It has been a busy month for space fans. June began with the launch of ViaSat-2, the “world’s most powerful” internet communications satellite. And yesterday afternoon there was another major launch destined to expand the potential for staying connected anywhere on the globe: The launch of the second set of ten satellites in the Iridium […]
Last week’s huge news story was the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) launching an amazing deal on Verizon unlimited data hotspots – just $43.99/mo for an unlimited hotspot data plan that was well more than an order of magnitude cheaper than anything you could get from Verizon directly. With a deal that good – the FMCA’s […]
Update (6/19/2017): The FMCA has posted in several public locations a message saying that Verizon has “pulled the offering” – canceling all orders before any of the hotspots had shipped. We’ve published a new story with all the details: Verizon Pulls The Plug: FMCA’s Insanely Good Verizon Unlimited Hotspot Deal WAS Too Good To Be […]
Sprint has a reputation for being the “low price” carrier – but a new promotion is taking this to an extreme by offering a full year of service for FREE to customers who switch a smartphone line to Sprint. “Bring your eligible phone to Sprint and get FREE Unlimited data, talk and text for one […]
Last month, AT&T sent notifications to customers still enjoying their grandfathered in $29.99 iPad unlimited data plan that they would now be subject to network management after 22GB of usage in a month. These formerly highly coveted plans were brought out in 2010 when the iPad first came out, and then quickly discontinued – but […]
Verizon Prepaid is shaking up its prepaid offerings again – and that is mostly a good thing for prepaid data seekers. Here are two of the major changes that will be effective tomorrow: The $50 prepaid plan will be increased from 5GB to 7GB – yay! The 10GB plan will reflect a price decrease to $60/month […]
We’ve been closely tracking satellite internet provider ViaSat since 2014 when it’s Exede division launched “virtually unlimited” 12Mbps satellite internet service for just $70/month, momentarily generating a lot of excitement. But… Exede’s spot-beam technology did not at all support mobile users who left their assigned regional spots behind, and Exede’s ViaSat-1 satellite powering the Exede service was […]
Verizon today announced the SmartHub – a box designed to use a cellular connection to provide residential home internet, a “landline” phone jack, and smart home control of lights, thermostats, and locks. Verizon explains it this way: “SmartHub is a wireless, smart home solution that manages your connected home devices, provides reliable, high-speed internet powered by America’s […]
We’ve been tracking Nextivity’s unique Cel-Fi cellular boosters for years now – but their technology in the Unites States has only ever been used in residential boosters that were a very poor match for mobile and RV installations. But last summer a Nextivity product manager called us up to confidentially share tentative plans for an upcoming mobile […]
Sprint this week announced “The Sprint Magic Box” – the “World’s First All-Wireless Small Cell” designed to act as a relay to help overcome Sprint’s notorious problem with indoor slow speeds and dead zones. Sprint describes the box this way: “The Sprint Magic Box is an indoor, self-configuring small cell, about the size of a […]
I remember the day well, the very first iPad was delivered to our RV’s doorstep 7 years ago this month. We excitedly unpackaged it, held it in our hands and marveled at this new class of product. We turned it on, and activated AT&T’s month-to-month unlimited data plan for $29.99/month. This was a time when […]
Last October when we wrote about the new Winegard ConnecT roof-mounted long-range Wi-Fi receiver, there was something that we were asked not to share. Our test unit, which we had been previewing since May, was also equipped with cellular capabilities. From the very beginning Winegard had been designing this new product line to combine Wi-Fi and […]
Verizon Prepaid (Verizon’s direct prepaid division) has launched an unlimited data plan – with multiple limitations. This plan is similar to ordering pancakes at a restaurant and receiving a stack of dry, slightly burned, flavorless pancakes while your friend across the table receives a fluffy stack of chocolate chip pancakes spread with butter, drizzled with syrup, […]
Wireless spectrum is like real estate – and there is only so much to go around. When analog television was phased out for digital television in the United States in 2009, all the analog channels were shuffled to new digital homes. This freed up UHF TV channels 52-69 (698MHz – 806MHz) for cellular data use – a […]
When Verizon launched the new Verizon Unlimited Plan in February, the fine print clearly stated that hotspot / tethering usage would be limited to 10GB per billing period – with tethering speeds supposed to be throttled to a glacial 600kbps once that limit was crossed. But Verizon’s own sales reps for the most part never understood […]
