I have a Ram 3500 promaster camper van and at night we like to stream some TV and use the laptop for various things. I'm paying for unlimited data and would like to use it without running the vehicle so it won't time out and tethering the phone gets spotty and slow.
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Hot Spot while car is off
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techman
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What are the tethering allowances on your phone plan? You need to read the details as some do restrict tethering speeds and data caps. Unlimited these days doesn't mean much.
Before retiring, I too had to "be available", even on vacation. Luckily, most of my other senior leaders understood this and would only reach out in extreme emergencies. During these "oh s***" moments, it was understood all actions would be verbal, and I would follow up with written documentation when I returned. My techs would call either just to give me a heads up or approval. When we were bought out, the new company wasn't as flexible and were uber micromanagers. So I would change my PTO to full work day. My regional director didn't like it, but it was what it was.
And you are correct, PTO today is not the same as PTO back in the day...
I did tethering in my last RV and had a lot of buffering issues and that got old fast so I installed a pepwave and pointing antenna by Mobile Must Have which was very good but also expensive and the plan was not cheap. I'm trying to avoid that because we are no longer full time RVer's but travel for month at a time and the plan AT&T offered was priced right so I purchased that before I realized the power issue with the current system. If that system could be powered up for a few hours that would be fine because I have solar panels and a generator to recharge the batteries ,it's something Ram and Winnebago should have thought of , it would be a good selling feature.
That is the best but also pricey.
Until I upgraded to the iphone 14, my truck would get a stronger signal in remote locations
Friend's GMC has a much better signal too. He takes work calls (webex/teams. etc.) in the truck at the lakes we go to as they drop out on his phone or don't connect.
Jerry McLellan
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I am reading this thread for the primary reason of figuring out how to keep the wifi on without the truck running.
To respond to this comment - phone hotspot and tethering data has usage caps, while the truck wifi is unlimited - enough said! Add to that the fact that the cellular modem antenna appears to be installed in the shark fin on the roof, and you get stronger signals that you would with phones inside the truck. If you are actually using your phone for everything, I agree with you, but I need to use my laptop, and even if I had the cellular modem in the laptop, the laptop plans are more expensive, and NOT unlimited like the truck is. We are getting a truck camper, and streaming YouTube TV will be a primary purpose, along with the laptop. Although retired, I spend most of my time investing, and using my broker trading platform on a phone or even a tablet is way to hard to use (too easy to make mistakes in trades). Even other hotspots that you can buy have very limited data caps for the prices. I know there are some grandfathered data plans, but I don't have those. So, if I can't get enough data out of our phone hotspots, truck wifi, and any campground free wifi, Starlink is probably the next most cost effective for the many gigs of data I use in a month - and Starlink for RV's is now $150 per month, PLUS the hardware cost. So getting some more data for under $25 including taxes per month "might" get me enough data. When driving (wife driving that is) I can use my laptop and truck wifi, without interuption, but when stationary at any camp site, especially in the evening before going to sleep, it is too difficult to get out of the camper, and turn the truck back to on or ACC every 30 minutes. IF there is a way to disable that time-out is really the primary question. I actually considered trying to remote start the truck from inside the camper, which I believe will only run for 10-15 minutes if it would allow the hotspot to work for another 30 minutes after that.
I realize this is an old post but I know most of you are missing the point. As was said the antenna increases the range making it a viable solution when you in parts of this country where cell service is less than supreme, you can Wi-Fi call. Second they market as a business point so you are able to work from the job site. My High Country worked in accessory mode in Yellowstone. If you look at it from a parents view you don’t need to leave it running when the kids want Wi-Fi, really my thought would be they are trying to support the oil companies without violating the fuel economy.
FLNaturist
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FLNaturist
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daemonic3
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It has been a year and checking in on this thread I found doing a search - has anyone found a way to disable the 30 min ACC timeout?
This past weekend we were at a campground with "no cell service" and no wifi (other than the lodge, which was a trek). We have tmobile, and walking around the [absolutely massive] campgrounds it would come and go, notifications would trickle in, but absolutely not enough to do anything or stream. Wasn't wanting to stream or do work, but definitely wanted to check in with our daughters, one in college and one at home and/or working.
In my previous F150 Powerboost, I could keep the truck on in generator mode and it would sit quietly (no engine due to being a hybrid) with full ignition on and no timeouts. I'm absolutely not running a diesel engine every 30 minutes to prevent hotspot from turning off. So it would be huge benefit if the AT&T antenna was able to get enough signal for us, and I could activate my 3 month trial for the summer. Way better than walking a mile at 11pm in the dark to get data!
If anyone found an AlfaOBD setting I'd try that as well.
This past weekend we were at a campground with "no cell service" and no wifi (other than the lodge, which was a trek). We have tmobile, and walking around the [absolutely massive] campgrounds it would come and go, notifications would trickle in, but absolutely not enough to do anything or stream. Wasn't wanting to stream or do work, but definitely wanted to check in with our daughters, one in college and one at home and/or working.
In my previous F150 Powerboost, I could keep the truck on in generator mode and it would sit quietly (no engine due to being a hybrid) with full ignition on and no timeouts. I'm absolutely not running a diesel engine every 30 minutes to prevent hotspot from turning off. So it would be huge benefit if the AT&T antenna was able to get enough signal for us, and I could activate my 3 month trial for the summer. Way better than walking a mile at 11pm in the dark to get data!
If anyone found an AlfaOBD setting I'd try that as well.