Truck Stop Internet.

[Sinister]

Back in 2009-10, I was wholly dependent on truck stop Internet services.

They seemed to work fine then.

Then, at my heavy haul job, I had a company supplied air card so I didn't care.

Nowadays, even with PFJ ads campaign about how the revamped everything, it seems truck stop Internet has gotten way worse.

Aside from using data, which in Verizon is super expensive with overages, and phones using data even when youte not using them...

WTF is up with truck stop internet??

It's terrible.

 

[Uncle Birchy]

Back in 2009-10, I was wholly dependent on truck stop Internet services.

They seemed to work fine then.

Then, at my heavy haul job, I had a company supplied air card so I didn't care.

Nowadays, even with PFJ ads campaign about how the revamped everything, it seems truck stop Internet has gotten way worse.

Aside from using data, which in Verizon is super expensive with overages, and phones using data even when youte not using them...

WTF is up with truck stop internet??

It's terrible.

The problem with TruckStop Internet is they charge Ridiculous Prices and the signal doesn't seem to cover the Parking Lot usually spotty at best....

@Sinister if you use enough internet I would suggest call Verizon and UP your Data Package or go to Best Buy or Walmart and try a prepaid WiFi Hotspot.....

T-Mobile offers 5GB of 4G at Forty Per Month....

Walmarts own Straight Talk has monthly plans or $15 dollars per Gigabyte

The advantage is that once ya buy the Hotspot it works almost anywhere

TruckStop access cost just as much ....only works at that chain.......

 

[patriciajnsn]

The problem with TruckStop Internet is they charge Ridiculous Prices and the signal doesn't seem to cover the Parking Lot usually spotty at best....

@Sinister if you use enough internet I would suggest call Verizon and UP your Data Package or go to Best Buy or Walmart and try a prepaid WiFi Hotspot.....

T-Mobile offers 5GB of 4G at Forty Per Month....

Walmarts own Straight Talk has monthly plans or $15 dollars per Gigabyte

The advantage is that once ya buy the Hotspot it works almost anywhere

TruckStop access cost just as much ....only works at that chain.......

I've never had trouble with truck stop internet in fact a flying I is whee I learn what wify was.I bought a card and the cashier set up the wify.The Petro in Oakgrove,MO has free hi speed internet.

 

[Uncle Birchy]

I've never had trouble with truck stop internet in fact a flying I is whee I learn what wify was.I bought a card and the cashier set up the wify.The Petro in Oakgrove,MO has free hi speed internet.

I dunno @patriciajnsn my overall experience with Truckstop Internet has been LOUSY maybe things have changed since then....

Also for what they charge a HOTSPOT is about the SAME Co$t and Works almost everywhere....

If you are depending on a Truckstop Plan it's only good at That Chain....

Can you park at Loves, Pilot or TA every time well NO....

A mobile HOTSPOT solves that problem and much FASTER Connection

 

[Joec111]

Boost mobile is 4g unlimited internet for $60

No Contract Phone Plans | Save Money on Prepaid High-Speed Data - Boost Mobile

You can get this windows boost phone from eBay, Amazon, best buy, etc Boost Mobile - Microsoft Lumia 635 4G No-Contract Cell Phone - Blue for $50

And this new phone cable another $50, it puts everything you see on your phone screen onto a monitor or TV any size Buy Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter Review - Microsoft Store

You can pay for Netflix or watch TV shows and movies free online just search for Letmewatchthis or videobull.

 

[Joec111]

With my boost phone, I can also make it a hot spot at no charge. Be careful to change the settings for how many devices can connect. If you put more than your using you'll have have slow internet other drivers will be connected to you parked at the truck stop. You can also set up automatic withdrawals to save $5 a month. $55 not $60, there is also taxes on top of the monthly fee.

 

[Injun]

With my boost phone, I can also make it a hot spot at no charge. Be careful to change the settings for how many devices can connect. If you put more than your using you'll have have slow internet other drivers will be connected to you parked at the truck stop. You can also set up automatic withdrawals to save $5 a month. $55 not $60, there is also taxes on top of the monthly fee.

You work for Boost or just giving a review?

