Teleworking (and not Work Camping)

Hattie · 03-10-2015, 05:02 PM

First, some definitions:
Work Camping: Being a campground host or comparable; not the purpose of this thread as there is a whole forum called WORK CAMPING.
Teleworking: Earning your living as a consultant or employee who works offsite or remotely (part or full-timing); that is the purpose of this thread. Share your ideas and suggestions should you be so lucky to telecommute while camping and RV'ing.

How does this influence your site selection? (boondocking, hook-ups)
What equipment do you have?
What about Wi-Fi and power?
How do you set-up your "office"?
How do you spend your days?
War Stories??

robkelly · 03-10-2015, 05:23 PM

I regularly telework, but haven't done it from a campground yet. If I were going to, given that I need to be on-line and on the phone a lot, I would want an electrical hook-us and a strong Wi-Fi signal. I'd also want as quiet a site as possible. Everything is done off the laptop, and I can either use it on my lap or setup at the dinette.

Hattie · 03-10-2015, 05:34 PM

Normally I telework from home, but have successfully done so camping:
Site: Tried it at sites with hookups and when boondocking; both work just fine.
Equipment: HotSpot if there isn't sufficient CG Wi-Fi, laptop w/keyboard and mouse, VoIP (phone via computer) with dual-muff wired headset, generator if no electricity 'cuz the PC battery won't last a full day. No printer needed.
Set-up: 1/2 of the dinette.
My workday: Coffee and food are in head-set reach. I work 6am-2pm and about every 2 hours take the dog for a brisk walk. After work, I enjoy the location!
War Story: A positive one - slipping-up in a call and letting them know I'm at the beach or someplace else more exciting than where they are ... get lots of ribbing then.

redenbacher · 03-10-2015, 08:53 PM

I work from home every day. I'm concerned that when I leave the familiarity of home I'll be at a place that has a poor wi-fi signal and I'm screwed.

clubhouse · 03-10-2015, 09:26 PM

I work from home too, plus I travel a lot for work. It is to the point whether I'm leaving for a business trip or camping with my family I bring a laptop, hot spot and cell phone. With these three things I can work nearly anywhere.

Occasionally I get tripped up, over the New Year holiday we camped along the CA central coast at Lake Lopez -- absolutely no cell reception. I had to drive about 8-10 miles outside the CG to connect for a couple hours each day since it was year end. My team had already delivered our number for the year so I could get away with it. Had my team had active deals on the table I don't know what I would have done, probably ditched the family and be forced to set up in a coffee shop each day.

Todd Klassy · 03-10-2015, 09:59 PM

I technically don't begin teleworking until the first week in April, but I had to put a great deal of thought into how I would accomplish my goals:

My Job: I am a professional photographer/videographer, so living and working on the road will greatly increase my productivity by eliminating windshield time, decreasing overhead, and (hopefully) increasing quality because I can spend more time on location and more time scouting.

Site: Needed an outfit that would allow me to boondock and set-up on ranches and farms (as I do a lot of agricultural work), so I needed to produce as much power on my own (economically), eliminate the need to dump black water (installed a composting toilet), and gray water (using environmentally safe soaps and exploring where I can dump gray water legally), and source potable water. Also have a generator and four 200ah 6-volt AGM batteries.

Equipment: I worked out an arrangement with a cell phone company to swap my services in exchange for a wireless smartphone with 40 GB of free Internet. As such I installed a 3G/4G signal booster. I also purchased a WiFi Ranger Elite to mount onto my TV antenna so I can borrow (with permission) signal from some of the farmers and ranchers where I set up service, and of course the many hotspots also often available. I will use my tablet and laptop to conserve energy and only use my desktop when I need to edit photos or video.

Set-Up: I ordered my RV without the dinette and I am building a custom desk to fill that spot using Ikea furniture, L-brackets to mount to the floor, and a desk slab as a desk top. And of course the great outdoors is also my office.

My Workday: Mine will be unorthodox. I will be scouting and/or making photos and video from before sunrise to 3 hours after sunrise. Then probably returning to bed. Working/selling at my desk in the afternoon and maybe return to shoot 2 hours before sunset. I will take two days off for personal stuff, explore, and visit adjacent towns.

War Stories: None yet, but I plan to record my exploits on video and posting them on YouTube.

