Hi. Although I've had cell phones since the only ones available were in a briefcase, (am I old, or what?)I'm afraid the technology has gotten away from me Since we are not yet full-timing, we haven't considered Direct TV for  our current use just a few times a month. We will be on the road most of the summer, and are likely to encounter places without cable or Wi-Fi, or as last week, find ourselves at a lovely place with no cable, but pay-for Wi-Fi which was fine for e-mail, but not for using or "streaming" internet Netflix, I am wondering if a data plan with "air card", which I assume is a modem,is a reasonable answer. Mostly,we'd want to be able to use the online Netflix. Our netbook has windows 7. We are at least proficient enough to have properly connected the netbook to our flatscreen in the trailer, so can get whatever we want to display on the large screen.I currently have my phones with ATT, but I notice that many of you mention Verizon. Untill we full-time(1-2 yrs), most of our travel will be in the West (CA,NV,AZ,UT), except for a cross country trip each summer. Might the data plan/modem be an answer? Also, I see that some of these plans offer 5G of data use. Is that enough to "stream" Netflix, and or other video? Sorry if this is obvious to many, but I haven't a clue. Once again, thx for your help.

Richard

We have the Verizon aircard, the cradlepoint 500, an amplifier and a Wilson antenna. This setup gives us wifi and the ability to use both laptops at once. We have the aircard on the unlimited plan which means we aren't confined to the 5G limit. They no longer offer that plan. The downside to our unlimited plan is that it is not as fast as the newer plans. I don't believe you will be able to stay within your 5Gs with Netflix. We have started several times to upgrade our plan and have been told that if you use alot of video or Youtube etc. you would go over the 5G and then it gets pricey. That is why we haven't done anything as of yet. We don't do Netflix. We have the DirectTV plan, auto HD satellite and have been very happy with that service. Verizon gives better coverage than any of the other carriers. As you travel you will want the most wide range coverage. Good luck!

Thanks. I noticed that the archives on this topic had links to the 3G Store. I went there, and found a great chart showing the amount of bandwith typical activities "eat up". I notice for example that Netflix standard def will use up 5Gb in 7.5 hrs, while Netflix HD will gobble that up in just 3! Looks like the potential for overage is great, if one is not very careful. I least I have some point of reference. Thank you for sharing your experience. Verizon would seem to be the best, in any event. Richard

I talked to a camper today who told me they recently stayed at an RV park that limited bandwidth on their wifi system. I'm wondering if this is because people are streaming netflix movies on park wifi systems and bogging it down for everybody. We have an aircard with Sprint ($59/month) and find coverage is weak in the pacific northwest. We get roam service where we are now, first time that has happened. Usually we just get the 1X signal (slow data). And we have the 5GB/month limit. We have used the card across the southern states and in MO. and KS. and CA. had no problems. We tend to favor CG's with wifi, but not if it's tengo pay-as-you-go service. The park we're in now uses tengo but it's complimentary and we have very few problems with it. I can't tell you how many times I paid for tengo service and found it to be useless. I learned early on to pay for one day of service so if it didn't work I was only out $3-4 bucks. I do not know of any aircard plans that offer unlimited data. I have seen advertisements for cell phones with unlimited voice/text/data for $50/month. I don't know if the phones can be tethered to your computer network or not.

Unless things change a lot you will have to give up doing long streaming videos like movies while on the road. There are metro areas with unlimited Clearwire 4G service that you can get through Clearwire, Sprint, Clear or Comcast but most of the country you are looking at normal cell phone 3G service with 5GB per month limits. Most campground wifi is not fast enough to support streaming video. Satellite internet normally comes with a 200 to 375MB limit per day, again not enough to support long streaming videos.