 

[Joec111]

My husband is a truck driver. He loves his TV and audio books. He listens to the books from YouTube. Just helping other drivers. Truck stops love to make money off drivers because they are limited on where they can park. I think boost is the only unlimited wifi around. Videobull plays movies that are at the movie theater. You do have to learn to click the right places and not download their sponsor advertisements. I homeschooled 3 kids and just researched the internet. Just passing what I have found online and save others from getting ripped off.

 

[Joec111]

My husband use to pay for a sprint wifi router but they discontinued that. Unlimited wifi is hard to find and expensive. Boost may change from unlimited, hopefully they won't.

 

[Injun]

My husband is a truck driver. He loves his TV and audio books. He listens to the books from YouTube. Just helping other drivers. Truck stops love to make money off drivers because they are limited on where they can park. I think boost is the only unlimited wifi around. Videobull plays movies that are at the movie theater. You do have to learn to click the right places and not download their sponsor advertisements. I homeschooled 3 kids and just researched the internet. Just passing what I have found online and save others from getting ripped off.

That's cool. I asked because we get some unscrupulous vendors who show up here pretending to be drivers giving rave reviews in order to drum up business.

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to wander around and get to know us. There people here with all manner of connection to truckin' from those of us in the trenches to family members, young'uns dreaming of being drivers, office folks, friends of the industry and even DOT cops sometimes. Just don't drink all of Duck's beer and you'll be golden.

 

[Uncle Birchy]

Boost mobile is 4g unlimited internet for $60

No Contract Phone Plans | Save Money on Prepaid High-Speed Data - Boost Mobile

You can get this windows boost phone from eBay, Amazon, best buy, etc Boost Mobile - Microsoft Lumia 635 4G No-Contract Cell Phone - Blue for $50

And this new phone cable another $50, it puts everything you see on your phone screen onto a monitor or TV any size Buy Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter Review - Microsoft Store

You can pay for Netflix or watch TV shows and movies free online just search for Letmewatchthis or videobull.

Okay @Joec111....what "Constitutes" actual "UNLIMITED".....

Most PLANS these days "HYPE" the UNLIMITED yet if ya READ the "Fine Print" it's "OVERAGES" with Carriers like ATT or Verizon... ...now IF "PRE"paid WiFi its 3-5 GIGABYTES of "HIGH SPEED" .....when ya BURN "that" ya get SLOWED at 2G in some areas 3G still SLOW

 

[Joec111]

Chromecast uses wifi to display only videos to a TV from your phone. If you want to watch tv shows or movies without a $500 satellite and monthly fees, the Microsoft cable is the way to go.

 

[Uncle Birchy]

You work for Boost or just giving a review?

Thanks and just as @Duck I live 30/40 Miles "REMOVED" from Chicago the "EXURBS" just point a Compass opposite direction.....

Now @Injun where SPRINT and "Sprint" Products ****ED "Chicago" is They only thought about the LOOP and NOT more than 20 Miles Radius ...OUT.....

Oh it gets BETTER ....about 5/6 years Ago the SPRINT internet was SO SLOW in "Greater" CHICAGOLAND that they were "FINALLY" doing 4G......

And GET THIS we hadda WAIT and they TOLD us that for THREE YEARS....

Okay if ATT and Verizon got FASTER 3G why am I gonna WAIT for FOUR GEE slower than my Grandma

 

[Joec111]

Boost is 4g, some places it drops to 2g. We are in Oklahoma now going to Mo. When we are in the middle of nowhere you get 2g service. He downloads YouTube videos from tubemate app that's not available in the app store anymore just search for tubemate apk. Download it from an online site. He can play his audio book connected to his Bluetooth radio in the background and I can still use the internet browser.

 

[Joec111]

This is my speed test on my boost phone. We are paying for tolls on the will Rogers turnpike going towards Joplin

 

[Duck]

Back when I was using truck stop Wi-Fi it was back when smart phones were called a "Blackberry".

You pretty much had to have a laptop in the truck to get online.

There wasn't that many people using it but it was still bad enough it was extremely slow sometimes, and would almost never work at all if there were too many trucks between you and the building.

The provider was called "ton services" and your IP address would always trace to Ogden, UT & for some reason that never occurred to them when they decided to put IP tracing weather data on the Flying J internet portal thing you had to log into. No matter where you were at in the country, you would get the weather reports for Ogden, Utah.

