Newbies seeking basic info on Cells/Sat. TV and more
dczrose said
10:01 PM Sep 18, 2009
Hello all...My hubby and I are in our second phase of starting a life on the road (the first phase was the decision to do it and discussing/working out the pros/cons and some details which has taken a year) Second phase is looking at and deciding travel modes as in camper -v- motor home.
I have a couple of questions I need answered but first I will tell you what we have planned and will take all input...good or bad. We are 50 years old and I am a retired/disabled nurse. He has had his own business for over 10 years and is a 30 year experienced tree climber/tree trim and removal service. His business has really decreased and it is related to the economy and our small town living. I have minimal retirement/disability income and feel it would be enough to support us living frugally on the road. Our kids are grown and we love the grand kids but feel we need to enjoy our lives without always being available for everyone (I am sure most of you will understand that sentence! ) We plan to have a moving type sale and get rid of most of our possessions except the important stuff (photos/mementos we could not live without etc ) that we will put in storage. We don't have a lot as we downsized from a 4 bedroom home to a 2 BR two years ago -we are renters-but a lot of "stuff" can be gotten rid of to help raise money for this including his old work truck and some equipment, some antiques etc. I have a beloved '96 Isuzu Trooper I want to keep but have never pulled anything with it. We have gone from looking at 16 ft. or less campers to now checking out small motor homes as we think towing my 'ZuZu would be better and we are finding some great deals (private sellers) on Winnebagos and a couple of other motor homes. My hubby is a great shade tree mechanic too! We plan to do the work-camp life and we also have family all over the U.S. (just in case). I am also working on a traveling business as in cards and magnent logos for our new home (along with a new business name- I thought of Turtle Tree Service as in our home on our back but I am afraid that may sound like we are slow at our job---just a little humor here.)
The business is not a big deal though due to the mentioned income I have and his abilitys that are usable about anywhere. I don't have the vision of making a lot of money at this tho and he is willing to work doing things other than trees. We just want to travel...are willing to stay put for a month or more at a time and enjoy it all as much as possible. My two questions are: 1) What is the best cell phones/plans for U.S. travel. Would pre-pay be just as good? We had cell phones for years and let them go when our last plan expired as we did not really use them anymore and we have the home phone at present. 2) Sattelite TV service? We curretly have Direct TV and we are locked to it for another year (we have used this for 4+ years now) and I am told we can keep it as we travel but what are the electronic component needs etc. We are both T.V people as I am a news junkie and he is a crime show/old western junkie. Any help/input would be great! Thanks in advance!
NorCal Dan said
09:53 AM Sep 19, 2009
Welcome to the forum Sheri and David.
We recently got rid of our contract cell phones we had with Sprint and went with a tracfone. We keep a cell phone as our last option and for emergencies. Most of the time we use the MagicJack phone that uses VOIP technology to pass our call over the internet. If you plan to use your cell phone for all your inbound and outbound calls then I think the best bet would be to use a contract phone from Verizon, Sprint, etc. If you don't plan on the phone very much then look into a tracfone. These are the phones that you buy minutes on calling cards. Be advised the minutes don't last forever, if you don't use them you lose them. The phone we bought I believe is called a goPhone. Has the best nationwide coverage, and the first minutes card I bought is good for 6 months. I paid $35 for the phone at Walmart.
We also use DirecTv. Shouldn't be a problem unless you want the local channels. DirecTv doesn't like changing your service location all the time. They told me 4-6 times annually should be ok. When I call them I make sure they understand I live in an RV and usually I don't have any problems with them.
-- Edited by NorCal Dan on Saturday 19th of September 2009 09:55:40 AM
dczrose said
12:33 PM Sep 19, 2009
Thanks Dan...I am glad you mentioned the MagicJack...I had forgotten about that. I will have a PC, either desktop or I hope to have a lap top. My sister just tried the MagicJack for a trial period and found that the server was down to much for home use. I will be in touch with my kids/grandkids and other family members but it will not be on a daily basis (this is one of the reasons we are doing this...hiding out-lol) but I do want to have it for work/business. I have a tracphone that we use now but it blanks out with no service available vry often (I do live in a mountainous area tho). Will the Direct Dish we have be usable? It seems a bit large.
NorCal Dan said
08:03 AM Sep 20, 2009
I have had no problems with the magicjack...as long as I have internet it works ok. I've been using it for about 3 months, and I have lost 3 calls while I was talking to somebody. In all 3 cases it was because the wifi I was connected to had dropped out. It has been very reliable and we do not miss paying $80/month for cell phones that we rarely used.
Another viable option for staying in contact with family and friends is Skype. I like to use Skype because it includes video, but it requires a good internet connection with broadband to use video. As long as the call is computer-to-computer it is a free call.
