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Old 03-19-2017, 01:58 PM   #1
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Question Techie advice for best Internet and/or Cellular

I have my first MH on order and I own a software biz. I'm looking forward to traveling while continuing to maintain the business. Internet connectivity is obviously my main concern. With your experience of campgrounds, what do you suggest I do to ensure the best experience of staying connected while on the road?

I have AT&T on my iPhone and Project Fi on my Android. I also have OnStar in my toad but think that's just AT&T providing that data so probably won't continue it. Finally I'm getting the MH with a DirecTV antenna.

Do you recommend any cellular boosters and/or wi-fi extenders for the RV?

What should I expect and how should I get setup before I start hitting the road to avoid unhappy connectivity experiences?

Thank you.
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Old 03-19-2017, 02:14 PM   #2
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We have only stayed in a few parks in Texas but none of them had decent WiFi. In fact, it was terrible.
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Old 03-19-2017, 02:24 PM   #3
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DON'T count on park wifi for your business. Too many of them have slow internet, or simply too many users on at the same time.
Plan on always supplying your own connection to the internet and not counting on anyone else for a connection.
I use a Verizon mifi, but the park we were at last week was so remote that there was NO connection out there. I overheard several conversations in the park where people were comparing 'bars' - nobody had any, regardless of carrier. However, that's the first time that Verizon has 'failed' me for internet service.
YMMV of course.
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Old 03-19-2017, 02:39 PM   #4
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we use the WifiRanger, with the antenna on the roof attached to the front of the a/c cowling, and the router within the coach... all our devices can connect to it when it finds a good signal, whether at an rv park, home depot, starbucks, mcdonalds, etc...

it also provides a single device connection to a rv park wifi system, since some charge extra for more than one device connecting to their wifi(Tengonet)...
the WifiRanger can reach out much farther than our devices can, and being mounted on the roof gives it a better chance at finding all the available options, especially open networks.

we've traveled all over and have seen it all. while you would think every rv park or campground would be similar - it's still the wild west. Cellular is best for overall coverage no matter where you are, but it's also the costliest, though with AT&T and others now providing UNLIMITED plans, it may be more possible than before...

we are heading the Canada and Alaska soon, and this was also my main concern as I run an Insurance business, and an Insurance technology business, while we travel. The former 'way of doing things' from the cellular companies for international travel was to charge you a flat fee per day, per day used, while in Canada or Mexico, or something similar. While expensive, it also cramped your internet and data usage because it was just too difficult to manage.
Now, AT&T just released their UNLIMITED PLUS plan, with 22 gbs of 4LTE, if available, and slower speeds after that, NO additional charges for usage in Canada(nice!), and you have the option of automatically streaming HD video in 480p instead to save data, AND you can still use your Device as a HOTSPOT for your other non-cellular devices while you travel, with a 10gb plan limit.

While not perfect, as the term Unlimited goes, it DOES give us many many more options now than before.

I'll also add that AT&T shows very good coverage in Alaska, and even the Canadian provinces getting there... I believe we'll have some times when it's not available, but it'll probably be less of a concern as we might have originally assumed...
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Old 03-19-2017, 02:47 PM   #5
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T-Mobile is another option for coverage in Canada and Alaska. We just made the trip and in Canada we roamed on Telus and in Alaska we roamed on GCI (a local carrier that specializes in Alaska and generally has the best Alaskan coverage) and roaming data service on both was unthrottled and uncapped. I was quite pleased with the coverage in Western Canada and Alaska, better than I expected. Certainly you can find dead spots in the Yukon or Northern BC or Alaska in rural areas off of main highways, but overall quite good considering.

Regarding park wifi, there will occasionally be pleasant surprises but you certainly cannot count on good QoS, and oftentimes it's absolutely dreadful (or it will work OK in the afternoon but be brought to its knees in the evening hours by the Netflix crowd.) You pretty much have to have a cellular data plan for reliable service. Luckily competition has really been bringing down the price lately and now all carriers offer some good options.
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Old 03-19-2017, 02:49 PM   #6
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Park WiFi experiences will vary. A few have reasonable good service and were setup by someone knowing what they were doing. Most I've encountered have been fair to bad or worse. Some common park WiFi issues include: poor bandwidth at the park's address, too small of bandwidth purchased (heard about one park using dial-up modem for the park's WiFi!), no quality of service (QoS) to limit users trying to stream and just poorly designed WiFi systems.

