New Toshiba Lap Top and Verizon Hotspot

[RichZ]

My wife and I live in a rural area in upstate New York. There's no cable here, and cell phone reception is terrible and neighbors have had no luck with various satelite internet systems. We thought we were doomed to live with dial up, and we hate dial up, with our max of 28.8 KBS. Slow isn't even the word for it.

My wife wants a new lap top, and we started looking today. We discovered that Verizon has a new system (or at least new to our limited knowlwdge) called Hotspot. After having several stores tell us that we're in range for receiving it, and spending the day shopping around, we came home with a Toshiba lap top (Satellite P755-S5320). We shoped around, and got the best deal we could get at Best Buy.

Amazingly, the Hot SPot is working, my wife is trying it out right now (I'm on our old lap top). Has anyone ever used this Hot Spot? After about 15 minutes of use, my wife says it doesn't seem faster than dial up, but at least it's wireless, and we could use the phone and be on the computer at the same time. Maybe we're not using it correctly yet, and we'll discover it's faster than our first try. Also, does anyone have any experience with this model lap top?

Thanks for any info!!!

 

[Skyco]

It works on the cell system also. If your cell phone service is poor then your Hotspot service will be poor too.
One plus, compared to a usb modem, is you can place your Hotspot in a "hot spot" for good signal and leave it there. There should be a diag or test page you can get to that will show signal level. Find the best "hot spot" in your house and leave it there.
Tip- best signal is often near a window and upstairs if you have that.

 

[ronjhall]

Low quality signal will cause slow speeds. Consider getting a external antenna. One of the best places to get info and supplies is 3G Store. Give them a call. They have very good tech support.

 

[J_J]

I have 4G on my phone and 3G on my Samsung tablet, and it is pretty fast, and should work fine if your phone service is working. I am using Verizon.

They both have Hotspot.

 

[Chuck52]

My daughter has the AT&T version 4G. I've got DSL. We tried her connection vs my DSL and though the DSL was faster, the 4G was pretty impressive, especially since you can use it wherever you have a signal. She used it on a trip to St. Louis to book a room while they were on the road.

Her cost is about what I pay for a simple non-data phone plan plus my DSL on the land line, so I'm thinking of going that route.

Chuck