Hattie · 03-11-2015, 12:24 AM

Todd, So impressed - your output on your website is beautiful, and a fantastic testament to telecommuting! (p.s. each picture is wonderful, but I really love the roan - childhood memories). What Jayco model have you modified, and eventually some photos of your set-up would be interesting to see.

Todd Klassy · 03-11-2015, 04:28 AM

I got the Jayco Jay Flight 23RB. I thought it was the right balance in size and features for me. Although I wanted a slide out, I figured it was smarter to do without in order to avoid maintenance issues (since I'm more than just the casual once-a-month-weekend camper) and to not limit myself with where I can part/camp. I was also keen on the Elite package with 90 gallon potable water tank, which I thought was quite large for its size and class. And I added the added insulation package, too. We'll see how things go between now and October. If all goes well I will install a Kimberly stove and tank heaters as well, so I can work in the colder months and not break the bank on propane. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Hattie · 03-25-2015, 09:29 PM

Off to yet another week of telecommuting from the TT. Hope to sneak away during the afternoons to see a few local highlights! Boss (located in Ireland) knows I'm doing it and is extremely supportive (so long as the Wi-Fi is good for both the PC and the PC phone). No worries there, have teleworked from this location before (Stockton Delta).

wags999 · 03-25-2015, 10:27 PM

If you want a better chance at decent WiFi then I would try to stay in more urban areas. The further you get into mountains, or more remote areas, the worse the WiFi will be. Same with cell phone. The whole country is not wired as are the major population centers. Often there may be only one major cell phone company for a particular location, and Wifi is marginal at best. Verizon is probably the best overall for cell phone coverage. I would check out where your going with your provider to see what the reception will be, and if it is as fast a connection as you would like. Same with WiFi, call and speak with the campground so your not disappointed with the available service. We have 4g here at home and many places only have 2g at best, and often no cell service. Ask your provider about hot spot speeds at your destination also.

Good luck and Good camping.

Wrascal · 03-26-2015, 06:26 AM

Y'all are describing my wife. With that said we look for wifi - but have Never been able to connect from our parking pad - so cell service (hotspot) has to suffice. Even that has occasionally failed and we've had to search for a fast food place that offers it.

Mr Klassy, would you please provide more info on this ... " As such I installed a 3G/4G signal booster. I also purchased a WiFi Ranger Elite to mount onto my TV antenna so I can borrow (with permission) signal"

**Mustang65** · 03-26-2015, 07:45 AM

We now have 2 years under our belt using an EnGenius Wi-Fi signal extender. It transmits/receives Wi-Fi signals for a radius of 1.5 miles (line of site). 99% of the time we use it to boost the regular campground signal. It allows us to select and connect to the best AP in the CG. Amazing how the closest AP may not be the best AP. I have my Omni-directional antenna attached to a PVC mast that is connected to our TT's ladder. It extends about 6' above the trailer (best for signal as it is above the other TT's in the CG. You can set the dB's of the unit based on the distance from the AP. The EnEgenius Wi-Fi extender connects to a regular D-Link Wi-Fi router that all our equipment connects to. You can go to my JAYCO album and I have a Wi-Fi album you can look at along with a diagram how it is all connected with pictures.

SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH MY SETUP:

1 - I spend about 2-3 hours a day/5 days a week streaming stock information so I can buy/sell stocks to pay for our trips/toys. Yes there is still PLENTY of band width left for the other campers, most of them are on the internet at night anyway. The best AP is usually the one that has only a few campers near it.
2 - We have a MagicJack phone (VOIP) that we use that is plugged into the D-Link for dial tone, and we have a wireless hand set that we use with it. The reception is much better than the cell phone as most of the time we are in the mountains of north GA for 4 months of the year.
3 - We have a SlingBox at home that we log into so I can watch local Florida weather (for hurricanes), local sports, and things that DW records on the home DVR. All the unit needs is 4Mh to perform flawlessly.
4 - We have a VPN set up between the TT and my home server,so we can pay our bills with a little added security, so that I can get to the information on the server from where ever we are. I access the home control pc, to see if all is working as planned (AC, humidity level (important when in vacation mode so mold does not form), sprinklers, security cameras, security...)
5 - The TT's local network has my TT's solar controller connected to it so I can access the live/recorded data from our smart phones, tablets, laptops..)

Can you tell I love electronics?

