I Was Without Home Internet For a Month. Here’s How Visible Helped To Power My Smart Home
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You never know how valuable your home internet service really is until you’re without it for an extended period of time. That’s the situation I found myself in after closing on my first home, and let me tell you, I really didn’t realize how critical it is to have home internet service.
I didn’t plan on moving in right away, since I had a fair amount of time before my lease was up at my apartment, but I didn’t want my just bought home to be unprotected either. Instead of paying for two separate home internet services, I did the next best thing — use my Visible cell phone plan to power my home.
Let me tell you, it was one of the smartest things I did soon after I bought my first home because it gave me peace of mind of being able to watch over the place when I wasn’t there. Best of all, it didn’t cost me a fortune because Visible’s unlimited cell phone service plan starts at $30 per month.
Hotspot Service For the Smart Home
One of the perks of Visible’s unlimited talk, text, and data plan is that I also had unlimited mobile hotspot. Seriously, it’s like having a home internet service you can take anywhere you go. I used it with a Google Pixel 7 to broadcast a hotspot, which then allowed me to connect a few home security cameras I placed around the home — along with a handful of smart light bulbs that I could control at will.
My temporary smart home setup consisted of a Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 by the front door, a Ring Video Doorbell 4 at the back door, and the Ring Stick Up Cam with the Pan-Tilt Mount. They worked flawlessly with the hotspot I set up with my smartphone, which I kept connected to a wall outlet to keep the hotspot active. Whenever they detected a person, I would receive notifications on my smartphone — all while I was still at my apartment.
Likewise, I did the same with a handful of smart light bulbs I set up throughout the house. Doing this allowed it to seem like someone was actually there at the house, seeing that I was able to control and schedule the lights to go on and off during certain times of the day.
I was actually surprised that the hotspot was able to keep up with all of the activity, especially given how the video clips recorded by the cameras were uploaded to the cloud. On top of that, I was even surprised that the hotspot was able to accommodate all of the gadgets I connected without much degradation to the network’s performance.
Living in a 5G Coverage Area Helps
If you didn’t know, Visible’s service is backed by Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband, 5G Nationwide, and 4G LTE networks. If you look at its coverage map, they have most of the country blanketed with coverage — so you can look forward to reliable and stable service.
I’m not too far from New York City either, which gave me access to its faster 5G Nationwide network. Speeds were obviously faster for things like surfing the web, downloading large email attachments, and even watching the occasional video on my phone.
When it came to the security cameras I set up, I found it wonderful at being able to quickly access the live video feeds with minimal lag. Latency was also at an acceptable level when it came to event triggers going on and me going on my phone to check them out.
Savings With Minimal Compromise
With Visible’s Unlimited Mobile Hotspot service that was included in my $30 per month plan, you technically get unlimited data at speeds up to 5Mbps. Luckily, it didn’t adversely affect the smart home gadgets I connected to the hotspot. For the most part, I was still getting all the proper notifications as they were happening — along with smooth video whenever I tapped into the live video feeds.
Fortunately, it didn’t cost me a whole lot to set this all up, which is part of the reason why I like Visible’s service. You’re in luck if you’re looking to start service with them because you can get a year of Visible for $15 per month for a limited time — which is a savings of 50% off its normal rate.
You’ll need to bring your phone to earn the discounted rate for its unlimited cell phone plan, plus using code ‘15OFF12’ when you check out.* While you might be sent a SIM card to use with your phone, you can actually start using the service right away if you have a compatible phone with an eSIM.
Even though my smart home is now managed by a proper internet service, I still use my phone’s hotspot service with Visible whenever I’m on the road. From sharing access to a friend, or connecting my laptop to crank out a few emails during my commute into the office, I’ve been satisfied by Visible’s affordable and reliable service.
*Offer ends 1/31/2023. Additional terms and conditions apply.