Yet Another Connect+ Alternative

[dfacto]

(probably this is known but I'll post just in case)

Goal: see if I could setup an always on Internet connection but using my existing mobile subscription rather than Connect+.

After accidentally buying a European band version, I got this and it worked great:

HOSAYA Portable WiFi 4G sim Card WiFi Modem 10 WiFi Users 4G LTE Router with SIM Card Slot High Speed Portable Travel Hotspot Mini Router USB Modem Nano sim Compact Design 88mmx28mmx9mm https://a.co/d/bGoezxt

(The trick is to look for bands B2 and B4. Having these probably means it's designed for the Americas.)

The device itself is essentially an older generation cell phone, sans screen and battery. It is powered by USB and creates a hotspot that can host up to 15 clients. It takes a nano SIM; some providers will give account holders one for free. On the topic of battery: I was specifically looking for a hotspot that doesn't have a battery because I dont need it and I don't like the idea of a battery sitting in the hot cabin. (Yes I realize the irony of the cabin sitting on 1000s of the same batteries. But keep in mind those have active cooling for a reason.)

I managed to get at most 60mbps down, depending on reception. Surprisingly the device actually has surface mount ports for antennas (2; not included). Even so I knew I wouldn't get the theoretical 150 because it doesn't support all the bands T-Mobile uses (I use Google Fi which is provided by T-Mobile).

It's $37 but there's a similar one on AliExpress for $19 which I also ordered but hasn't arrived yet: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrrhhOj -- "U6 Global white". The AliExpress version seems like it might be better as it supports more frequency bands. And esp so for GoogleFi folks as it has more bands overlapping with T-Mobile's which should give better speeds.

After setting it up indoors, I attached an A-to-C USB adapter and plugged it in to the Rivian. Presto: an easy Internet connection that piggybacks on my existing mobile service and therefore means I don't need an additional Connect+ subscription.

Chromecast also worked flawlessly. My phone connects to the Rivian hotspot and the second Rivian wifi radio connects to the USB hotspot. Daisy chain ftw.

Let's call it "Connect-" as in "connect mine (by) us."

In the near future I'm going to see if I can build my own 5g variant, mostly just as a fun project.

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[andyboo]

(probably this is known but I'll post just in case)

Goal: see if I could setup an always on Internet connection but using my existing mobile subscription rather than Connect+.

After accidentally buying a European band version, I got this and it worked great:

HOSAYA Portable WiFi 4G sim Card WiFi Modem 10 WiFi Users 4G LTE Router with SIM Card Slot High Speed Portable Travel Hotspot Mini Router USB Modem Nano sim Compact Design 88mmx28mmx9mm https://a.co/d/bGoezxt

(The trick is to look for bands B2 and B4.)

It is powered by USB and creates a hotspot that can host up to 15 clients. It takes a nano SIM; most providers will give account holders one for free.

I managed to get 60mbps down, depending on interference. It's 37$ but there's a similar one on AliExpress for 20$.

After setting it up indoors, I attached an A to C adapter and plugged it in to the Rivian. After having the Rivian connect to it everything was good to go: an easy Internet connection that piggybacks on my mobile bill and no additional Connect+ subscription needed.

Chromecast also worked flawlessly.

Let's call it "Connect-".

What’s the monthly cost of this setup?

 

[dfacto]

What’s the monthly cost of this setup?

For me nothing because I'm under my data cap as I rarely otherwise use my mobile data (I'm always around Wi-Fi).

The data SIM just rolls up to the cell phone plan I already have.

 

[HotPocket]

I love this. I'm definitely going to do the same.

 

[DD4ST]

I have T-Mobile and use the phone as a hot spot. Haven’t tried yet, but wondering if you can use your phone instead of a separate modem? Is there a speed difference?

 

[Rivianero]

I had a similar setup on my Volvo. I'm on Google Fi and they provide free data-only SIM cards. Just slipped it into the onboard LTE modem in the Volvo and it was pretty great.

Have used other SIMs for a mobile hotspot while traveling and in the boat (Netgear M1) or for game/wildlife cameras.

Honestly, I'm pretty happy with Connect+ on the Rivian. Trouble free. Always plenty of battery. Reasonable price for completely unlimited and unthrottled data. Great for working on the road or staying connected rd while camping. Also enjoying being a little less committed to a specific carrier.

Although I could, I would only consider doing something different if it had 5G speeds.

 

[dfacto]

I had a similar setup on my Volvo. I'm on Google Fi and they provide free data-only SIM cards. Just slipped it into the onboard LTE modem in the Volvo and it was pretty great.

Have used other SIMs for a mobile hotspot while traveling and in the boat (Netgear M1) or for game/wildlife cameras.

Honestly, I'm pretty happy with Connect+ on the Rivian. Trouble free. Always plenty of battery. Reasonable price for completely unlimited and unthrottled data. Great for working on the road or staying connected rd while camping. Also enjoying being a little less committed to a specific carrier.

Although I could, I would only consider doing something different if it had 5G speeds.

Ha! I got this idea because of my Volvo XC60.

The main advantage of this approach is that there's always Internet regardless of who drives the vehicle and that it's one less subscription. (And for me personally starts to pay for itself after three months.) The secondary advantage (if your provider isn't att) is that it's a different provider on different frequencies thus serving as a backup. It also would enable pay-as-you-go data services.

