Low cost cellular wi-fi for hangar??

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buzzard86

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Oct 5, 2009
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Warrington, PA
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Jim R
Hey gang -

Looking for ideas. I'm currently piggybacking off of a public wi-fi at my airport but I'm some distance from the router. I installed a repeater on the top of my hangar but service is still spotty. Using it primarily to turn a wifi switch on/off for my preheater, and to use an Alexa for music and Firestick for TV just when I'm in the hangar.

I shouldn't need a whole lot of data but do need an always on connection so that I can turn on the heater. Are there any good, cheaper options than the $50/month cellular wi fi plans from TMobile, Comcast, etc. I was thinking that a hotspot with a bare bones data plan might work, but read somewhere that they have to be restarted daily to refresh the IP address.

-Jim
 
Verizon or T-Mobile home internet. If you have their mobile service you might be able to add on a plan for something cheap like $30/month. But generally $50/month is the norm. I have one and I also use it when I travel or go camping, I like that it’s mobile.

You can also search tmobile test drive, they might have a 1-3 month free trial hotspot or data plan that you can use. A lot of carriers offer 3 months free plans for you to “try” their service. Sometimes a hotspot device is included, sometimes not. They are not as reliable as the home internet option.
 
I don't have it, but guys near me bought some text unit from Radio Shack a few years ago and load "the card" with text messages at half a penny each message and use that to cycle their heater on and off. Gary Masceli here I think does that as well ...
 
T-Mo lets you tether to a phone (Perhaps ATT and/or VZW do as well; They didn't used to and I haven't looked at them for some time). The cost of an additional line if you're on any kind of multi-line family plan should be nominal or at least tolerable. So you can add a line, put a cheap phone on it, and tether to it via WiFi for service at your hangar.
 
Verizon lets you use your phone as a mobile hotspot, costs nothing extra if you don't exceed the phone's data allowance.

We also have a Verizon "Jetpack" portable hotspot which is only $10/month if you already have another line on a family plan. They call it "unlimited" data but what that really means is that the first 2GB/month is full speed, after which you're throttled. For limited use at the hangar 2GB may be all you need. Actually they call it "prioritized", not throttled, which means that your actual speed depends on how many others are using the local towers at that moment. During off hours we get full speed even after using up the 2GB allowance, mid day it may be as low as 600 kbps, but you never get completely cut off. I'm pretty sure it's a static IP, but if not you can always use a dynamic DNS service.

We use the Jetpack at the cabin. During the summer we replace the Verizon sim card with an aftermarket one that really is unlimited, that costs around $70/month, then we revert to Verizon's for the winter (handy for power outages and such). The Jetpack is battery powered but we leave it on and plugged in all summer.
 
I can't tether in my hangar for beans, probably because big dumb metal box. Because I am a Tmo customer, though, they let me get the 5G home internet router for 30/mo. The thing works like a champ -- streaming, zoom/teams, surfing the web -- multiple devices, no issues. I've been impressed. I have no idea why my pixel 6a sucks and this little trashcan router is awesome, but it is so. For me. :)
 
Is your internet company participating and installing WAN (Wide Area Networks) in the city? My iPad is non-cellular, but I can sign into my "comcast" account over their WAN while at the airport.
 
@buzzard86 you want to look at Switcheon. $50 per year, flawless function. This is for remote heater control, not internet.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
@buzzard86 you want to look at Switcheon. $50 per year, flawless function. This is for remote heater control, not internet.
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Thanks everyone. Great input here, appreciate all the replies.

Switcheon would work great, except that I really want the internet too for the stuff that I use when I'm just hanging out in the hangar. That and a tether to my current phone for temporary hot spot when I'm in the hangar might work. Currently on Verizon so that jetpack might work too. Going to check it out. Comcast is expanding what I think it the WAN service here, but if I understand correctly it's basically using bandwidth from private routers to create a mesh of sorts. I don't see any available comcast wi-fi options at the airport so I don't think it's available.
 
Disregard update below. Almost certain that any phone/ipad hotspot will time out. That's not going to work. Jetpack may still be the way if they are always on, although I read that a mint mobile plan on a Tmobile device may provide the same.
_______

Quick update, interesting new option. I have a cellular ipad that i'd retired because it was too old for ForeFlight updates. Verizon quoted me $20/month for a 15gb data plan that would turn it into a hot spot.

Any reason why this wouldn't work? I can't find a definitive answer as to whether I could leave it as an always-on wi fi source in the hangar or if I'd need to regularly restart to refresh the IP address. The latter would probably make this a non-starter.
 
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I retired a phone to the hangar as a hotspot. Worked fine until one brutal winter day killed it dead. Using a Feit outdoor outlet to turn heat on to the engine and cabin.

