Hot Spot while car is off

[2500ltd]

Hey all. Is there a way to keep the Hot Spot active even if the car if off. For instance, while at a campground. Any info welcome.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I don’t have the answer to your question but I do have a question of my own.

Why would you want internet while you’re camping?

 

[towingnp]

I don’t have the answer to your question but I do have a question of my own.

Why would you want internet while you’re camping?

Good question. Mostly want piece and quiet while camping but there are times when we need it to stay in touch with family/work.

 

[Greenhills]

Probably not unless you leave the ignition on.

 

[BAT3500]

i work from home now and most of my camping trips are now business related so internet access is a must. The wifi performance of these trucks are so pathetic and the plans so overpriced i dont bother fooling with it. Much better using your phone as a hotspot or another lte service.

 

[Brutal_HO]

i work from home now and most of my camping trips are now business related so internet access is a must. The wifi performance of these trucks are so pathetic and the plans so overpriced i dont bother fooling with it. Much better using your phone as a hotspot or another lte service.

WFC. Work from Camp.

In the summer I do WFL. Work from Lake. Very limited work.

Thankfully, I have both phone hotspot/tether and a MiFi that work provides. There is one lake we go to that has only crap T-mobile cell service and I refuse to use a burner just for that one.

 

[gimmie11s]

I don’t have the answer to your question but I do have a question of my own.

Why would you want internet while you’re camping?

Pandora or like mentioned above, working while camping. Although that doesnt sound fun.

 

[gimmie11s]

i work from home now and most of my camping trips are now business related so internet access is a must. The wifi performance of these trucks are so pathetic and the plans so overpriced i dont bother fooling with it. Much better using your phone as a hotspot or another lte service.

$17/month is overpriced? Also.. out this way the ATT wifi performs very well according to some friends that have it. I'll know soon enough..

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Duh. streaming music. I forgot all about that. I stream music when I’m in the woods in my Toyota. I don’t know how I have service but it’s nice to stream tunes and know in a medical emergency/ accident we can get someone on the horn

 

[The_Timmay!]

Hey all. Is there a way to keep the Hot Spot active even if the car if off. For instance, while at a campground. Any info welcome.

I also am looking to WFC and the wifi hotspot is actually fairly robust when you are on an AT&T cell tower. I need constant data up/down for my VOIP lines and rather than idle the truck for hours on end, I would love to be able to leave the truck on and even plug in a battery charger to keep it going (most of the camping we do here and there would have hookups, but the wifi services are never robust enough to support VOIP work). When I tried this with my 2019 Jeep, the power would still cycle off after about 30 mins and if I was on a call, I'd have to wait 5 mins for everything to reboot and sync up again. Now, I have a 2020 2500 with the 12" screen and I'd love to be able to work while we're out. Any suggestions?

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I don’t have the answer to your question but I do have a question of my own.

Why would you want internet while you’re camping?

I assume most people are more glampers than campers these days

 

[Brutal_HO]

I assume most people are more glampers than campers these days

I often have to work when at the lake. Customer emergencies, standing project meetings, etc.

I know others that ghost work remote or are business owners and not officially on PTO.

For some, it's the nature of our job. Modern day PTO not PTO.

There are also those that work and RV full time.

IOW, too many assumptions on how others live their lives seems to be the bigger problem.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I often have to work when at the lake. Customer emergencies, standing project meetings, etc.

I know others that ghost work remote or are business owners and not officially on PTO.

For some, it's the nature of our job. Modern day PTO not PTO.

There are also those that work and RV full time.

IOW, too many assumptions on how others live their lives seems to be the bigger problem.

I said most people… i know some people do work on the road but not a whole lot of people…. There is a ton of people who are glampers thats not an assumption at all my inlaws are some of them….

 

[BAT3500]

We use one of these and cheap att plan most of the time. If att not available in an area, we got got a burner phone with on a visible sim. Either method is portable and you could use a variety of sim cards and plans to suit your area.

 

[dm6]

I also am looking to WFC and the wifi hotspot is actually fairly robust when you are on an AT&T cell tower. I need constant data up/down for my VOIP lines and rather than idle the truck for hours on end, I would love to be able to leave the truck on and even plug in a battery charger to keep it going (most of the camping we do here and there would have hookups, but the wifi services are never robust enough to support VOIP work). When I tried this with my 2019 Jeep, the power would still cycle off after about 30 mins and if I was on a call, I'd have to wait 5 mins for everything to reboot and sync up again. Now, I have a 2020 2500 with the 12" screen and I'd love to be able to work while we're out. Any suggestions?

So the truck actually has to be running in order for it to work? It can't just be on?

 

[The_Timmay!]

You can turn the ignition on and it'll work. The problem is, it will time out and shutdown. I assume the software is programmed to prevent full battery drain? If there's a work around for that to be changed to a couple hours at a time or something, I could live with it. The nice thing about using the truck's modem is the cell antenna. You can generally still have service with it when you can't with your handheld. I have an AT&T LTE router and it works fairly decent too, but the data limitations are difficult to manage. The VOIP system is constantly sending packets back and forth - even when I'm not on an active call. The truck's plan is unlimited and I only pay $15/month. Kind of a no brainer if I can figure this out.

 

[dm6]

You can turn the ignition on and it'll work. The problem is, it will time out and shutdown. I assume the software is programmed to prevent full battery drain? If there's a work around for that to be changed to a couple hours at a time or something, I could live with it. The nice thing about using the truck's modem is the cell antenna. You can generally still have service with it when you can't with your handheld. I have an AT&T LTE router and it works fairly decent too, but the data limitations are difficult to manage. The VOIP system is constantly sending packets back and forth - even when I'm not on an active call. The truck's plan is unlimited and I only pay $15/month. Kind of a no brainer if I can figure this out.

OK, I get it. I never even thought about having a use for the Hotspot feature until I read how cheap it was in the forums and thought for that price, at least the kids could log into it to watch movies on trips. So I went from just wanting the 8 inch screen without nav to getting the 12 inch . But then I also thought it might be good someday to watch a movie camping if it is raining all day like it did last week when I went camping.

 

[jeffn]

I have the hotspot plan and it works really well. I use it a lot when I’m on the road. I have a megacab with the back setup as a bunk. When I shut down to rest I need an hour or so to do work stuff and with the key set to AC I find it cycles off between 20-30 minutes. Pretty frustrating, I have yet to find a way to keep it on other than letting the truck idle.

 

[alval1959]

I have the same issue with the hot spot timing out when ACC is on. Has anyone found a way to power it without having the ACC on ?

 

[techman]

I don't understand why you would use a car as a WiFi connection. Most, if not all, have a smartphone that you already pay for a data plan. So, use your phone for tethering or as a WiFi hotspot for your non cell devices. Why pay for another data plan in your car?

I assume the carrier you use for your phones is something you like and pay for. So...use it!