Fwiw I also have a year subscription to connect+ but I won't renew it next time because the cost/benefit analysis of this option exceeds Connect+ (for me).

To both Rivianero and DD4ST:

Putting on my electrical eng hat for a moment: Your phone is arguably a better hotspot but not because of speed, rather because you already own it. Yes your phone supports 5g and is faster -- on my pixel9 I regularly get 1gbps down (when Im at home here in the SF Bay Area) but on this 4g hotspot I was lucky to get 60mbps. (As mentioned I could probably regularly achieve 60mbps with add-on antennas.) So why is the Rivian radio 4g (gen2 also?)? The reason is that you're unlikely to see any benefit beyond 150mbps and for two reasons:

1. 5g is basically line-of-sight (in the Americas at least) and so its unlikely that 5g in a vehicle will be beneficial most of the time (America is really really big).

2. You're probably not using this wan connection to browse the web and make big downloads.

Conclusion: 5g is very likely overkill for a vehicle's internet connection.

If you want to make things "just work" for any driver then this is a "nice to have" though not "need to have." Plus, personally I hate subscriptions so I prefer this solution.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a reasonably priced 5g hotspot so I plan to build my own -- it should cost me at most $200 which I'm doing for fun and as an internet backup option for my home. Speaking of, this hotspot also runs on a battery; see attached.

What I've shared here is mostly to let the community know there is in fact a viable -- and possibly cheaper -- alternative.

Regarding cost: unless you cast I'd be surprised if you use more than one gb per mo. This means that Connect+ in terms of data-only is $15 for that gb (personally the satellite view and early updates don't have value to me). Google Fi for example is $10/gb and free if you're under the cap (like me). This means that for many folks (most?) the option I'm sharing would be at least a 33% savings and as high as ∞% savings. Admittedly these numbers and subjective valuations might not match for everyone, but at least this post presents one more option than before.

 

[Rivianero]

Excellent points. I may have to reconsider, even though I also paid for the next year of Connect+.

While I'm used to 5G on my phone, it thunks to 4G pretty regularly and I don't seem to notice the difference until I get no connectivity. You make a really good point that 4G is pretty much all one can expect to get in most of the places I want to go. It is fast enough for most needs and in the rare occasion it is insufficient, I can just switch my phone to hotspot mode.

I have wifi calling enabled on my Pixel and use the hotspot both in the Rivian and Volvo for that, as they seem to hold better connection than the spotty mobile coverage at our place. (Bigger antennas?). Otherwise I would routinely lose calls on the way driving into town.

If I install a hotspot in the Rivi, I would likely opt to use external antennas to ensure better reception than what I get with my phone. Would be sweet if I could piggyback on the fin antenna already built in.

We use mobile data for our home internet. I'm technically outside the coverage area, but I weatherproofed a 5G home internet device and mounted it on a 20' pole where it has LoS to a 5G tower. Far better than the miserable DSL offered in our area and 1/4 the cost of Starlink. Don't think that 4G would have allowed all of us to get through the pandemic with concurrent video calls. Nonetheless, I concur that 4G is good enough for 99% of use cases.

 

[KBabione]

I like the creativity, but I'm going to put in a plug for Connect+...

We have AT&T for our cell phones and that's what Rivian uses for Connect+. At first I was bummed that the Rivian used AT&T as well because I've been on enough backpacking trips to know that having multiple service providers increases the likelihood that someone will have coverage, but then I noticed something interesting: When the signal drops below 4 bars, the Rivian consistently has a better connection than our cell phones do! It's one or two bars better, but that makes a big difference when you're trying to work or take Teams calls from the road. We now all connect to the Rivian hotspot and have much better success - especially with Teams calls.

I'm not an engineer, but I'm guessing the Rivian has a much larger cellular antenna than our cell phones and that's making the difference as we get further from towers. Could also be a power thing - It doesn't really matter to me because it works.

 

[narmstrong79]

Can't I just run the mobile hotspot on my 5G phone ?

 

[KBabione]

Can't I just run the mobile hotspot on my 5G phone ?

Yes - you can.

 

[DD4ST]

You do need to check your phone plan vis-a-vis hotspot. On my T-Mobile legacy plan, the phone is 5G but anything connected through its hotspot is only 3G.

 

[Rivianero]

You do need to check your phone plan vis-a-vis hotspot. On my T-Mobile legacy plan, the phone is 5G but anything connected through its hotspot is only 3G.

Wow, that's pretty awful.

 

[fxstein]

This is awesome! Have been looking for a battery-less setup myself.

if you don’t mind me asking: what was the European version of this? I am about to head to Europe next month and am looking for better band coverage for Europe.

 

[HaveBlue]

I have a Cabin in the mountains and just use a Cudy 4G SIM router. No reason to use 5G there as it doesn't exist. TMO had a $10 add a line deal so it's a super cheap way to have internet there with external antennas. In urban areas it does 60Mbps but in the hills just 12Mbps. Enough to stream or whatever. Point is, spending more or even close to Connect+ for the Rivian would be better just to buy Connect+ -Captain Obvious.

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