What system do you use for your on-the-road Internet connection? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

RVDude · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: What system do you use for your on-the-road Internet connection?

Howard · Host

From what I've been able to find, Internet In Motion is nothing more than an expensive cellular data connection.

If you can't get cellular data coverage, and you can't in about 2/3 of the geographical U.S., you won't get connected. So 24/7 coverage "anywhere you go" is quite an overstatement.

I'm no tech guru, but it seems that you can get virtually the same thing from Verizon Broadband (or Sprint, etc.) for a whole lot cheaper.

The cellular broadband is great when you are near highways and metropolitan areas. And it will work while driving.

But for more comprehensive coverage throughout the U.S. in more rural areas, other options (i.e. satellite internet) are better and have about the same monthly cost. The issue then is upfront equipment cost (and tripod vs. automatic) and whether you need to be connected while traveling. There are some satellite systems that are claiming you can stay connected while traveling, but I have not seen good data on the success rates.

Trade-offs. Always trade-offs. smile

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

After reading through the "Internet In Motion" (IIM) site, I find in somewhat similar to a discussion on this board last fall. The question at that time concerned a router or switch to use with a cell phone. We all did some research and found a suitable solution although I never heard the final results.

I haven't discussed this with an IIM TECH person, but IIM seems to be a High Gain Cellular antenna and cell router hooked to a fairly plain Jane wireless router. This is probably an adequate solution along most interstates and in major population centers. However, we are parked only 6 miles from a major tourist spot on the Oregon coast and I had to walk up a hill for good cell signal. The odds are IIM would be marginal in this situation. We have been in several campgrounds recently where we had NO cell reception. I suspect that IIM would not work in those locations, even with the magic Wilson Cell Antenna which we have.

Like most other technological issues there is probably not a silver bullet. I did note the cost was around $80 per month. I believe this in addition to the dependent cell service. I did note they seemed to be providing solutions based on the major cell services.

Read the data again and try to read between the lines.

I believe the same setup is available from Camping World, so I would also make an effort to comparison shop.

Please know that I love my Motosat Datastorm, the cost is about the same per month and speeds are similar NOW. That is subject to change also as technology changes.

Mike

CanAmCpl · RV-Dreams Community Member

We researched so many of the different available options, IIM being one of them. Our needs were to have fast, reliable internet on a mostly constant basis. I'm running a business from the RV, not just checking emails and surfing a little. The MotoSat DataStorm was hands down the best solution. However, there seemed to be a few other solutions that could be tested in the meantime to shelling out the big bucks right away. Money was an issue, so I kept looking.

I ended up with the Verizon AirCard, that I connect into a Kyocera Router - connected to the Desktop, and use an external antenna booster. I spent $389 for the whole sheebang, and pay $79 a month unlimited usage. I have incredible coverage, and except for the fact that I am traveling in Canada right now, I have not had to rely on any other connection (meaning the wi-fi of the parks etc.,)

What about IIM. Well, from what I heard, the connection speed and reliability weren't any greater than that of the EVDO AirCard, but could cost 4 or 5 times the investment.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose. We sure do have a lot of options, it really does matter how you are computing and what your needs are.

jbeletti · RV-Dreams Community Member

I know this thread is old and I did scan most of the message before posting so I hop my setup is not redundant.

I use a Sierra Wireless 580 AirCard with Sprint service. Sometimes I use this directly in a PC card slot of a laptop but most often, this card is slipped into a Mobile Router. There are probably half a dozen brands out there now but when I bought mine, they were more limited. I use the Junxion Box mobile router. It has 2 Ethernet ports on it for connecting via hard-wire to computers and it has a built-in WAP (wireless access point) so we are our own hotspot while traveling down the road or stationary.

I am considering getting that new mobile router from Linksys to leave in the trailer. Then when we arrive at our destination, I just pull the AirCard out of the router in the truck and plug it into the router in the trailer.

It doesn't achieve speeds anywhere near my Comcast Internet at home but it is faster than dial-up.

Jim

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Norm Payne has just installed an EVDO system in his rig - you can read about it on his website, seeya-downtheroad.com. Norm does a lot of research before he buys anything. He worked for IBM as a techie before his retirement and says this is the next step into the future.

Coyatee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Norm's link does not work.
Thanks.

