see the coverage it provides. Like you said, I am keeping my old phone til I make sure the new one does what I want. The way I was initially introduce to it was one of my grandkids works for Verizon and it is his job to keep people from dropping Verizon. He said, "there goes my job." I have been monitoring it since last summer and after they switched to the new XT phone, I decided to take the plunge. Should be interesting. Will keep you updated. Expected delivery is not for 4 weeks. Lot of people have signed up from what I understand. Anyway here is another try something new for a 66 year old man. Just something a lot more convenient than the old way of doing it when camping. John

 

[Bill]

We have a smart phone mostly because our daughter made fun of me for not having one. It did come in handy once. My wife and I were in an airport and wanted to fire up our laptop, but were unwilling to pay the $11 access fee for the airport wifi system. However, the phone was able to make a 4G cellular connection, and used it to set up a short range wifi link to the laptop. This was called a "Mobile AP (Access Point)". It is not quite the same as "tethering", which seems to involve a USB cable. It worked well, better than the wifi in most campgrounds, and since the phone was making a cellular connection, and our plan includes 4G and 5 GB of data, I don't think it cost us anything.

If a 2G connection had been the only thing available (is therer still such a thing?), I don't know if the phone would have made a Mobile AP out of it. But even if it did, I don't think we would have been willing to put up with S-L-O-W data rate. But I suspect 3G would have been at least acceptable, though the data rates seem to be different from one carrier to another.

The vocabulary and terminology of this stuff tends to trip me up. I don't know if any of the above describes a "hot spot". But I know I was pleased.

Bill

 

[scrubjaysnest-TMO]

We use Trac Phone, works just about anywhere including those places Sprint doesn't which is most places we camp. For a WIFI hot spot we are looking into Version since their coverage, again where we go, is soooo much better then Sprint.

 

[Tampajohn]

Thanks scrub

I will know more when we I get it. Has dual band antenna which I hope helps. BTW, thinking about boondocking up your way. Have not tried it in your area, but see a lot a areas that boondocking is permitted. Will keep u updated. John

 

[MisterP]

Any updates on how Republic is working for anyone using it?

Republic just sent me an email noting that they are offering two plans now: $19 per month (plus taxes) after paying $259 for the Motorola wifi phone they offer, or $29 per month (plus) after paying $99.

Republic's business model depends on their users maxing out their wifi times, since they contract with Sprint for bandwidth when users cannot find a wifi connection. They claim they have no fixed usage limits, but will warn a customer if they are using too much non-wifi time. I did a lot of research on what data usage (my primary need) would trigger a warning, and best I can determine it's about 2gb or so; that may change over time.

Some Republic forum comments also note that the Motorola Android version is old, they are not offering a "current" software version. Republic is still a beta-company, with an interesting business offering but potential drawbacks for some users.

I may pick up a phone this year and test it for a while. Republic states they can port your existing mobile number on request, but I plan to do that only after trying the phone in different areas.

 

[Tampajohn]

Worked out really well. But I am so dumb, I don't know how to compare. I was not able to port my number though. Had verizon before. I plan on keeping it. Hope that helps. John

 

[MisterP]

Could you describe the process for getting a wifi connection? Does the phone tell you what is available, and you choose?

FYI, one complaint of users is a wifi call will drop if you move out of the wifi zone. The phone will not automatically switch to a cellular connection, and you will have to call someone back to continue. A cellular call, on the other hand, will apparently switch to a known wifi connection if you enter one. Something to keep in mind if interested in their program. This is from reading forums, not from my personal experience, just wanted to clarify.

 

[Tampajohn]

might help

I have not noticed any dropping calls when on the cell, but when on the internet, I cannot get on sometimes. I will be able to make a phone call, but cannot get on line. I like to listen to a certain radio station when on the road and I will loose it sometimes (streaming). I noticed that when we went from Florida to South Carolina, but the phone worked. Might visit republicwireless.com. Seem like they are pretty straight up telling the downside. I pay $24 with taxes, a lot less than other carriers. John

 

[Tampajohn]

Update on Republic Wireless

Had the service since December and I love it. Bill is $23 including tax and everything. Not too many dead spots. Tethered it to my Laptop this weekend using PDAnet (not the fastest service in the world, but I can use my Windows 8 with it). I also hooked up magic jack to my laptop with an old phone and when we have wifi, I can call the DW on the republic wireless phone, eliminating the need for two phones. Yep I am cheap, but happy with republicwireless.com. I also have several friends who switched also and they like it. Just my most humblest opinion. John