Community Forums

thebunns · 07-26-2015, 01:49 PM

My wife & I have been traveling for a few years with the idea and hope that when we pull into an RV Campground we will have wifi service. Many times we've been disappointed. Lots of places don't have wifi or their hot spots aren't so hot! I'd like some ideas on how to have a permanent service on the road. What are some of you people using? Besides my computer I'm armed only with a TracFone.

Vic

palehorse89 · 07-26-2015, 01:53 PM

We also just have a Tracphone, and we use a Verizon Jetpack for our wifi, I just activate it and add air time when we need it.

Hit_the_Rhod · 07-26-2015, 02:28 PM

We have tried Straight talk hot spot and others in the past and they were all problematic. Now we use ATnT smart phone w/ personal hotspot. As long as we have cell phone service, we can tap the computer, ipod, laptop whatever into the encrypted wifi and off we go. We still have to pay for data, but a lot less than Straight talk! Works great for us.

JJH3rd · 07-26-2015, 05:58 PM

I too use Tracfone for my voice & text and have had problems with campground WiFi especially over the last few years. Even the best RV camp WiFi has software that chokes down the amount of bits sent to you as your activity increases. This makes even retrieving email very sketchy.

I'm expecting to receive a Verizon hotspot in a day or two. I went with their pay-as-you-go plan because I will only need to use the hotspot when we are traveling in the RV so I can turn it off between trips. I chose Verizon because of 4G coverage. Also the Hotspot device I'm getting is supposed to be able to shift gears to a lower 3G protocol if needed.

As I try it out, I'll post a follow up to let folks know how my strategy works.

thebunns · 07-26-2015, 06:13 PM

I'll look in to it---your plan just may work for us. Thanks!

Vic

wildtoad · 07-26-2015, 06:44 PM

We don't full time if that's a factor but we use AT&T with our two iPhones and iPads. We can access the Internet from the phones and also from the iPads using the phones as hot spots. Works for us. Some areas service is spotty but it will be with just about any provider. Verizon has a better overall network from what I hear. I can also connect the laptop to the Internet with the iPhone too.

thebunns · 07-26-2015, 07:42 PM

Is there a satellite service offered so we would have access to the internet in areas where there is no cell service?

Vic

vsheetz · 07-26-2015, 07:46 PM

Verizon JetPack here, now in use for several years. Not cheap, but works. I also use a Hawking Technology wifi repeater/booster with high gain directional antenna to improve any available wifi.

kennersonf · 07-26-2015, 08:46 PM

I have Verizon for all of my communications. Phones, iPad and Jetpack MiFi. In all my travels across the U.S. I've always had internet service and 90% of the time it is 4G. Verizon has great coverage throughout the U.S. Like Vince said, it's not cheap, but it really works.

lllkrob · 07-26-2015, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebunns

Is there a satellite service offered so we would have access to the internet in areas where there is no cell service?

Vic

Yes, that service does exist but it will cost you $5000 to $8000 for the equipment plus $$$$ for the data used.

Luckiest Dreamer · 07-27-2015, 10:44 AM

WE use Verizons hot Spot on a family plan sharing 16GB with three households. None of us have been streaming and only use it for our e-mail and web surfing. Being retired and with two laptops going at the same time we do use much of the 16GB each month but have never went over.
I am now looking to use it for streaming in our daily TV programs. Some times the TV could be on from 5 PM until bedtime at 10:30 with me watching one TV and the DW on another.
Does anybody have an idea on how many more GB's we would need to handle that? Would the Mii be fast enough to do that?

PDR John · 07-27-2015, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckiest Dreamer

WE use Verizons hot Spot on a family plan sharing 16GB with three households. None of us have been streaming and only use it for our e-mail and web surfing. Being retired and with two laptops going at the same time we do use much of the 16GB each month but have never went over.

I am now looking to use it for streaming in our daily TV programs. Some times the TV could be on from 5 PM until bedtime at 10:30 with me watching one TV and the DW on another.

Does anybody have an idea on how many more GB's we would need to handle that? Would the Mii be fast enough to do that?

It's funny you ask this, my wife and I were curious about how much would be used streaming that much.

