Quote:
Originally Posted by PacoMartin
Yes, I do have a question. Here are some sample plans.
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What does one do? Do you watch antenna TV to keep your data usage down? Do you pay less than $100 per month per person?
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We stream 100% of our TV watching, and usually use between 250 and 300 GB per month.
We knew that we were going to do this a couple of years before we did, so I held onto my original Grandfathered Verizon Unlimited Plan. It's actually a 2008 Alltel plan with no throttling or network management, unlimited text, and 500 minutes of talk (including free cell to cell on Verizon, and My Circle, so I can easily manage with 500 minutes). Through various tricks, we've managed to keep these lines under contract until this year (one line still has a few months of contract left).
That Verizon plan has 3 lines and Verizon has no limitation on using these plans in Jetpacks / MiFis, so two of the SIM cards get rotated between a Jetpack and a spare phone. We attempt to keep the usage at about 100 GB per line each month (a threshold that Verizon was using a couple of years back to terminate these plans). The third line is my phone.
We also have an AT&T Connected Car Unlimited plan that was available for a short time a year or so ago. The device that this plan uses (a Mobley) doesn't actually communicate with the car, so you can use it by just plugging it into a 12 v power supply. That plan is has unlimited data with network management at 25 GB, but we've gone well over that several times without issues.
My wife's phone is on a T-Mobile One+ International plan (unlimited voice, text, and data with 50 GB network management, and unlimited Mobile Hotspot, all available internationally). We can use it as a backup, or when traveling in Canada or Mexico as our Verizon and AT&T plans won't work there.
We tend to be somewhere new every week or two, so having multiple carriers is important so that I can work for my clients.
All of that gear is tied through a couple of travel routers into a single "house" router, so that all of our equipment in the fifth wheel connects to a single network, and I can change the carrier / device providing the signal above the house network without having to change anything else. We also have a WeBoost cell booster, and two antennas on the roof that plug directly to the Verizon Jetpack to help with signal.
Per person cost is tough: On my old Verizon plan the first device (my phone) is $109 per month. My wife's T-Mobile plan is $95 a month. So for phones only we're just over $100 per person.
On the Verizon plan, extra lines are $60 each (they used to be $40) but don't allow tethering, so I add tethering to one line for $30. We pay $150 for those two extra Verizon lines.
The AT&T plan is $20 (a killer deal).
None of those numbers include taxes, fees, equipment payment plans, or insurance.
We belong to several groups of other full time travelers (boaters and RVers), and our setup is similar to what at lot of others use (and we're in the middle of the range in terms of complication and cost).
While many of these plans are no longer available, there are a number of companies and individuals that resell or rent older unlimited plans from the different carriers (some of it is grey / black market, and some is legit), so a lot of people use those (rentals of old plans can range from $60 - $200 a month).
A lot of people also use plans that include unlimited "on device" data, and just use an HDMI cable (or wireless screen mirroring) to mirror the phone or tablet to the TV.
There are also some industry groups (like FMCA) that have re-seller agreements with the carriers that allow them to sell plans to their members (although the Verizon FMCA plan is throttled hard at 25 GB).
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4G instead of cable
