LTE Hotspot Tethering Performance?

[Electric Machete]

It is my understanding that Verizon's network doesn't allow data streaming to occur simultaneously with speaking on the phone. If your car is using data streamed through the phone, would you still receive calls? If you received calls, would data streaming be suspended? You should find out before switching carriers.

Time for another dumb guy question.
My wife has (finally) agreed to get a cellphone. I'm an Apple guy so I'm gonna get her an iPhone and might as well upgrade my old 3GS.
I'm with AT&T. I'd like to switch to Verizon for better coverage.
Is there any reason(s) NOT to switch as far as my Model S and/or Tesla is concerned?

Sorry, I think your question has just been answered above.

 

[mitch672]

You can also buy a "hotspot" from most of the providers, here's an inexpensive one from virgin (who uses the Sprint network)
Virgin Mobile | Overdrive Pro 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot No Contract
The advantage to these is, they can be left in the car, plugged into the USB port, so they won't run out of power. One caveat: it has been mentioned when the car goes to sleep, the WiFi gets shutdown...

 

[gaswalla]

Verizon 4G on Android definitely allows tethering and voice simultaneously

 

[NigelM]

It is my understanding that Verizon's network doesn't allow data streaming to occur simultaneously with speaking on the phone. If your car is using data streamed through the phone, would you still receive calls? If you received calls, would data streaming be suspended?

Verizon/iPhone5 pairing seems to be that all calls go to voice mail while data is streaming via tethering. It's apparently different for other phones.

 

[scaesare]

thanks, I can't wait to be rolling in my 5.0!

I'm with you, Ice.

 

[adurstewitz]

Time for another dumb guy question.
My wife has (finally) agreed to get a cellphone. I'm an Apple guy so I'm gonna get her an iPhone and might as well upgrade my old 3GS.
I'm with AT&T. I'd like to switch to Verizon for better coverage.
Is there any reason(s) NOT to switch as far as my Model S and/or Tesla is concerned?

Yes, if you decide to use the phone for teathering. On Verizon you won't be able to teather and talk on the phone at the same time. So, if someone calls you, your Google maps, slacker etc will all stop.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Rather than buying a hotspot, I prefer to buy a small tablet with cellular connectivity (say, the new Nexus 7) and then tether to that. You get a great deal more functionality for your dollar, and the monthly charges are cheaper: I'm on Verizon's share-everything plan, and a hotspot costs me $20/month while a tablet costs me $10/month. The tablet pays for itself very quickly compared to the hotspot.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Verizon/iPhone5 pairing seems to be that all calls go to voice mail while data is streaming via tethering. It's apparently different for other phones.

My understanding is that this is a network, rather than a phone, limitation.

 

[NigelM]

My understanding is that this is a network, rather than a phone, limitation.

Maybe, I'm just comparing local info I received here in FL with gaswalla's statement about his android phone in San Diego. If an incoming call forces me to drop slacker for the duration then no problem, if it affects NAV that's going to be a PITA. If I can't receive calls when I've got nav or slacker on then that's also a major PITA. Whether the limitation is phone or network it's going to get annoying pretty quickly.

 

[gaswalla]

I wonder how much data is needed for navigation and slacker. Freedompop.com will give 500mb free per month after you purchase a mifi from them: could be a very cheap substitute for an expensive Tesla plan and addresses the iPhone/Verizon crowd that can't tether and talk at the same time.

 

[Sacrament055]

Voice and data simultaneously works fine on Verizon with Samsung Galaxy S4 so I can say if there is a limitation it must be on the iPhone's implementation for Verizon.

 

[ElSupreme]

Voice and data simultaneously works fine on Verizon with Samsung Galaxy S4 so I can say if there is a limitation it must be on the iPhone's implementation for Verizon.

It is a problem with Verizon's CDMA network. It is not possible to negotiate both at the same time.

Verizon is upgrading to LTE, which allows for both talk and data at the same time. So the iPhone not being LTE is the culprit. If your S4 isn't on LTE it also will have the same issue as the iPhone and not be capable of doing both.

ATT and T-Mobile use HSPA, and UMTS, for 3/4G as well as LTE. All of these protocols are capable of serving both voice and data at the same time.