There are a lot of choices that you can make when it comes to Wi-Fi signal extenders. They have USB models but the one I originally tried was not much better that the internal modem of my laptop, as the signal still has to exit the TT's metal walls, and it is below the tops of the other TT's, so it did increase the signal a little but not as much as an external mounted unit.

Examples on the road:

- Colorado: In a county CG, no Wi-Fi available at the CG. About 1.5 miles away, on a ridge, you could see the HomeDepot. So I put up the antenna, and connected to the HomeDepot public Wi-Fi. Was able to do stocks, use MagicJack, internet access, and connect to the SlingBox in our house and watch the Tampa Bay Rays. Since I drop $$$$.$$'s at Home Depot, I do not feel bad using their PUBLIC Wi-Fi.

- CG that only had Public Wi-Fi in the office. Was able to access the Office Wi-Fi and DW was happy.

- Colorado: CG had Pay as you go Wi-Fi, was able to connect to a McDonald's store's Public Wi-Fi and I was happy. Coffee and breakfast each morning there, to reimburse them for my usage.

Disclaimers:
- Setting up the unit can take time, be difficult, a few attempts, patience, and the documentation could be better. I am working with a few other JOF members and looking to set up a page to help those that buy a unit. We will have a basic data file to down load and get the unit up and running fast.
- Not all CG's have a good Wi-Fi in place, so you can only do so much with their signals.
- No Wi-Fi signals in the area (Curry Hammock, Fl Keys - I was about 1 mile out of range for free Wi-Fi)

If you are going to be using it for business, EnGenius has a line of extenders that you may want to look at.
http://www.engeniustech.com/products...t-bridges.html

I only mention EnGenius because I have 2 years experience with it. There are other external (outside antenna models) but I have not tried any of those. I would STRONGLY recommend purchasing a unit that has an external antenna mounting.

One last item, make sure that the unit is IEEE802.11/g/n backward compatible, as 99% of the CG's use "G"

I am sure others will add more information regarding their units.

Just my thoughts,

Don

Good Luck,

namusmc65 · 03-26-2015, 08:08 AM

Mustang65, I'm more interested in the stock dealings. How's that going? It must be going pretty good to finance all your trips. My retirement is all in mutual funds as I'm too scared to deal in the stocks myself. Lost about half of my retirement about 10 years ago I guess when the market fell out of the sky! However, after drawing out for ten years now, it is back up to where we started so I'm feeling better.

slinger · 03-26-2015, 08:19 AM

This thread is very interesting to me, as I work from home as a software developer. My wife home schools our three kids. We have a lifestyle that could be mobile, and I would really like to give full-timing a try.

Bandwidth is one of the major issues holding me back. I anticipate that I need a minimum of 40 GB for work needs. To keep the family happy, I probably need that much for them as well. I expect I would be buying both a Wi-Fi booster and a cell booster.

Also, I like like the idea of having the home server. I wonder if Amazon Web Services could be used to host your own personal VPN and stream content. I don't want to maintain a server at home, and I would like to be able to sell the house if full-timing works out.

Hattie · 03-26-2015, 08:59 AM

We always take a HotSpot with us "just in case" ... but there are locations where there is absolutely no connectivity or cell phone reception. Del Valle in Livermore is a great campground, but you have to drive down towards town before you get any signals. You are right, check ahead and you'll be prepared. For our upcoming trip - we've been there and know their amenities.

Todd Klassy · 03-30-2015, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wrascal

Mr Klassy, would you please provide more info on this ... " As such I installed a 3G/4G signal booster. I also purchased a WiFi Ranger Elite to mount onto my TV antenna so I can borrow (with permission) signal"

Certainly. My telecommunications kit includes:

WIRELESS TELEPHONE/INTERNET
Wilson Electronics Mobile 4G Booster Kit
Wilson Electronics 859912 AC/DC Power Supply
Wilson RV/Trucker Spring-Mount Antenna Kit (308433)
Wilson 460108 Mobile 4G Amplifier Kit | +50 dB

Wilson Electronics has re-branded itself as WeBoost recently, but the equipment is essentially the same. This is the most popular tool in the RV market at the moment. It captures the voice, 3G, and/or 4G signals outside of your metal enclosure, amplifies the signal, and then re-broadcasts it inside your RV. It then takes the transmit signal (back to the tower) and does the same. It works on both CDMA and GSM phones. The only thing one could do better is elevate the antenna higher, but the cost vs. reward for me seem negligible. In cases where I have Wi-Fi signal but no wireless signal I plan to send and receive calls using an app called Line2 OR hopefully using Skype and/or Google Voice. We'll see if that is effective or not first.