Coyatee -

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

Try this link
seeya-downtheroad

Not to disparage but while I am sure that "Norm" has done due diligence, I have been in 3 beautiful campgrounds in the last 10 weeks that had little or no cell service. That includes using a Wilson antenna. The more remote you tend to camp, the less likely you are to receive EVDO service "At this time". When your internet connection is your financial and family connection it is of utmost importance.

Mike, 20 years a techie and a trekky

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

For either cellular or satellite you are going to be out at least $60/month plus equipment costs and a time commitment. Once you decide you can spend that kind of money you can decide which to do.
For cellular some of the equipment might be “free”, but that might not be the best equipment and you will be best served adding a good external antenna and/or booster for fringe areas. You need a 24 month commitment. In Death Valley and Big Bend National Parks you will not have cellular service. On the way to Alaska and in much of Mexico you will not have service. You are limited to 5GB a month (they call that “unlimited”), which sounds like a lot but I just downloaded CD and DVD Linux images at my mother’s house on Comcast cable over a couple days and that totaled over 7GB. Service can be quite fast. It can work while going down the road. The equipment is small and easy to store. T-Mobile did have a $30/month plan, but now it seems to be $50/month and the coverage is not up to Verizon or Cingular on their $60/month service. Sprint ($60/month) seems to use Cingular towers for data for no extra charge so they are also good for data.
There are some people under the radar with old Verizon Mobile Office systems running at slow speeds, but you can’t sign up for that anymore and they can’t upgrade their phones.
Satellite can be had for $500-700 if you want to put your own mobile tripod system together and have friends who can help you (they might not be your friends long), $1500-1800 for using a good dealer, $4500 and up for a Datastorm automatic roof mount. You have a 15-month minimum commitment for the normal price. It works where you can see the southern sky and within the footprint of the satellite you were assigned. Most satellites cover the lower 48 well, some have issues in the PNW, some in New England and some don’t work far into Canada or Mexico. Changing satellites is easy for a Motosat ISP customer of a Datastorm, sometimes easy for other ISPs and can be troublesome for a tripod customer. Monthly fees are $60-80 for most plans. The service is uneven and can be flakey, but mostly it works quite well. You are limited on how much you can download in a day, 200 to 400MB in most cases, or they slow you down a lot. Hughes.net just changed the way they handle the download limit, they call it “FAP”, and they now slow you down for a minimum of 24 hours when you go over. A lot more people are hitting those numbers now.
I know people with a Datastorm, a tripod dish, and a cellular modem. They are working from their RVs and need to be connected all the time. They use them all and do not begrudge the space it all takes or the expense. Most of us can’t justify the numbers and have to choose one system.
Using campground Wi-Fi is iffy. Some are great and free, some are lousy and cost money. I try the free ones out as we travel and have seen both good and bad. Talking to people who pay they can’t find a quality difference between the for pay and the free ones on average. More and more campgrounds have Wi-Fi, so it works for many. You can get USB and PCI Wi-Fi adapters for desktop computers.

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is just my "thinking out loud" which I am including here in hopes that it will help others just as confused as I am over this subject in sorting out the facts.

I certainly can see from all of this discussion that what system you use is pretty much a personal decision based on your travel style. During our first eight months of fulltiming we have very seldom been without cell phone coverage; however, we are planning on heading west early next year where coverage can be spotty. To date we have relied on WIFI for our internet and need to do something different in the future - but what?

We were going to have a satelite system installed for television, but we are not big television fans - there are very few shows that we watch and if we miss them it is no big deal. I can't stand all of the commercials anyway (six minutes of show, four minutes of commercials - it drives me insane). When I sit down to watch a show, I want to see the SHOW - not commercials! Therefore we opted out of the expense for satelite equipment and a monthly fee to watch an average of four hours of television and two half hours of commercials each week.

But the internet is another story. We live by the internet - banking, paying bills, emails, and following our favorite websites, we are on line a couple of hours each day. Right now we are workamping in New York and the campground has Time-Warner cable. For $29.95 per month (no contract) we can link to their Road Runner service which is cable internet and it works great. Once we leave here we will be back to WIFI which is free sometimes and has fees on at other times - has good speed sometimes and is very slooooow at others. We tried a Cingular broadband air card for a while which we found pretty much unless and discontinued it.