For sat tv we use the slimline dish mounted on the roof of the coach. But I also have a portable dish I can hook up if we find ourselves in a site where trees block our view to the south. The portable is the same type of dish that DirecTv uses on s&b houses. I have it mounted on a large cement block and for storage I can remove the dish and lower the arm so it fits nicely in the basement.
sirwinston21 said
06:30 AM Sep 21, 2009
You can go online and check out the plans the various phone companys offer. We use Verizon and pretty much have had reception for all of our travels though a couple of times we used a truckers antenna and an amplifier. As for Direct TV you just need to take the recivers from your house and get a protable dish and a compass. Now that I have done it a few times it only takes a couple of minutes to get it set up. If you reside in your RV you can use a waiver and get the east and west coast feeds for around $15. plus what ever plan you have. If you are going to be around municipalitys much you can use the antenna for local stations.
Luvglass said
01:27 PM Sep 21, 2009
It's pretty much the consensus on all the RV forums that Verizon has the widest nationwide service, but others are happy with other companies.
Direct TV advertises an RV kit for taking your home setup on the road, so you should be able to continue witht hem if you are satisfied with what you have now.
Good luck,
bjoyce said
04:48 PM Sep 21, 2009
For contract cell phones the best coverage is a race between Verizon and AT&T, with most finding Verizon winning, especially since it bought Alltel and Unicel. Sprint is next, then T-Mobile and all the regional players like Cricket and US Cellular are way behind. Most find that the pre-paid cell phones that are sold at retailers like Wal-Mart, which includes Tracfone and GoPhone (spelling?), have better coverage than the prepaid plans from Verizon, etc. I know some friends who buy the 1 year card from Tracfone to keep the phone number active and then buy air time as they need it.
dream reachers said
06:24 PM Sep 21, 2009
We have Verizon and are pleased with the coverage and plan in the states, Canada cost us more and the plan was not good. We had Direct TV with our sticks and bricks house and were told by them to leave the dishes with the house and they would set us up for our trailer with no added cost. We had 6 months left on on our contract when we moved into a RV park a few months before going on the road. We had automatic payments set up with Direct. We decided to drop Direct when our contract ran out before hitting the road and notified them as such. They went ahead and pulled the next months payment and when we requested a refund they said that our contract was extended when we received the setup on our trailer although there was no mention of it or nothing in writing concerning it at the time. They ended up giving us only a partial refund because they said we terminated before the end of the contract. We were not pleased with the outcome but since we were getting on the road we weren't going to let it ruin our new adventure. [ Just a word of warning to you]
I have a couple of questions I need answered but first I will tell you what we have planned and will take all input...good or bad. We are 50 years old and I am a retired/disabled nurse. He has had his own business for over 10 years and is a 30 year experienced tree climber/tree trim and removal service. His business has really decreased and it is related to the economy and our small town living. I have minimal retirement/disability income and feel it would be enough to support us living frugally on the road. Our kids are grown and we love the grand kids but feel we need to enjoy our lives without always being available for everyone (I am sure most of you will understand that sentence!
The business is not a big deal though due to the mentioned income I have and his abilitys that are usable about anywhere. I don't have the vision of making a lot of money at this tho and he is willing to work doing things other than trees. We just want to travel...are willing to stay put for a month or more at a time and enjoy it all as much as possible.
My two questions are:
1) What is the best cell phones/plans for U.S. travel. Would pre-pay be just as good? We had cell phones for years and let them go when our last plan expired as we did not really use them anymore and we have the home phone at present.
2) Sattelite TV service? We curretly have Direct TV and we are locked to it for another year (we have used this for 4+ years now) and I am told we can keep it as we travel but what are the electronic component needs etc. We are both T.V people as I am a news junkie and he is a crime show/old western junkie.
Any help/input would be great!
Thanks in advance!
We recently got rid of our contract cell phones we had with Sprint and went with a tracfone. We keep a cell phone as our last option and for emergencies. Most of the time we use the MagicJack phone that uses VOIP technology to pass our call over the internet. If you plan to use your cell phone for all your inbound and outbound calls then I think the best bet would be to use a contract phone from Verizon, Sprint, etc. If you don't plan on the phone very much then look into a tracfone. These are the phones that you buy minutes on calling cards. Be advised the minutes don't last forever, if you don't use them you lose them. The phone we bought I believe is called a goPhone. Has the best nationwide coverage, and the first minutes card I bought is good for 6 months. I paid $35 for the phone at Walmart.
We also use DirecTv. Shouldn't be a problem unless you want the local channels. DirecTv doesn't like changing your service location all the time. They told me 4-6 times annually should be ok. When I call them I make sure they understand I live in an RV and usually I don't have any problems with them.
-- Edited by NorCal Dan on Saturday 19th of September 2009 09:55:40 AM
Will the Direct Dish we have be usable? It seems a bit large.