yvesg Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 I am getting ready for Oshkosh and need help from you guys about finding the right data plan provider. I am in L.A. right now and I am on Roam Mobility plan but this outfit lacks flexiblity. I had to buy a one week package and will have to buy a one month one for when we start traveling towards Madison (Mooney Caravan join point) then Oshkosh. There are often access to WIFI where I go but not always so I need telco coverage. I am wondering if any of you know of any providers that will allow having low cost prepaid packages that allow 6 months or 12 months (anything more than a month actually)? Roam mobility will also void the sim card after 6 months of non-usage which could happen from time to time... this is a PITA. Yves Quote
Oldguy Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 Yves, If you have a phone with a reasonable data plan you might consider is tethering your tablet to it, if possible, when you do not have access to a wi-fi connection. You would still incur costs, but often times it is surprising the difference in one company's data costs versus another. Maybe not the best solution, but one which could be used when absolutely the only choice, and you would not have to commit to a data plan for the tablet. Quote
kris_adams Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 10 minutes ago, Oldguy said: Yves, If you have a phone with a reasonable data plan you might consider is tethering your tablet to it, if possible, when you do not have access to a wi-fi connection. You would still incur costs, but often times it is surprising the difference in one company's data costs versus another. Maybe not the best solution, but one which could be used when absolutely the only choice, and you would not have to commit to a data plan for the tablet. That's exactly what I do as well. Quote
N601RX Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 I now tether off my work paid phone. Before I had a LTE phone I had a Verizon Data plan by the month. I think it started a $20 month and went up depending on how much data you wanted, no contract. Quote
Hank Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 My ipad used to have a data plan on my phone account, it was $10/month. Changed from AT&T to Verizon, haven't' replaced the ipad yet, it works just great over wifi. Quote
smwash02 Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 An option would be to look into Freedom Pop. If you have a sprint tablet, you can activate it directly. Else, a hot spot can be used. Their free options are 500MB/month, which for weather updates and minor browsing is probably more than sufficient for most. Quote
gsxrpilot Posted June 27, 2016 Report Posted June 27, 2016 I travel internationally regularly and have recently started using this service. Skyroam from www.skyroam.com. Its $8 per day for unlimited data use over the cell networks and works on any carrier. No sim card needed and you only pay for the days you use. Unused days never expire and there are no other charges. Quote
bradp Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 I'm a tetherer. The additional per month plan for a tablet wasn't worth it. A gig or so of data is ~ $10. -Brad Quote
dlthig Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 I'll second or third the tethering. I have AT&T and get a bundled discount with Direct TV, plus my bride insists that we stay with AT&T since it's the only carrier that appears to work at her parents farm. In the spirit of thread hijacking...does anyone use a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet? I've got the Pro 3 and it's been good as a replacement laptop, but since it's a convertible tablet, I'd like to use it for flying. Currently, I just treat it like a computer and download what I need to fly. Quote
carusoam Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 Some days... 1) WIFI is everywhere... -or- 2) Cell phone is the only thing that works.... Case 1: While traveling in Europe, my cell phone didn't work or it was incredibly expensive... Skype made it possible to make low cost phone calls using the wifi connection... Case 2: Some days you are on the edge of town and no wifi is available or a transformer blows and you have no electricity for a few hours... The iPad tethered to the iPhone keeps your WingX and MS alive... you wouldn't want to watch an HD movie this way. That would eat a lot of data from any plan... setting up tethering on the i system is easy. Other devices have this ability as well... Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
