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So, although I consider myself fairly tech savvy, I am self taught in all of it, and haven't yet caught on to what a WIFI hotspot would/could do for me, though several people mention it to me offhand as an alternative to my issue, but none have been willing/able to explain whether or not this will actually work.
I work from home/telecommute. I make outgoing calls through VOIP, use the internet to connect to work sites. My problem is that when I experience random internet outages - things that would just minorly annoy the average user, it can cost me a days work, though more often just half a day or so. I'm so tired of being forced to use my PTO in 2-4 hour segments!
So - my question is -can a wifi hotspot take the place of my normal internet connection? Will it handle the VOIP calls? Through Verizon, I can add one for $20 a month - but it only includes 2G of data... would that be enough? In an 8 hour period, I typically make about 100 calls, avg duration of 2-3 minutes each
Anyone out there that can help me? The $20/mo cost is negligible when compared to my income, even if I only need to use this service 8 hours a month or so
i installed cyanogenmod (which has wifi hotspot pre-configured in the menu) on a friends fone. they own their business and didnt want to pay for a business internet line. they live in an lte area so they offer free wifi to their customers while being able to take calls on the fone and take orders on their laptop.
Thank you for replying Stanley, but I'm not sure I understand your answer, in regard to my question.
Are you saying that I should download the cyanogenmod to my personal cell phone, which will give me free, unlimited wifi and handle the VOIP calls? Making my phone the wifi... for free, not affecting my phone's data plan, etc?
Are you saying that I should download the cyanogenmod to my personal cell phone, which will give me free, unlimited wifi and handle the VOIP calls?
Cyanogenmod is an open-source operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, based on the Android mobile platform. It may have as many as 50 million users.
Are you currently using a cable company as your ISP? When you say it "goes down" are you talking about losing all calls? Can you operate your business with just voice during the outages, or do you need data? I mean you can get a home based cellular system for $15 a month from Walmart with unlimited domestic calls.
I use a cable company as my ISP. I live in a rural area and options are limited. ATT or Northland here - I have experience with ATT, and they have just as many service interruptions as the cable company. Because the phone system is VOIP, I lose internet and phone connections. Now, I can make calls with my cell phone temporarily (only concern there is that calls aren't recorded. Employer prefers them, and they protect me from lying clients who later claim I didn't say this or that), but will need internet to connect to via my desktop computer at the least to connect to company websites I must login to (CRM)
My personal cell calling plan is unlimited, and using *67 might lessen the number of people I connect with for the time I'm using it (people don't answer restricted calls in greater numbers than they avoid my unknown number), but as I'm looking for a band aid, not an everyday plan, that might work
And I don't need to call everyone on my list during outages. Just "new forms" and returning scheduled calls would be sufficient.
I think I'm getting it... use my cell to make the calls, but a wifi hotspot would handle the internet usage ... I could connect my computer to that. But what kind of data usage would be needed to access CRM for 2-4 hours? Anyone know that?
Our phone plan currently allows 3g of data for two of us... I rarely use it (less than .5/mo). Husband uses 2-3G/mo when he's working (listening to the radio). My experience with data limits/req is limited, at best
Thank you for replying Stanley, but I'm not sure I understand your answer, in regard to my question.
Are you saying that I should download the cyanogenmod to my personal cell phone, which will give me free, unlimited wifi and handle the VOIP calls? Making my phone the wifi... for free, not affecting my phone's data plan, etc?
what paco said. essentially cyanogenmod (as well as other roms) takeaway certain limitations imposed by the official roms from manufacturers. some fones are easy to install alternate os's on some are hard (and a few are impossible) depending on manufacturer and model. it may very well be easier to pay for the carriers hotspot app.
the benefit of an alternate rom (especially one that includes wifi hotspot) is that the carrier wont know what data is hotspot and what data is regular fone usage therefor everything is tolled as fone usage.
essentially using your fone as a wifi router should work the same as any wifi router you would buy in a store.
Last edited by stanley-88888888; 07-16-2015 at 07:28 PM..
Do you get really good VZW signal at your house? I mean like a consistent 4-5 bars on your cell.
If you do not, forget this idea right now. Even if I did get great signal I still would not rely on a hotspot for my personal home WiFi.
I cannot believe people are recommending you ROOT and ROM your phone. Come on guys....
Even if you did that, you would still need to pay for the data you use. "ROM'ing" isn't some shortcut to get free data. All it does is save you that $20 monthly charge. and YES you will need a LOT of data. No way will 2GB cut it using it daily.
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