I installed a high end cell booster from MaxSignal. Their product seems to blow all of the competition out of the water for performance and getting a usable signal when others give you nothing. Not cheap, but if you need decent Internet access on a regular basis providing your own hot spot is the only reliable solution. The model package I bought includes one amp and two sets of antennas. One for the 5th wheeler and another for my truck. They have a more powerful amp intended for only RV use. It's too powerful for a truck's cabin, can't get enough distance between exterior and interior antennas in a truck. You may be able to get away with lower cost models if you always camp where there's a strong cell signal. I wanted to be able to switch the amp between the truck and trailer so I have great cell reception while on the road. MaxSignal's support service is great, they'll take care of you.

I have 35 years in the IT and network profession and design and install campus class WiFi systems, so I do know something about RV park WiFi issues. At some point I may install a WiFi booster as well on the trailer. Probably a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO-US for the interior access point and a Ubiquiti Bullet with a omni-directional antenna on the top of the TV antenna mast for the exterior antenna.


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Old 03-19-2017, 02:54 PM   #7
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We have a 40 GB Verizon data plan and use park WiFi as much as we can. We have a Surf SOHO Router that can connect to the Park WiFi if is close enough using WiFi-as-WAN. If farther, we have a Ubiquity Bullet on the roof (something like a WiFiRanger) to do the WiFi connection..

To help the Verizon, we use a Pantech 295 modem USB connected to the SOHO router. The modem sits in a WeBoost Drive Sleek with a Boatant antenna on the roof.

The nature of my work is mostly at night, after most everyone goes to bed an stops streaming video, most Park WiFi isn't too bad. Just don't count on Park WiFi in the evenings.

We rely on Dish for streaming video.
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Old 03-19-2017, 02:56 PM   #8
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You'll find that most RV parks wi-fi ranges from fair to unusable. If your business is reliant on good internet service look into an unlimited data plan from any of the major carriers.
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Old 03-19-2017, 03:40 PM   #9
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I don't know when the English language changed to where 22 GB is Unlimited. Unless you have a "grandfathered" data plan, there is no unlimited.

The marketing hype for all the current plans is for data used on the phone like videos. If you are using data for a PC then you plans in more like 10GB (Hotspot limit) unless you have a defined data plan.

If you are doing business, be wary of casual users telling you what works.
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Old 03-19-2017, 05:53 PM   #10
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What's enough of a data plan for a hot spot varies a great deal depending on how you use the Internet for your mobile business needs. If you're doing video or image work you could burn through 10-20 GB pretty fast. If you mostly do email and some web activity then it might be fine.

I do not require a lots of GBs per month while traveling. If I did, I would install a WiFi booster as I described above to use when whenever you can to reduce the usage on your paid capacity. Satellite based Internet is another option, but it has a large latency problem. But then you could mix all three solutions if you have $$$.
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Old 03-19-2017, 08:33 PM   #11
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Neal you should think about a subscription with at RVMobileInternet.com. Chris and Cherie from Technomadia.com have some of the best information about how to operate on the road.

The current Verizon plan is unlimited in the amount of data that you can use. They do give you 22gb at full speed and reserve the right to throttle usage down over that amount. But it is not automatically reduced, at least I haven't seen it. Most of the other carriers are doing the same thing. Also the plan isn't just for smartphones. My plan is on the latest Verizon 7730 Jetpack. Again the RVMobileinternet website is on top of this along with all of the latest tech and recommendations.
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Old 03-20-2017, 08:11 AM   #12
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As these will be legitimate business expenses, suggest you:

1) Join and pay for Members only content:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com

Chris and Cherie provide some good reading on all things RV Internet Connections!

2) Go with several tools in your tool box. No single device or plan will cover all of your needs. Some places Verizon works well, other areas it does not, but then ATT works well. So having multiple plans available to choose from is important if being online is important for your business.

3) Yes to two different methods of improving signal:
One - Get a simple NIMO roof top antenna, and be sure you have a Hotspot Device that will allow for dual antenna port connection. (ATT Unite Explore is very good. And Verizon has had great success with the Jetpack (Their name for Hotspot device.) AC791L device. (These are just two examples. Chris and Cherie have some good reviews on these and others to help make the decision.)