So out of all of the systems mentioned above I would say that we are going to have to first determine what our lifestyle is going to be and what our needs are - how much do we use the internet, where do we travel most, are we willing to spend time seeking out hot spots (which, with the price of fuel, can be costly as well as inconvenient), how much can we afford to pay, what is our frustration level when it comes to setting up "stuff", how much room do we have for "stuff", etc. Before we purchase anything we want to know that it is going to work most of the time and without lots of hassels. The above entries will help us to begin sorting all of this out. Also, it would be nice to know what is coming down the road, maybe it would be worth waiting for.

I think I'm going to start by creating a matrix to plot the pros and cons of each of the available systems. Then will compare each of them to our lifestyle list. I want a cheap and easy way to do this, but I am not sure you can use those two words in the same sentence when it come to internet connectivity. It looks like it will come down to trade offs (I hate those words), but if we are going to keep moving, then we will have to learn to adapt. At least we've got three months to make a decision.

Sorry for the rambling,

Darrell

simonsrf · RV-Dreams Family Member

Darrell and Judy wrote:

We were going to have a satelite system installed for television, but we are not big television fans - there are very few shows that we watch and if we miss them it is no big deal. I can't stand all of the commercials anyway (six minutes of show, four minutes of commercials - it drives me insane). When I sit down to watch a show, I want to see the SHOW - not commercials!
---------------------------

Darrel and Judy,

We feel your pain, we went through the exact same decisions you are trying to figure out. Bill Joyce states those decisions very well.

First, about your quote:

Learn to use the DVR (digital video recorder) supplied by the satellite companies. I also hate commercials, and we can watch a one-hour show in 40 minutes without commercials and be able to start and stop the recording whenever we want. This makes the TV programs accessible whenever we want. The plus is that we can watch the recordings without setting up a dish!! This works real well for us when we are traveling.

Finding the right internet connection is really pretty simple. It depends on your needs. (period)

We are fulltimers who use the internet daily, and cannot understand how others are able to travel fulltime without a good connection whenever or wherever they desire. We save money and pay for our connection every month by savings on everything from fuel to groceries to campgrounds. Everyone has a different need, just make the decision on your need and the ‘right’ equipment will come to the top of pile. Figure out where you are going to use your equipment. Decide if you are willing to spend the 20+minutes to setup the dish. Forget about the argument for the storage of the dish, I have found places to easily store two dishes and two tripods without problems or aggravation.

We are boondockers (dry campers) whenever we get the opportunity. Rarely, do we have a WiFi connection, and in most cases don't even look for one, we just setup our HughesNet antenna. It takes us about 20 minutes (we've had lots of practice), and give us a connection anywhere. We do not rely on any other internet service for connectivity.

Out West, the connectivity at best is spotty for any WiFi connection away from the cities. WiFi at most campgrounds is a joke at best. If you plan to always be near a big city, then the cards work, not great, but they are acceptable. Our satellite antenna always works regardless of where we are located. Sometimes we have to connect an extra 50 feet of cable to get around a tree, but we always have a connection when we want it. The difference in price for the auto-internet connection is real nice, but for that kind of money, you can aim a dish pretty easily. Someday, we will use an aircard, but the technology for our needs today is just not there.

We would be happy to answer any questions for you.

Coyatee · RV-Dreams Family Member

1. What are the details of your portable system?
2. Where did you get it? (Are they also your source for your monthly plan?).
3. How do you sight it?
4. How do you anchor it? (Hard ground, rock, etc.)
5. Have you thought about having your TV and internet on one ant. ("Bird on a wire")?

Thanks,
Coyatee -

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Coyatte: You would probably be better off asking from the Yahoo group, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/RVInternetBySatellite/ or the Tripod section of the forum at http://www.datastormusers.com/ .
For us we have had our tripod internet system long enough everything has changed but we pick up advise, help, and upgrades from Glenn Simpson at http://www.businesswebsupport.com/ . He is adverising the whole system at $1600 and the monthly fee is through Hughes.net. Glenn only sells full systems when he can show you personally how it works and he does a great job. He has his DW6000 manual online, but sells his DW7000 manual. These tell you how to sight it with a level and compass plus some computer software to work with the OPI meter for signal and testing. You can also buy an Align-A-Site for about $160 to help sight the dish.
I built my own wooden stand to work on hard ground and pavement and use gallon jubs of water for ballast. My tripod is extra large, it can be spread way out and can handle 50mph winds without ballast. We have a dish, offset adapter for a surveyor's tripod, and the tripod plus cables. This is what most tripod dealers sell you along with the modem and the OPI meter.
We don't watch TV since we are too busy.

Coyatee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill -

Thanks for your input.

Coyatee -