I don't remember when I got my Verizon USB modem thing but I tried a Sprint air card thing first and it never worked once. The guys in the Sprint store couldn't get it working either. Said my laptop didn't have enough "resources".... But they wouldn't let me out if the 2 year contract I'd signed for the damn thing so I stiffed them completely, on my phone too.

Dealing with the collections people is when I patented my trademark statement that "nobody has ever sued me & lived to tell about it"... which is a true statement because nobody has ever sued me.


Anyway when I first got my Verizon thing I also had DeLorme Street Atlas 2005 on my laptop and it had this little GPS receiver that you'd plug in to the USB & toss up on the dash.

I discovered that USB thing would also work with Google Earth.

I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that I could strap my laptop into the passenger seat and have it show my location on Google Earth as I was driving. I learned about lakes and quarries & stuff near the interstate that I couldn't see from the highway.

Nowadays anyone can do that with a smartphone, just turn on Google Maps and activate satellite imagery.


I don't know what any of this has to do with today's truck stop WiFi though.

 

[Uncle Birchy]

Back when I was using truck stop Wi-Fi it was back when smart phones were called a "Blackberry".

You pretty much had to have a laptop in the truck to get online.

There wasn't that many people using it but it was still bad enough it was extremely slow sometimes, and would almost never work at all if there were too many trucks between you and the building.

The provider was called "ton services" and your IP address would always trace to Ogden, UT & for some reason that never occurred to them when they decided to put IP tracing weather data on the Flying J internet portal thing you had to log into. No matter where you were at in the country, you would get the weather reports for Ogden, Utah.

I don't remember when I got my Verizon USB modem thing but I tried a Sprint air card thing first and it never worked once. The guys in the Sprint store couldn't get it working either. Said my laptop didn't have enough "resources".... But they wouldn't let me out if the 2 year contract I'd signed for the damn thing so I stiffed them completely, on my phone too.

Dealing with the collections people is when I patented my trademark statement that "nobody has ever sued me & lived to tell about it"... which is a true statement because nobody has ever sued me.


Anyway when I first got my Verizon thing I also had DeLorme Street Atlas 2005 on my laptop and it had this little GPS receiver that you'd plug in to the USB & toss up on the dash.

I discovered that USB thing would also work with Google Earth.

I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that I could strap my laptop into the passenger seat and have it show my location on Google Earth as I was driving. I learned about lakes and quarries & stuff near the interstate that I couldn't see from the highway.

Nowadays anyone can do that with a smartphone, just turn on Google Maps and activate satellite imagery.


I don't know what any of this has to do with today's truck stop WiFi though.

Technically NOTHING to do with Sprint/Boost there @Duck.....

Infact even if it's TOP NOTCH 2DAY they spent nearly a DECADE of "Promises"...

At the SAME TIME they 4Ged Bentonville Arkansas... Wichita Kansas....Most of Texas. ....As well as NYC and "COMMIEfonia" because ya GOTTA be in the GAME "there

 

[Joec111]

Boost is truely unlimited but in places it's slow. My husband has been happy with it, 2 months and he's OTR driving. Also for $60 mobile unlimited internet is pretty cheap and better than no internet at all.

 

[Uncle Birchy]

Boost is truely unlimited but in places it's slow. My husband has been happy with it, 2 months and he's OTR driving. Also for $60 mobile unlimited internet is pretty cheap and better than no internet at all.

Well @Joec111 how FAST is it "TODAY" in Chicago..."METRO" ...

Sorry but 4G was coming for YEARS while ATT and VErizon HAD IT "Already"....

Oh wait ya got FARGO now too...OKAY

 

[Joec111]

Boost uses Verizon towers. In Colorado I had to agree too accept the roaming when calling. It's a prepaid set charge. I have never seen ATT on my phone so far. Have never been charged for roaming calls. My tethering settings says I have unlimited tethering. When we used Chromecast to watch Netflix playing videos and tethering letting Chromecast use the internet only using the boost phone for both tasks, sometimes the video would freeze up. I just used my phone to play Netflix using the boost internet, it stopped freezing up. The Microsoft cable doesn't need internet to get your phone to display on a tv.