We'll be doing a major trip next month and wondered whether anyone is using the Great-Call (Jitterbug)system for phone and Internet service.

We'd rather not get into a long term contract and don't need a lot of bells and whistles.

WiFi just doesn't seem to do it since we'd want to do campground searches on our laptop before we get to a potential place to stay.

Any suggestions?

We have Virgin Mobile, no contract, $35 month for phone w/ internet. Here's a link to their mobile hotspots. http://www.virginmobileusa.com...band/broadband-2-go/
Our only criticism is that VM is on the Sprint network and does not have service everywhere.
Overall we're very happy. The price makes up for the occasional missing signal.

We use Verizon wireless modems. They can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis, you buy the device and then decide the amount of coverage you need (ie the number of giga-bites/month)
Verizon has pretty good coverage in the Arizona/new mex/nevada areas, and has worked quite well for us (we were even getting coverage where verizon did not seem to have a much of cell phone system)
Had previously used Cricket which had coverage more in city areas only.
This is the link:

http://www.verizonwireless.com...&deviceCategoryId=15

I have phone and internet service with Straight Talk, like Stinky Daddy service is pretty good and I pay less than 40 bucks a month and no contract.

We have jitterbug phones, and have used a Verizon air card up until April when we got a Verizon Mifi so we could use our computer and Kindles together. Had real marginal coverage for both for 3 weeks at a place in Missouri but now very fast in Illinois. Can't wait to see how fast the Mifi is in a 4G area!

Just got me a mobile wifi hotspot from US Cellular. You can connect 4 devices to it and starts at $25 for 2GB data per month. Was told though that away from the home territory it will not be fast. And I sure have not tried it out yet

had my mobile hotspot now for a few days and I like it. You charge it like a cellphone, it is about the size of a deck of cards and very portable. You can connect your laptop, Kindle, Notebook or whatever to it for internet service. Use in your car on the go or sitting in your yard.
It is password protected (so your friendly neighbor should not be able to use it). Works on 3Gs.

Thanks, all, for the responses to this thread. We settled on the Jitterbug "Touch" smartphone and are well on our way to becoming as smart as the phone (ya think?). Whatever Jitterbug Great Call uses for carriers seems to work as their coverage map is well populated. We'll be hitting the road on Monday. The fact that we'll have the Internet for most of the many miles to come is comforting to say the least.

We'll be taking the northern route and heading west to Mt. Rushmore for the GTG.

Lou, does Jitterbug have a mobile hot spot like Marvis and Doris have or are you depending on your smart phone for internet? If so, does the phone act like a mobile hot spot?
Jim

Hi Jim,

I'm still learning this thing but here's what I've got so far:

If you've got a cell phone signal, you can search the Internet. If you do a search (and a lot of other stuff) it will cost you. If you can find an accessible WiFi hotspot, your phone has a function to read the signal and you will be on the 'Net and won't pay anything to move data around.

I'm told there is also a function to place the phone near your laptop and it will act as a WiFi hotspot. Haven't mastered that one yet.

The documentation covering the Jitterbug phone and Great Call host appears to be pretty thorough, and the people are good about working with you. Battery life seems reasonable, and according to their diagram, signals should be available in most places.

They advocate a hookup with Google, and so I used a Google email address I had not used until now. It appears that having such a hookup will make it easier to download any of the many apps available.

If you have specific questions you might want to give them a call. Just search for their 800 number. I've easily gotten through to them several times now.

Best regards,

Last year I came to the USA for my 3 months trip. I have an IPhone 4S unlocked. I went to Verison and the phone would not work, went to Tmobile and it would not work, went to ATT and it did work on their system. Unlocked but really sort of locked.

I got a medium package and had one mistake with going to canada for a few hours and was going to be billed $300 as I left my phone on, they claim the phone uses data all the time. I called and for $30 they dropped the charge one time.

So after 11 weeks, my total bill was $645 for all in, with this and that and tax and fees and whatever.

I use unlimited internet in Thailand for $34/month. This was quite a shock.

I have since found that using a 3G hotspot or another phone as a hotspot you can indeed get $30/month data plan.

So this next visit I will use a cheap $25 prepaid phone for calls and a data plan from Virgin or some other supplier for about $30/month. I can get by with about $150/3 months I hope.