It would be in GF’s best interests to help the other GF exhibitors gain access to a strong signal, otherwise the Faire attendees will come away with an impression of how unreliable a cloud-based machine can be.
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Wow! You guys have cell/mobile service where you live?
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Check out EasyTether. It’s an Android app so I don’t know if there’s an iOS version. I too have ATT unlimited data from forever ago and used to be able to hotspot because I get my phones straight from Google. The switch to LTE took that away so I got EasyTether. That lets me connect my laptop through the phone’s connection and there may be a way for you to connect a small portable wifi to either the laptop or to EasyTether on the phone. Worth checking into.
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Pretty sure that Apple cooperates with AT&T that there is no way around this without jailbreaking my iPhone.
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Grab a FreedomPop hotspot. You get 500mb/mo free and pay as you go after that. The device is free as well. It may cost you $20 activation. I’ve had one for a few years and don’t know if new clients pay for activation.
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I remember trying to tether my old thrive tablet with my AT&T phone plan. Device was discovered but wouldn’t connect. I called Toshiba and explained the problem and the tech said "Oh, you need to talk to AT&T.
So I did and discovered that for a mere $45 additional per month they would gladly enable that for me.
I was also grandfathered into unlimited. So, unlimited until you want to display that data on another device. 
That’s when I learned how to root my phone.
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Gosh, I really wish I knew what everyone was talking about.
Perhaps it’s just as well I don’t, as I have enough problems at the moment 
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I want more data, in more places, faster, on a better device, and I want to pay less.
Also, I want great reception at all times, but I don’t want a cell tower anywhere nearby.
Finally, I want all the utility lines buried, but I don’t want to inconvenienced by construction crews.
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I wonder if there’s a business model there*… Use people’s old rooftop TV antennas as cell repeaters. Existing infrastructure!
*If there’s a business model here, the above idea is ©2017 Thomas P. Alessi, Jr. All rights reserved.
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I had a similar idea years ago, when the cell phones were taking off here in UK.
That was to use church towers in rural areas, where reception is bad - low numbers of customers - but, unsurprisingly the NIMBY factor would have prevented it.
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Tens of thousands of geeky types descending on the San Mateo County Fairgrounds presumably with devices in tow…how will that mobile data work out at Maker Faire?
As long as you never, ever, absolutely never want any technical support, a thousand thumbs up for Project Fi as a mobile provider. Of course you can’t use an iPhone.
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Well given there are over 30,000 people right now in Fenway park down the street at the red sox game, and all are using/have cell phones on them, and it works fine. At a patriots game double that. Some of the big 10 stadiums hold 100000 so the cell companies have figured that out. At MakerFaire NYC there were the portable cell towers around the fairgrounds.
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Now is not the day to rant about people using cell phones at Camp Randall. Though to be fair, I didn’t notice it as all that common. If they were aware enough to do it at the NYC faire, they’ll probably have it covered at the Bay Area one.
Sprint charge an arm and a leg for hotspot, I get it free through my new provider. After 14 years with Sprint, it was time to cut that $168 for 2 phones unlimited a month to a $50-$65 a month plan for 3 devices, free tethering and use as I go. Been with them almost 3 years and NEVER looked back! 
I’m running with sprint with 10 gig hotspot and unlimited everything for 30 a phone, idk if I got a special deal or what?
Weird… My plan includes hotspot at no additional charge. $125 for 3 lines, unlimited talk & text, 12 GB data. Guess we just have different plans. Glad you found something that works for you!
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Well, this was 3 years ago, they were charging extra back then, stocks going down so obviously their prices as well. It was good when I had 'em but it really irked me that we each paid an additional $10 a month per phone BECAUSE they were smartphones. We did that from 2010 until we left…what a rip off that extra monthly charge was 
I like getting all I need that still costs almost half of what you are paying for and I have 3 devices ( 2 phone and a tablet ). I’d be lying if I said this service was not better than SPRINT. And their customer service is AMAZING, too. No hacking drama’s with them. Just a good company
( I say hacking drama’s because they might be kinda smallish, but they are just solid )
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