4) I also like an in house 802.11AC Wireless Router combo. This becomes a single contact point for all of the devices in your car to connect to. Then you either hard wire connect your Internet source (Unite Explore or AC791L) to this Wireless Router combo, and it rebroadcasts throughout your RV and outside too. Products like the WiFi Ranger Elite AC FM (I have this, and it has worked well for me.), or Pepwave or Netgear all have different devices too. (Again, Chris & Cherie have good testing and recommendations of gear Wireless Router Combo's to help in this decision.)

5) Back to cellular signals. Yep, get an amp too. Many times when you are on the fringes of coverage, it will make the difference on getting usable data connection to the internet. (WeBoost, Max Signal, etc. make amps.) I think due to your timeframe, I'd wait a bit longer on the amp, as a few companies have new products coming to market in the near future (Near future could be a year out in this business!). Wait and see what they have to offer, and how they perform.


=====

Us, and this is not for business, but for doing the best we can to remain available via phone, text, internet. And also to support streaming download speeds too.

>We have Verizon with currently a Samsung S6 that is established as also a Hotspot. This is a Grand Fathered Unlimited Data Plan (GF-UDP). (These are harder to get, but looking at Chris & Cherie's site, you will see they have contact info to a gent that can help you buy and assume a GF-UDP plan. Putting one of these in a Jetpack would work well for you.) The Verizon has been our go to data connection for many years, going back to non LTE days and Motorola Droids!

>ATT - My wife (And Mother In Law) have two phone line accounts on a plan. Wife has the iPhone 7. We just recently dropped her GF-UDP (As you can not use it in Hotspot mode.), and went with their new UDP Plus plan. Her phone is now a Hotspot, with 22GB of UDP, that can be stepped down on priority, if a tower network area is overloaded. We also added, for $20 more, the Unite Explore Hotspot, which gives us another 22GB of data. ATT and Verizon areas of exclusive coverage has really dropped in the last 3-5 years. (In the past, 65-70% of the time, Verizon would have coverage and ATT would not. But the times that Verizon did not have coverage, quite often ATT would.) My SWAG is now 90% of the time we can use either ATT or Verizon, whichever has the best signal. And of course, this is subject to the areas we travel in, mostly West side of the country.)

-We have the mentioned WiFiRange Elite AC-FM (FM is the Flat Mount option for on the roof.)

-We have the Max Signal Amp, which has been working well for us.

-We will be buying a MIMO rooftop antenna, to use with the Unite Explore ATT Hotspot. (By the way, so far in the 3 weeks we've had this device, it has provided the best overall download speeds performance in the Arizona regions we've been traveling. The MIMO as well as 5ghz WiFi really step up the game. Only exception in this three weeks, was at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we used the Verizon S6 phone with the Amp (Not the Max Signal Amp in this case, for some reason another unit we have, WeBoost Sleek, actually performed better.)

=======

I also encourage you to read up on this, like you are with this thread. And map out what you think you will want to do hardware wise. Then either do it yourself, or hire a good tech to help you. And plan to try an future proof your install. Make one or two roof penetrations over/near where your your 'Communication Command' cabinet will be. x's 2 4 Gang boxes will work good for you, with each having a 1" or are larger conduit feeding back down to your 'Communication Command' area. This way when you run wires, or need to add new wires for new devices that will for sure come out in the future, you have an easy upgrade path. In your 'Communication Cabinet'. Feed both 12V and 110/120V, so you have both available to you.

Best of luck to you ahead,
Smitty
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Old 03-20-2017, 09:12 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty77 View Post
As these will be legitimate business expenses, suggest you:

1) Join and pay for Members only content:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com

Chris and Cherie provide some good reading on all things RV Internet Connections!

2) Go with several tools in your tool box. No single device or plan will cover all of your needs. ...
Agreed
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Old 03-20-2017, 08:44 PM   #14
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I'm "old school" when it comes to internet. I needed the most reliable solution I could come up with in order to do my day job. Went with a Cradlepoint router provisioned on the Verizon cellular network, an Antenna Plus MIMO antenna and a Weboost Drive 4G-X signal booster. I've been in 23 states this year - I have yet to overnight anywhere without working internet - and with the exception of a remote desert between Las Vegas and Phoenix - I'm not aware of having been without connectivity.

We're currently in a tiny town in the Florida panhandle (Carrabelle) ... my sister in law and a friend visited last week. Sis in law got nothing via her T-Mobile service, friend got nothing on her ATT service.

There are certainly less expensive options than Verizon. BUT, if you move and actually need to use your internet connectivity - Verizon's coverage is the cat's ass.
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