I bought this thing 2 years ago and it is still going:

Tello data only service of 2 GB is $6 month, or you can spend more for more data.
 
masloki said:
I retired a phone to the hangar as a hotspot. Worked fine until one brutal winter day killed it dead. Using a Feit outdoor outlet to turn heat on to the engine and cabin.

I bought this thing 2 years ago and it is still going:

Tello data only service of 2 GB is $6 month, or you can spend more for more data.
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That thing looks cool!

My plan, as of today, is to try a $20 tmobile hotspot from Amazon and a $10/mo 5gb prepaid plan. Fingers crossed.
 
My local library lends out those hotspots. You might inquire and see if you can try-free that solution
 
schmookeeg said:
My local library lends out those hotspots. You might inquire and see if you can try-free that solution
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Interesting concept. Curious, do they include service or does the borrower bring their own sim card and data plan?

In any event, I found a solution. Got a brand new TMobile hotspot on Amazon for $20 and a $10/mo 2GB prepaid plan (first 2GB are 4G/5G and then unlimited but throttled data thereafter). Since it's prepaid, I'll probably just cancel during the non-preheat months.
 
buzzard86 said:
Interesting concept. Curious, do they include service or does the borrower bring their own sim card and data plan?

In any event, I found a solution. Got a brand new TMobile hotspot on Amazon for $20 and a $10/mo 2GB prepaid plan (first 2GB are 4G/5G and then unlimited but throttled data thereafter). Since it's prepaid, I'll probably just cancel during the non-preheat months.
Click to expand...

It's limited to a week, Tmo service, I'm unclear if they data cap the week, or if the library just eats it. They're popular (I tried to get one before I got my 5G Home router and was told there was a waitlist) -- so I assume, at least for my home drome, the latter. :)

If your hangar weakens the signal, some of the hotspots can be wired with an external antenna. I see a lot of my neighbors with coax fished out of the gap in the hangar roof steel, so I assume that was their solution. :)
 
schmookeeg said:
some of the hotspots can be wired with an external antenna. I see a lot of my neighbors with coax fished out of the gap in the hangar roof steel
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That's what I've been contemplating as a solution.
I do worry about lightning though. Anybody got horror stories, or is it not a thing?
 
schmookeeg said:
It's limited to a week, Tmo service, I'm unclear if they data cap the week, or if the library just eats it. They're popular (I tried to get one before I got my 5G Home router and was told there was a waitlist) -- so I assume, at least for my home drome, the latter. :)

If your hangar weakens the signal, some of the hotspots can be wired with an external antenna. I see a lot of my neighbors with coax fished out of the gap in the hangar roof steel, so I assume that was their solution. :)
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That's cool about the library hot spot!!

I'll post back here if I have any issues with the signal. The primary use will just be to turn a Wyze switch on/off for the Reiff heater and I have a Wyze cam in there as well that I can check to confirm the heater is on (also have a lamp on the same outlet). For this simple use the setup seems to work great so far. If I can stream music from Alexa and update ForeFlight without exceeding my data cap, bonus.
 
buzzard86 said:
Interesting concept. Curious, do they include service or does the borrower bring their own sim card and data plan?

In any event, I found a solution. Got a brand new TMobile hotspot on Amazon for $20 and a $10/mo 2GB prepaid plan (first 2GB are 4G/5G and then unlimited but throttled data thereafter). Since it's prepaid, I'll probably just cancel during the non-preheat months.
Click to expand...
Does the hotspot list its operating temperature range? That’s what pushed me over to the purpose-built outdoor router.
 
masloki said:
Does the hotspot list its operating temperature range? That’s what pushed me over to the purpose-built outdoor router.
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It does not list a temperature range, and I do share that concern. For $20, I figured I'd give it a shot. If the cold ultimately takes it down then I'm going to follow your plan with an outdoor router.
 
My T-Mo Alcatel hotspot shut down last night when the temp hit -16 F. Otherwise it stays active for many days to a few weeks before I have to reconnect to the phone network for some reason. I use it to monitor a couple of web cams looking outside the hangar to see how much snow I will have to shovel! I also have 4 separately controlled WIFI 110 VAC outputs for engine heater, cabin heater, hangar lights and a spare. I can also use the hotspot to update the data cards in the airplane navigators as well as update my FF TFRs, file flight plans, etc. with my laptop so having local WIFI is a good thing. I can't tell how much the hotspot costs per month since it is rolled into my T-Mo bill for several phones.
 
What is a low cost unit that accepts an external antenna?
 
My Jetpack can use an external antenna (a pair of them, actually).
 
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