WI-FI INTERNET
Wi-Fi Ranger Elite Antenna + Router
https://www.wifiranger.com/elite

This configuration includes an omni directional antenna and amplifier mounted directly the HDTV broadcast antenna on the RV and requires a cable to be routed to a router, which comes with the system. I routed mine directly into the area where cable comes into the RV. This unit essentially does the same thing as the Wilson Electronics Mobile 4G Booster Kit, but this is strictly for Wi-Fi signals. This is arguably not the best system...a directional parabolic antenna would be better (such as this: https://youtu.be/Ixr-eMOOsmw), but it is also much larger and requires a lot more tuning and effort. I don't have enough space for something like that...or frankly the time. But it would essentially operate line-of-site. The Wi-Fi Ranger Elite should have a range of about 1.5 to 2 miles. In cases when I don't have access to Wi-Fi hopefully my wireless telephone will have data service (and visa versa). If you want to go the parabolic antenna route this video is helpful: https://youtu.be/KgNRrKIY3z4

That, in a nutshell, is my system. This video is essentially how I routed and installed the cables: https://youtu.be/yh3ApGgL4as

Hope that helps.

Beelbill · 04-01-2015, 06:11 AM

Currently trying to set up to work from campsite. Problem is, Verizon doesn't have unlimited data. Can't see doing my work with 20 GB limit and adding data is very expensive fast. Had to find a site with cable and set up cable internet. Limits me a lot on locations. If they had unlimited data, I would go for their home wifi modem with phone. Don't want to have to keep going to restaurants to look for hot spots. Want to work in my pj's.

slinger · 04-02-2015, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beelbill

Had to find a site with cable and set up cable internet.

I am curious how this works. Do you stay at one site for a very long time, or can cable internet be somewhat "portable"?

I have COX cable internet at home. If there was a way to travel and use the same account to connect through different locations, that would be a game changer. Maybe it would only work at a campground inside the COX footprint?

I am imagining a company out there that would have agreements with all of the cable providers and that company would allow you to connect a cable modem from pretty much any cable jack in the country. That would be a really nice option until cheap "nationwide unlimited 5G data" becomes available.

Beelbill · 04-02-2015, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinger

I am curious how this works. Do you stay at one site for a very long time, or can cable internet be somewhat "portable"?

I have COX cable internet at home. If there was a way to travel and use the same account to connect through different locations, that would be a game changer. Maybe it would only work at a campground inside the COX footprint?

I am imagining a company out there that would have agreements with all of the cable providers and that company would allow you to connect a cable modem from pretty much any cable jack in the country. That would be a really nice option until cheap "nationwide unlimited 5G data" becomes available.

I wish!!!! No, each campground you go to will have a different cable provider unless you stay close to the same area and are very lucky. Fortunately, cable providers don't make you sign 2 year contracts so you can cancel and get a new one when you move to a new area. It stinks, but I can't live with 20gb limit to my internet data and that is all Verizon currently offers unless I want to pay $10 per GB extra each month. I am hoping they go to unlimited for their home routers. If they do that that would be the way to go. Fortunately, I will not be moving more frequently then 3 months at a time. If I were moving weekly, it would not be practical to use cable.

Sorry

You might be able to get AT&T internet. It is available most places so it might be possible but the campsite would have to be wired for it.

Hattie · 04-02-2015, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinger

I am curious how this works. Do you stay at one site for a very long time, or can cable internet be somewhat "portable"?

Not exactly sure I'm answering your question AND I'm certainly no techhie (DH is the one for our family). At home we have Comcast/Xfinty (cable) but on the road when there isn't (any, free, or decent) Wi-Fi, we use a tiny HotSpot from AT&T (provider of our cell phones) [btw, a cell phone can act as a HotSpot]. Here are the steps: [1] turn-on the HotSpot, [2] have the PC or device on wireless, [3] find the HotSpot and you are off-and-running. For the TV, we have a wireless Bluetooth and a Roku that use the HotSpot, they are set-up for streaming our Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO-Go, etc..

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