How much does the FordPass Connect 4G WiFi hotspot service cost per month ?

[metroshot]

Being a techie, I love having a mobile hotspot for tablets, laptops, and phones.
I currently use a 4G LTE Verizon hotspot w/ external antenna on top of my vehicle so that in case my phone on a different carrier can't connect via cellular, I have another method of connecting and making WiFi calls.

Does anyone know how much this feature will cost ?
And what carrier does Ford use (Verizon, TMobile, ATT) ?

"FordPass Connect™ with 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot capability for up to 10 devices"

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[nsbreeding]

I believe it is ATT but not for sure the monthly cost.

 

[ProperCrab]

20

 

[JJ_Tex]

$25 for the unlimited data plan for non-AT&T wireless customers. You can also prepay for the entire year and get it under $20 per month, but I wanted to try it out first.

You do get a free trial of 3GB, but my kids burned through that in the road trip this past weekend. Yesterday I signed up for the AT&T plan, and it is already paying off since my power went out at home right before I had to get on a zoom call. 2 video meetings later and it is still going strong.

Heck, with generator mode, massaging seats, the flat work surface, and wifi hotspot I may just move my office to my driveway permanently

 

[Diabolical!]

I believe it is ATT but not for sure the monthly cost.

Darn, Verizon is the only carrier with decent service in my area.

 

[TRP]

I think it was less than $200 for the year in my Mach E

 

[Vulnox]

$25/mo as noted, but they sometimes run promos for $15/mo for the same unlimited plan. I had it on my 2019 and was able to carry it over to my '21 with a helpful AT&T rep. But I eventually dropped it. The Hotspot connection goes through a proxy and the speed is limited. It is better on the '21s than my '19, but it is still pretty meh in terms of speed for the price. I just got a 5G portable hot spot through Verizon and it also costs me $15/mo, but it is waaaaay faster and I can take it out of the truck if needed. I otherwise just leave it in the truck and turn it on for road trips or if there is reason for it.

It's super nice having it built in for sure, and I liked having AT&T because it was an alternative in case we end up in one of the rare places that AT&T has signal and VZW doesn't, but the limitations of it even for $15 just didn't make sense. Love the portable hotspot though. We visited friends and stayed in their TT, and the family was able to use the Verizon hotspot as needed all weekend. If I just had the truck it wouldn't have been an option.

 

[CRAIGC540]

$25/mo as noted, but they sometimes run promos for $15/mo for the same unlimited plan. I had it on my 2019 and was able to carry it over to my '21 with a helpful AT&T rep. But I eventually dropped it. The Hotspot connection goes through a proxy and the speed is limited. It is better on the '21s than my '19, but it is still pretty meh in terms of speed for the price. I just got a 5G portable hot spot through Verizon and it also costs me $15/mo, but it is waaaaay faster and I can take it out of the truck if needed. I otherwise just leave it in the truck and turn it on for road trips or if there is reason for it.

It's super nice having it built in for sure, and I liked having AT&T because it was an alternative in case we end up in one of the rare places that AT&T has signal and VZW doesn't, but the limitations of it even for $15 just didn't make sense. Love the portable hotspot though. We visited friends and stayed in their TT, and the family was able to use the Verizon hotspot as needed all weekend. If I just had the truck it wouldn't have been an option.

So why not use your Verizon Hotspot on your phone?
ATT is not good in my area and Verizon is awesome so noway I'll pay for ATT service.

 

[CRAIGC540]

So why not use your Verizon Hotspot on your phone?
ATT is not good in my area and Verizon is awesome so noway I'll pay for ATT service.

I just found the answer in this article.

Hotspots can connect more than just laptops to the web. They'll work just fine with a tablet, a camera, and pretty much any other Wi-Fi-enabled device. They support more devices at one time than your phone's hotspot mode, don't drain your phone's battery, they can be hooked up to better antennas than your phone has available, and they can have separate service plans paid for by your company.

 

[Vulnox]

I just found the answer in this article.

Hotspots can connect more than just laptops to the web. They'll work just fine with a tablet, a camera, and pretty much any other Wi-Fi-enabled device. They support more devices at one time than your phone's hotspot mode, don't drain your phone's battery, they can be hooked up to better antennas than your phone has available, and they can have separate service plans paid for by your company.

Beyond that, if you use Wireless CarPlay or Wireless Android Auto, it connects to the truck using Wifi, and Hotspot won't work unless you run CarPlay/AA through USB instead. Not the end of the world or anything, but it's nicer to not have to worry about it since I keep my phone in my pocket basically all the time when driving.

The rest of the items noted are good benefits as well. When my in-laws had a power outage last year I dropped off our generator and my hotspot since their cell plan didn't have much hotspot data at all but they wanted to be able to watch something on an iPad since it was going to be a while and the roads were still pretty covered with storm debris and traffic lights out.

Just a bit of added versatility for something that costs us relatively little. Could do without it, but just in the past couple months of traveling it has put in some serious work, and it's paid for itself many times over.

 

[CRAIGC540]

Yeah just looked and it's $20 a month for 15gigs. Any idea if you use more than that a month?

 

[metroshot]

Yeah just looked and it's $20 a month for 15gigs. Any idea if you use more than that a month?

I'll just use my phone as a hotspot - since I can now have 2 phones wirelessly connect to my Lightning.

 

[Vulnox]

I'll just use my phone as a hotspot - since I can now have 2 phones wirelessly connect to my Lightning.

That still doesn't do anything for hotspot though, not sure what you mean. If your phone is set as the hotspot, you can't use wireless carplay because your phone only has one wifi chip/radio. It can either be connected to the truck, or acting as a hotspot. Or if you are connected to the truck and try to connect to your home wifi, it will say you have to disconnect wireless carplay/AA. How many wireless connections the truck can take is irrelevant.

 

[Vulnox]

Yeah just looked and it's $20 a month for 15gigs. Any idea if you use more than that a month?

I have the 30 gig plan and VZW gives you a 50% discount on hotspots/ipads/connected watches for certain plan levels. So my VZW hotspot is $15/mo. Also it's 30 gigs of premium data, then it's "unlimited", but it's pretty slow.

Depending what you do, 15 or 30 gigs may be plenty. If it's just the kids and/or spouse watching videos on their phone or iPad or whatever, Medium quality Netflix, just as a benchmark, is about 0.7GB/hr, high quality "HD" is about 3GB/hr. So if you keep it to Medium or even High since you aren't likely to stare at videos for 10 hours straight, it's plenty.

We have done several road trips and that, and have not yet hit the cap, that's with two kids on iPads and us using it on occassion if the place we are staying has crappy or non-existent wi-fi if we need it or whatever. I do wish VZW would bump it though since the new cell plans are up to 50GB of Hotspot, but it's probably because they know people don't use phone hotspot that much due to it being less convenient.

 

[GrokTime]

That still doesn't do anything for hotspot though, not sure what you mean. If your phone is set as the hotspot, you can't use wireless carplay because your phone only has one wifi chip/radio. It can either be connected to the truck, or acting as a hotspot. Or if you are connected to the truck and try to connect to your home wifi, it will say you have to disconnect wireless carplay/AA. How many wireless connections the truck can take is irrelevant.

Actually that is not necessarily true. Modern iPhones use MIMO (multiple-in multiple-out) antennas. I have an Alpine aftermarket wireless Car Play head unit in my Toyota and I can be on wireless CarPlay and use my phone as a hot spot.

However, I am guessing being able to use you phone as a hot spot will have major disadvantages over a built in connection.

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