A high def movie will use around 1 gb per hour.

The park we're in now (going to be here awhile) had cable internet available, so we thought we'd try it. $35 a month, no contract, unlimited data and up to 50 Mbps speed. Our Verizon 4G air card with 30 GBs per month is slower and more expensive.

So we've been streaming in the evenings, about the same time as you state, we're over a 120 GBs used this first month.

This is with Time Warner. We can stop and start at our choosing. I've now made a permanent spot and cabling for the cable modem in our coach.

We will use it when it makes since and shut it off and use the air card the rest of the time. We offset the additional cost by dropping our satellite programming down the same $40.

wa8yxm · 07-27-2015, 12:12 PM

First there is no perfect solution But I will cover several issues.

Park Wi-FI.. not all parks have it, Most government parks do not.
And many like to stream Video rather than pay for Satellite TV This is a high bandwidth activity and the park quickly maxes out on that and runs out of it. So things s . l . o . . . w . . . . . . . . D. . . . o. . . . w . . . n.

Your options are thus 2-way Satellite and Cellular

In the 2-way Sat there are only a couple of competitors (Exceed is not compatible with RV use) Hughesnet and I-Direct. Both are expensive, plus you need a clear view of the proper slice of sky.. I-Direct does have an automatic system that looks real interesting but I do not have the link (it is under another name).

NOTE: Hughes Gen-4 may have the same issues as Exceed. Do not know enough about it. (Bill you around)

Cellular
Verizon has for many years had the best coverage However AT&T is looking good in that area as well.. NEITHER company offers a true unlmited plan and you'd be surprised how fast 10 Gigs can get eaten up with today's graphics heavy web pages. Check out the plans carefully before you sign up.. MANY however use a verizon Jet Pack.

Myself I am very anti-Verizon, Had too many dealings with assorted parts of that company in the past and completly ticked off by the cuss some more service department.

T-mobile has an "Unlimited" plan but again READ THE FINE PRINT. it's only 3-G (or slower) Only the first 10 Gigs are 4G (this is the plan I have). T-Mobile has less coverage however theory has it I should be able to use AT&T towers.. (Have yet to be in a place where I can test that theory)

SPRINT may or may not have an unlimited plan, I've not read the fine print, but coverage sucks... Truly sucks.. I do have a sprint stick in case it works where T-Mobile does not (have not found such a place).

Hit_the_Rhod · 07-28-2015, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Cellular
Verizon has for many years had the best coverage However AT&T is looking good in that area as well.. NEITHER company offers a true unlmited plan and you'd be surprised how fast 10 Gigs can get eaten up with today's graphics heavy web pages. Check out the plans carefully before you sign up.. MANY however use a verizon Jet Pack.

T-mobile has an "Unlimited" plan but again READ THE FINE PRINT. it's only 3-G (or slower) Only the first 10 Gigs are 4G (this is the plan I have). T-Mobile has less coverage however theory has it I should be able to use AT&T towers.. (Have yet to be in a place where I can test that theory)

Two comments: 1) if you use ad block plus,or similar ad blockers it will stop a lot of the ads/streaming banners etc that clutter up your screen and generally take more data than the page you are trying to view. Not a total solution, but it helps.

2) T-mobile states that they roam on "all the major networks", which unfortunately does not mean ATnT. Apparently ATnT is NOT a "MAJOR" network according to T-Mobile. We discovered this when we had T-mobile and could not use it in the closest town to where we lived. Phone would say "no network service", but would also state "emergency calls only", so my inquiring mind figured out that the phone could roam on SOME network since it could dial 911 and get through, but that network wasn't one they had a roaming agreement with. When I asked people around me who were chatting away on their phones, they all said they were on ATnT! A call to T-mobile, (after moving up 3 tiers on the phone tree as no one lower would answer my direct question) the supervisor admitted that T-Mobile did NOT roam on ATnT towers except for emergency calls. Not sure if that is still the case, although a friend with T-mobile still cannot make calls from our local city. We switched to ATnT, problem solved! Please don't take this a overall criticism of T-Mobile, it worked great in the areas they had reception, it just happened that when we moved to this part of KY from NC, their coverage wasn't the best.