Community Forums

buttster · 01-10-2012, 07:19 AM

Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here it is anyway. We are looking for a method to keep in contact with our family while on the road and not have to use our cell phone.
Has anyone used either MajicJack or NetTalk on their laptop while camping? We have Windows 7 on our laptop, heard this could make a difference and we also use Google.
How do they work on wireless WiFi in campgrounds, signal dictating?
Can you use internet on computer at same time as talking on phone?
How is product tech service, heard this is also a concern?
Looking at a base phone inside with wireless phone outside, will this work OK?
Bottom line how well do each work for RVing?

Jack1234 · 01-10-2012, 08:11 AM

For what it is worth, we travel full-time and could not live without an unlimited long distance cellular plan... It allows us to call ahead, contact local businesses, look after the business of life, etc. We use "Penny talk" calling cards for international calls & $25 lasts us several months calling family in Canada, England & our home in Mexico. If we need something more personal we use free wi-fi (usually at the CG or Starbucks or my tethered iPhone) and Skype.

Just me but I also could not live without my iPhone data plan which gives us web access almost everywhere, runs our GPS, our Banking, Newspapers & a zillion other things... as well as tethers to our lap-top so we always have a web connection ( most CG's advertise Wi-Fi but they don't actually work!).

Cheers

Roam America · 01-10-2012, 09:17 AM

In our case (full time RV'ers) cell phone is the best choice. I am not familiar with NetTalk. I have MagicJack that I use for business. MJ says you needs at least 128K upload for MJ to work. From my experience MJ needs at LEAST 300K upload for good voice quality. The faster upload the better. I found MJ does not work well in most CG's WiFi systems. Works fairly well thru a wireless connection, but again needs higher upload bandwidth.

BryanL · 01-10-2012, 09:19 AM

Find a cell phone plan that works best for you. There are many options from pre-paid to contract.

A VOIP phone (Skype, MagicJack, etc) requires a solid I'net connection. Very little bandwidth is required but a solid connection with low latency is. That sort of connection is not so easy to find on the road. (this is why many RVers provide their own I'net access via cell phone plans)

Product technical support is one of the things built into the costs. Odds are, though, that most of your problems aren't going to be with the product once you get it registered but rather with the infrastructure connections (I'net access) so the quality of tech support is not a big deal.

If you can depend upon a solid I'net connection, the new MagicJack dongle is a decent way to go. Once registered, it doesn't need a computer. It only needs power, an ethernet port connected to the I'net, and a POTS (plain old telephone service) phone.

Probably best to bite the bullet, though, and get a cell phone. They do suffer 'featuritis' so it can be a bit of a search to find a plan that fits the services you need.

Wayne M · 01-10-2012, 09:25 AM

For Mother's Day, or any day, buy DW an iPad. Use FaceTime. Great video conferencing at about 3mb per minute. That is equal to 0.00293 Gb per minute, so using FaceTime for 40 minutes would eat up about 0.11719 Gb. To use 1 Gb of data time you would have to use 1024 Mb. That is a lot of talk time, like about 341 minutes at 3Mb/per minute.

Here is some information on Skype Usage which for Skype to Skype is about 3 MB per minute, but varies in other Skype applications as indicated on the web page.

On our last trip I had the MAC Mini with me and a WebCam. I used FaceTime to talk to the Grandkids, and to my brother. It worked satisfactorily over 3g and CG WiFi. Next time out I'll use Skype for a comparison.

I was concerned also of "data plan" usage, but at 3mb per minute I can talk to the Grandkids and see there faces.

Just wanted to get some facts out on data usage.

Good luck, and Happy Trails.

PyrateSilly · 01-10-2012, 09:46 AM

We have Skype Mobile on the cell phones. We can talk to whomever we need to and not use minutes thru Skype. We even talk to our youngest over in Korea for free thru Skype. Video calling with the granddaughter in VA is great.
Personally I would not put MJ on any computers we own. Too many horror stories for me.

buttster · 01-11-2012, 08:20 AM

I asked if anyone used either of these devices for camping. Most parks have WiFi so a wireless laptop would save money over a cell phone, etc. I know signal strength will make a differance. I just wanted a feed-back to make a choice on your actual results.

alvinc · 01-11-2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buttster

I asked if anyone used either of these devices for camping. Most parks have WiFi so a wireless laptop would save money over a cell phone, etc. I know signal strength will make a differance. I just wanted a feed-back to make a choice on your actual results.

I agree with the other people posting, that you would be better off with a cell phone, even a small plan, than trying to count on the VOIP solution at RV parks. You probably already have a cell phone, or should, just for emergencies.

The problem with WiFi at most RV parks is two-fold;

The RV park spends very little on their WiFi installation. There are notable exceptions, but the majority are not installed by professionals. This leads to inconsistent and marginal reception in parts of the park.
The uplink to the ISP from the RV park is the cheapest available. Again there are exceptions, but sharing a small business DSL connection that has 6Mbps down and 768kbps up among 10-15 users will be very slow.

My experience with just plain Wifi at most RV parks has been somewhat dismal, which means that a VOIP (magic jack, ooma, vonage) solution will be inconsistent.

Experience: We have stayed in at least 50 parks with Wifi, I can count on one hand the number that had stable fast Wifi connections. This of course varies depending which site you have and the quality of the WiFi installation. The first issue has been getting a stable connection, which we solved using an external antenna. The second issue, of too many people using a small pipe to the ISP, can only be solved by the park spending more money on their internet connection.