Oldguy Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 1 hour ago, dlthig said: I'll second or third the tethering. I have AT&T and get a bundled discount with Direct TV, plus my bride insists that we stay with AT&T since it's the only carrier that appears to work at her parents farm. In the spirit of thread hijacking...does anyone use a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet? I've got the Pro 3 and it's been good as a replacement laptop, but since it's a convertible tablet, I'd like to use it for flying. Currently, I just treat it like a computer and download what I need to fly. Tried for a while to find anything for my Surface Pro to use while flying, but eventually gave up. Let me know if you have any luck as I usually get a new one given to me every time Microsoft puts out a new one. But would probably NEVER give up my iPad with FF... Quote
Marauder Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 I'll second or third the tethering. I have AT&T and get a bundled discount with Direct TV, plus my bride insists that we stay with AT&T since it's the only carrier that appears to work at her parents farm. In the spirit of thread hijacking...does anyone use a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet? I've got the Pro 3 and it's been good as a replacement laptop, but since it's a convertible tablet, I'd like to use it for flying. Currently, I just treat it like a computer and download what I need to fly. I have the Surface Book. Even when I undock the keyboard, the tablet portion is still way too big to use in the cockpit. I do love the portability of it. I think the Pro 3 and 4 have a case you can use with it. That may make it easier to use. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote
yvesg Posted June 28, 2016 Author Report Posted June 28, 2016 Thanks folks but tethering is not an option for me. As a CB I do not have a data plan on my cell... just voice (and text too but It came with the voice plan). That plan costs me very little every month and I only use the cell sparkingly. I always use my iPAD when I need something on internet so having a data plan on the cell did not appeal to me initially. If I would tether it would be the other way around: have the cell phone access the iPAD plan through wifi but I hate using internet on the cell... screen is way too small and Foreflight is on the iPAD. Since my provider for both is Canadian, roaming is quite expensive with either voice or data when I go across hence the use of Roam Mobility. I guess they are still the best option for me. I will review their options, perhaps I could buy a voice, text and data on the cell and use tethering to give data access to the ipad. Regards, Yves Quote
carusoam Posted June 28, 2016 Report Posted June 28, 2016 Having a phone and an iPad also gives some flexibility when one device croaks... An old version of WingX is resident on my phone... Best regards, -a- Quote
LANCECASPER Posted June 29, 2016 Report Posted June 29, 2016 This might be your best bet http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpdirect/straighttalk/PlanList.do?action=view&phoneFilterOptionExtensionId=13836643&productVariantExtensionId=30717424 Quote
larryb Posted June 29, 2016 Report Posted June 29, 2016 For temporary use check out the Tmobile plans. Even the regular plans have no contract. Just cancel the service when leaving the country. Quote
PMcClure Posted June 29, 2016 Report Posted June 29, 2016 I am a heavy international traveler and I have found T-mobile is the best deal. International calls are .20 per minute in most countries and unlimited data is included (3G speeds). They used to have unlocked phones for sell at T-mobile stores but I think they ended this option. Also check out Wal-mart Tracfones. Quote
yvesg Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Posted June 29, 2016 13 hours ago, LANCECASPER said: This might be your best bet http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpdirect/straighttalk/PlanList.do?action=view&phoneFilterOptionExtensionId=13836643&productVariantExtensionId=30717424 Do you know if the sim expires? With Roam Mobility, if you don't use it for 6 months you need to purchase a package even if you cannot use it to keep it active. Yves Quote
peevee Posted June 29, 2016 Report Posted June 29, 2016 we have verizon and it's $10 a month to add the tablet to our existing data pool Quote
flyboy0681 Posted June 29, 2016 Report Posted June 29, 2016 On 6/27/2016 at 0:07 PM, Oldguy said: Yves, If you have a phone with a reasonable data plan you might consider is tethering your tablet to it, if possible, when you do not have access to a wi-fi connection. You would still incur costs, but often times it is surprising the difference in one company's data costs versus another. Maybe not the best solution, but one which could be used when absolutely the only choice, and you would not have to commit to a data plan for the tablet. I use the tethering feature a lot, and I mean a lot. I use it not only to connect my iPad to the outside world but my laptop when I'm at a client site or hotel and don't want to connect to their internal Internet. AT&T has offered me unlimited data for all of our phones, the only condition is that I would no longer be able to tether. No deal. Quote
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