Please explain 5GB Mifi cap!

I currently have a home wireless network with a Linksys router and DSL modem from the local telco. My husband and I will embarking on our full-time RV adventure within the next year and I am considering Mifi.

Could someone explain to me the 5GB limit? We are hardly casual Internet users as we both are avid forum participators, online gamers, and I have a website for my photography which I maintain (on another server, of course). We are on the Internet for at least 4-5 hours/day. How is the 5GB calculated? Would we go over the limit considering our usage? (I haven't given my Internet usage a thought since the mid-90's - seems a bit archaic!)

Karen

Message Edited by Kregister on 08-24-2009 11:40 PM

Accepted answers

AlexSian

i participate on over a dozen RV forums. the majority of RVers will not approach 5GB use in a month.

make sure you resize your photos before uploading to your site, and keep the video watching to a minimum.

this article lists a chart with an explanation of common uses and how much you can do these things before hitting 5GB.

http://bit.ly/5-GB

All comments

stumpymd

Hi. I will try to do the best I can in my limited computer speak. I just got a VZW HP mini Netbook. It also has

a 5 GB per billing month maximum usage while using the software for the HP netbook called the VZ Access

Manager. The VZ Access Manager allows you to connect to the Internet. The fee is like $60/billing cycle.

With the netbook you are given a phone number that corresponds to the netbook and to your VZ Access

Manager Connect time. So whenever I log in using the VZ Access Manager...the usage is added up and counted

against my phone number on my VZW account up to 5 GB and then I am charged $0.05 for each MB I go over.

Now, since I have WiFi in my house, as long as I don't log in using the VZ Access Mgr that is connected to my

phone # associated with the netbook I am not going to be counting up usage against the 5GB. So I use my

WiFi while I am in my house and the other VZ Access manager when I take my Netbook out of my house to the

Doctor's office or to a friends house etc. So I try to stay under the 5GB.

With the VZW MiFi you buy it for whatever $100 and there is a $60 a month connectivity fee kind of like the VZ

Access Manager I think. It is good for 5 devices I believe. So when you are traveling you would want to use it on

the RV and when you stop tap into whatever secure WiFi you can find in coffee shops or other hotels. There are

ways you can connect through your cellular phone also if it has WiFi but I don't possess the knowledge yet to explain

how to do that to you, much less how to do it myself.

I hope this helps you to understand a little bit about MiFi and the 5GB cap. Any more ?'s please feel free to

write me directly and I will see what I can do to help.

Love your Elders and animals. Thanks Stumpy

AlexSian

i participate on over a dozen RV forums. the majority of RVers will not approach 5GB use in a month.

make sure you resize your photos before uploading to your site, and keep the video watching to a minimum.

this article lists a chart with an explanation of common uses and how much you can do these things before hitting 5GB.

http://bit.ly/5-GB

Deamore

RVr's make up a handful of mobile broadband users but nothing compared to rural users whose only form of broadband is mobile. Just so you know 5GB of bandwidth doesn't necessarily equate to 5GB of data downloaded. I use a couple programs like Firefox Throttle, Adblock and Flashblock to save me bandwidth that i shouldn't be concerned about conserving considering i'm a pretty casual user but there are more then just me that use this connection. Firefox throttle nerfs your bandwidth to where you set it from 56K to full speed. Why should a person have to go to those lengths to enjoy HIGH SPEED broadband? We consumers are being raked over the coals right now because of non regulated telecoms charging whatever they want to.

I switched to Verizon because of the speed upgrade. Centennial Wireless has 256k UNLIMITED data for 47 bucks a month which actually was fine for surfing but i needed more speed for other applications namely VOIP. I love my Verizon service but i feel that i should get more for what i pay thats for sure. Last time i had limited internet was about 6 months after the internet as we know it went live.

Kregister

Thanks for everyone's replies! I have studied the http://bit.ly/5-GB page and have decided to wait a bit. Just not sure if we would exceed the 5GB limit or not. We do a LOT of web surfing, video watching, gaming, etc. I download iTunes movies and TV shows and I stream Sirrus radio over the Internet. To be perfectly honest, I don't want to get into a 2-year contract and then find out it's not suitable. Of course, if it's the only option we'll have, then we'll just have to deal with it. (We are thinking of being traveling Med Techs, so we would be moving every 3 months or so, so changing ISP's every time would be a pain!) By the time we've sold our house and bought our 5th wheel, and have all of our ducks in a row, maybe Verizon will change the plan to unlimited.

Karen