So the problem lies with Verizon (and Sprint) and their 3/4G systems. But their LTE systems are available to handle both simultaneously.

 

[NigelM]

It is a problem with Verizon's CDMA network. It is not possible to negotiate both at the same time.

Verizon is upgrading to LTE, which allows for both talk and data at the same time. So the iPhone not being LTE is the culprit. If your S4 isn't on LTE it also will have the same issue as the iPhone and not be capable of doing both.

ATT and T-Mobile use HSPA, and UMTS, for 3/4G as well as LTE. All of these protocols are capable of serving both voice and data at the same time.

So the problem lies with Verizon (and Sprint) and their 3/4G systems. But their LTE systems are available to handle both simultaneously.

Apparently not true for iPhone5, for which Verizon blames Apple.....http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/iphone-5-calls-data/?_r=0

 

[gregincal]

Apparently not true for iPhone5, for which Verizon blames Apple.....http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/iphone-5-calls-data/?_r=0

For people too lazy to read another article, right now it's not true that LTE does voice and data at the same time, in fact it can't do voice at all yet. The Galaxy S4 gets around this by having an extra antenna to do CDMA voice at the same time as LTE data. The iPhone 5 lacks this extra antenna. On ATT the iPhone 5 also falls back to 3G when a voice call comes in, but can continue providing data at 3G speeds while the voice call continues (which isn't possible with CDMA).

 

[Al Sherman]

You guys are freaking me out. So, should I stay with AT&T, or switch to Verizon if we're gonna use the iPhone 5 or the new 5S?

 

[dsm363]

If you have AT&T and are happy with it (especially if you have unlimited data plan) if stick with it. We will know more when the 5S is announced most likely.

 

[PatP]

Rather than buying a hotspot, I prefer to buy a small tablet with cellular connectivity (say, the new Nexus 7) and then tether to that. You get a great deal more functionality for your dollar, and the monthly charges are cheaper: I'm on Verizon's share-everything plan, and a hotspot costs me $20/month while a tablet costs me $10/month. The tablet pays for itself very quickly compared to the hotspot.

Amazing idea!

 

[PhilBa]

Some information (and questions) about Slacker to help make a decision. Slacker delivers two different kind of streams depending on the client implementation. Either 128Kb MP3 or 40Kb AAC. Phone apps supposedly use 40Kb AAC so I'll go with that as the Tesla version. If it's MP3, triple the data usage. Does anyone know for certain?

Anyway, based on that, listening to 1 hour of slacker a day will use, at minimum, 540 MB of data in a 30 day month. If you frequently skip ahead in the middle of songs, you will consume more data since the pre-buffered song bits will be not be used (delivered but unplayed, counts against your data usage). It's not clear how much slacker buffers (though, they clearly don't buffer enough at times) but when there was a server error on slacker's side, it appeared that an entire song was buffered. Also, there is some delivery overhead but I'm not sure how slacker does their streaming and error handling.

So, for example, if you listen to 30 minutes of slacker a day, you will burn through at least 250 MB a month. Adjust that based on you personal usage and keep it in mind when choosing a data plan.

 

[PwrOutage]

You guys are freaking me out. So, should I stay with AT&T, or switch to Verizon if we're gonna use the iPhone 5 or the new 5S?

Iphone's do NOT support WIFI tethering (as of a few years ago) I'm pretty sure they still don't without jail breaking the phone. Tesla Vr. 5 firmware looks to only support WIFI tether.

I use a Android Motorola Maxx and use an app called PdaNet+ which works great on trips. Everyone can connect to the web in my car without any issue.

I'm on Verizon, they probably have paid tethering add on's.

 

[fiksegts]

iPhones tether just fine via WIFI..... no jailbreaking needed....

Iphone's do NOT support WIFI tethering (as of a few years ago) I'm pretty sure they still don't without jail breaking the phone. Tesla Vr. 5 firmware looks to only support WIFI tether.

I use a Android Motorola Maxx and use an app called PdaNet+ which works great on trips. Everyone can connect to the web in my car without any issue.

I'm on Verizon, they probably have paid tethering add on's.