Solutions for Poor Cell Signal When Livestreaming?

[Traps71]

I have streamed hundreds of games over the last 3+ years. I've used Gopros, tablets, phones and Mevos. After much trial and error and even more $$, here's what I use with greater than 95% success.

- Verizon Mifi 8800L hotspot
- Verizon prepaid 100GB plan for $55/month
- Mevo Start
- Netgear external antenna with TS-9 ports

The external antenna made all the difference with maintaining a solid signal to consistently stream at 720p without any issues. On the Mevo there is a meter that allows you to see your throughput/connection strength.

I've tested it multiple times and I've seen that when I connect the antenna, my throughput increases to the optimal 3.4mbps. When disconnected, the throughput drops. Even with 1-2 bars on the hotspot, I'm still able to maintain 3.4mbps allowing me to maintain a solid 720p stream.

Be careful with those unlimited plans. The fine print will tell you it's unlimited until a certain threshold. Once you cross that threshold, they'll start throttling you which will make your stream choppy/unusable, which to a lot of people will look like a poor connectivity issue.

Thanks for this. I assume the Netgear antenna is plugged into the hotspot?

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Well I have been slowly working on DH and probably will just buy a new Mevo. I did use my phone to stream last fall when the GoPro wouldn't cooperate and of course a foul ball hit the fence and knocked my phone off the mount and broke the whole back glass of my IPhone 12 Plus as well as the protective plastic around the cameras. The phone was in an Otterbox - so needless to say I'm not super excited about putting my phone up again (I haven't fixed the back glass - that is soooo expensive). I mean - that's how my original Mevo Plus broke - a foul ball hit the fence right at the camera and it popped off it's base (it was locked in also) and hit the ground.....I couldn't get anything but a green screen after that. Since it was a plus Mevo won't fix it - even if I pay. I was so freaking sad.

What mount were you using with the phone? I found the Lynk Spyder to be very protective of my gear.

 

[nikkilugi]

What mount were you using with the phone? I found the Lynk Spyder to be very protective of my gear.

Yeah - I have the Lynkspyder but I didn't have the phone mount so I did not use that for this particular game for my phone. I was using it for my Mevo Plus. However the Mevo Plus has that magnetic locking base which is what was attached to the mount and then the camera "locks" into the base - except when it takes a direct impact and flies off, lol. That was the end of that.

I just bought the phone Reti-Cam phone mount adapter to use with the LynkSpyder - I'm thinking the phone is the way to go instead of the GoPro especially since I have the 12 and can zoom back a bit to get a wider view of the field (but not as super wide as the GP).

 

[boo201]

Check if any of the parents have hotspots from their employer that you can borrow during games.

I'm running a Netgear Nighthawk M1 hotspot with Netgear external antenna, and I also found the antenna to make a big difference. I generally keep the hotspot in backpack near the backstop, but found it overheats easily in direct sunlight so I'm now using a usb powered fan to keep it cool. I used a Verizon 8800L last year and don't recall having any overheating issues.

 

[Canonq]

Of all the electronics I bring to the field, the hotspot is always the first to be impacted by heat. Most of the time, it's because I inadvertently left it exposed to direct sunlight. Here's how I keep it cool. Using rubber wire wraps, I attach it to a my portable fan. The fan can be placed on the ground or hung on the fence...whatever helps keep the sun off of it. I've never had an issue since I've started doing this.

The antenna is linked here: Amazon product ASIN B00DN3J03O