Internet on the go??

What is the best Hot spot box out there? I think that next year I will be travailing around a bit and want to be able to upload my photos online to my website and Facebook so I will need a way to do so.

I just use my phone as a hotspot, with LTE it's REALLY fast.

They have a limited bandwidth you can use so just be careful. Check with your carrier to see if it's in your phone plan. I have it on my VZW and I just use my phone. I never had it until I changed to the newer plans so I always have a MiFi but not anymore.

I too just use my phone, although hotspots may get better battery life (I really don't know). However, it'd be much cheaper to just buy a large battery pack for your phone than to buy a hotspot.

Are you sure Wi-Fi isn't an option? If you go with cell networks, you might also have to pay roaming fees.

We use Verizon JetPacks for work, they work VERY well! When I travel though, I just use my phone. It's not as fast as the JetPack, but it works.

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I see a lot of people here suggest using your phone. Which makes me wonder, if one wants to upload full resolution files to their website or cloud storage for backup and archiving, and each file is, say, 25 or 30 megabytes...can a phone do that? I mean, how do you get such large files from your desktop to your phone? With all of the folks that are shooting 40MP+ files these days, I wonder if smartphones are really up to the task.

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If you have a Smartphone that will allow you to create a Hotspot, and a reasonable data plan there
is absolutely no problem. I have basically had a mobile office with my phone, laptop and tablet. The "gotcha" is your data plan...

Regards,

110yd

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18080297
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I see a lot of people here suggest using your phone. Which makes me wonder, if one wants to upload full resolution files to their website or cloud storage for backup and archiving, and each file is, say, 25 or 30 megabytes...can a phone do that? I mean, how do you get such large files from your desktop to your phone? With all of the folks that are shooting 40MP+ files these days, I wonder if smartphones are really up to the task.

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You don't need to transfer the images to your phone...just use the phone as a hotspot and transfer either directly from your camera or from your computer.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18080297
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I see a lot of people here suggest using your phone. Which makes me wonder, if one wants to upload full resolution files to their website or cloud storage for backup and archiving, and each file is, say, 25 or 30 megabytes...can a phone do that? I mean, how do you get such large files from your desktop to your phone? With all of the folks that are shooting 40MP+ files these days, I wonder if smartphones are really up to the task.

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typically you put the photos on your computer and then connect your computer to the phone and use it's data connection. Cities and interstate corridors with any kind of population will have pretty fast connections for phones, but more rural areas may have slower connections. The slower the connection the higher likelihood of problems, but for the most part it should work fine.

I would think that grabbing an internet connection at a hotel, book store, coffee shop or even a McDonalds when out in the middle of nowhere would be a reliable way to go.

I got rid of my hot spot a few years ago and just use my phone like everyone else. When traveling we even use the phone to stream movies to the TV in the RV. If I can stream HD movies I can't imagine having any issues uploading images. In some areas my phones connection seems faster than my home connection.

We use a Jetpack for access in hotels if they don't have free wifi and while driving (Wifey's laptop). For just a quick check online, I'll fire up the hotspot app on the iPhone. We have a 6GB shared plan.

I use my phone. For international travel, I rent a SIM card locally and sign up for a data package instead of getting a cut-throat rate of international package from US carriers like Verizon and AT&T.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18080297
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I see a lot of people here suggest using your phone. Which makes me wonder, if one wants to upload full resolution files to their website or cloud storage for backup and archiving, and each file is, say, 25 or 30 megabytes...can a phone do that? I mean, how do you get such large files from your desktop to your phone? With all of the folks that are shooting 40MP+ files these days, I wonder if smartphones are really up to the task.

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You don't transfer the image from the camera to the phone. The phone acts as a wireless modem. You transfer the image to your laptop or whatever internet-enabled device that you're using while that device is connected to the internet via your phone.

If a phone is being used as a mobile hot spot, can the phone still be used? Or does any of its features become unuseable?

For the OP, here's an interesting article...
http://thewirecutter.c​om …est-mobile-wi-fi-hotspot/

Traveling overseas I got in the habit of visiting local libraries, most of which have numerous PC's for public use. A few years ago, while cruising Alaska, I found the library to be a good option due to poor cell reception and costs aboard ship. Just remember to bring a card reader, it opens up many possibilities.

It depends on the phone/carrier. I have an iphone with Verizon. Using it as a hot spot, I can use other apps, email, Safari, facebook, etc. I cannot talk on the phone and have the hot spot at the same time.