Internet access on the road

[Freeman]

I bit the bullet and went to the ATT.com website. Using all the divergent thinking skills I could muster, I selected the ATT wireless internet device, chose the 100 GB data plan. This device also allows one to connect a land-line phone thus turning the land-line phone into an internet phone. Don’t know why I would do that — but who cares — I now have the two iPhones with unlimited (50 GB) each, the Verizon MiFi (15 GB), and the ATT wireless internet (100 GB). We have two trips (WV and northern VA) coming up which will give me an opportunity to see if this internet plan will provide what I want.

I ordered the ATT device and set up the account using the web site and went to a store this afternoon to pick up the device. Expert sales staff was completely out of the picture.

You know —- I’m old enough to remember when you would develop a relationship with a business and the sales/service staff. Because of the relationship, the result was years of repeat business.

Alas, this does not exist anymore — or doesn’t exist as readily as it did years ago.

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Freeman

Not that COVID hasn't made life more of a challenge, but navigating the world of cell phone data is just incredible.

I went to an ATT store to inquire of another data account using the Netgear Nighthawk mobile hotspot router. The young man was very helpful, even though he at first said that ATT did not have any of these devices. That issue solved, we started the process of choosing a plan. According to the computer screen (he showed the screen to me), ATT had a 5 GB plan and a 10 GB plan. You cannot stream four short movies with 10 Gb. As I said, the young man was very helpful. He commented that the web site may give me a better deal?!?!

I came home and went to the ATT web site. The better deal is an "unlimited???" plan with 10 GB for $50 and $10 per GB overage rate?????

Either I do not know what I am doing --- or cannot explain what I want to do --- I cannot say --- but I already have a Verizon MiFi and an "unlimited" plan with a 15 GB throttle limit which costs $10 @ month. Of course the 600 KB is pretty useless after the 15 GB.

All I want is to have available data (50-100 GB) each month so I can keep up with email that I don't want to respond to using my phone, continue with my Ancestry research, watch a little YouTube, stream a movie every now and then. Just keep up with the rest of the world.

UGGGGGG.

Cut out the movie and you can do all that with the 15 GB. That's what I do. Permanent site campground I'm in has pis poor wifi. I hot spot the phone. Only use about 8g a month.

[GABob]

...and there used to be an unwritten employment agreement that as long as you didn't take a leak on the GM's shoes you'd have a job for life. I told my daughter the other day that when I first started working I didn't pay for healthcare, and no deductible. Lots of things have changed...never thought at my age I'd speak of the good ol' days...

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Cavie

Cut out the movie and you can do all that with the 15 GB.

Why stop there?
Cut it all out, and listen to the radio - just like we did in the 30's!




Zero GB.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Cavie

Cut out the movie and you can do all that with the 15 GB. That's what I do. Permanent site campground I'm in has pis poor wifi. I hot spot the phone. Only use about 8g a month.

Stacy and I both work full time out of our Seneca. For us, we cherish our internet access as it is extremely vital to our ability to work (and earn a living to pay off the Seneca) while we travel. We both, have M-F jobs that include a lot of overtime work (not paid at overtime) that require our Internet connection to be day/night and at the top of reliability.

We do not stream any media on our internet connection (we have Dish Network to bring us every channel we would ever want to watch) and our Internet connection is 95% business to support our work - with a focus on preserving our needed bandwidth to allow us to work. Our monthly consumption of download data in the Seneca is 45-52Gb per month. That includes SIP connections to VOIP, both on Cisco hardware and on MS Teams. We participate in our corporate requirements that we share our video in specific meetings and otherwise upload and download some pretty important files over a PPTP connection.

My experience is that two persons who are truly working 100% remotely on a LTE connection - need to plan for at least 100Gb before throttling... unless you have a backup carrier that is not throttling you. When throttled, we can't work - period - on ANY Carrier!

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by slopoke

stacy and i both work full time out of our seneca. For us, we cherish our internet access as it is extremely vital to our ability to work (and earn a living to pay off the seneca) while we travel. We both, have m-f jobs that include a lot of overtime work (not paid at overtime) that require our internet connection to be day/night and at the top of reliability.

We do not stream any media on our internet connection (we have dish network to bring us every channel we would ever want to watch) and our internet connection is 95% business to support our work - with a focus on preserving our needed bandwidth to allow us to work. Our monthly consumption of download data in the seneca is 45-52gb per month. That includes sip connections to voip, both on cisco hardware and on ms teams. We participate in our corporate requirements that we share our video in specific meetings and otherwise upload and download some pretty important files over a pptp connection.

My experience is that two persons who are truly working 100% remotely on a lte connection - need to plan for at least 100gb before throttling... Unless you have a backup carrier that is not throttling you. When throttled, we can't work - period - on any carrier!

[smoothy]

I have been using a Alpha Camp Pro 4g with a Visible SIM. I typically get 5 to 23MB down. I stream all day long and work from my camper. Zoom meetings, calls, etc. My 12 year old son does his online school also. We both work while streaming. My son states he has zero issues with his live lessons. It is fairly stable actually. And the best part is you can jump on a partY plan and get the service for $25.00 month to month.

[oregon jayflight]

I am trying to figure this out as well. The teen says no more camping unless wifi....lol
I bought a weboost. Not good enough for our needs so i returned it.
Keep thinking about myfi from vz but does it boost whatever tiny signal one has? Almost everywhere we go camping in oregon has no signal.

[livinthelife]

I used OTR with Netgear hotspot. I’ve been from Florida to Washington to Minnesota and south again with no problems. Truly unlimited. I think I average about 75-100 GB per month.

[2018JaycoWhiteHawk30RLS]

Originally Posted by Freeman

Thanks for the suggestion.

The MiFi I already have is through Verizon. It and two iPhones have unlimited data. But, “unlimited” means about as much as “organic” or “one size fits all.” Each of the iPhones have 50 GB with hotspot capability. The MiFi has 15 GB. All three of them throttle down to 600 KB after they reach a certain point of usage each month. 600 KB gives you about enough internet speed to read and send emails without any attachments.

What I will do is go back to Verizon and see if they have another unlimited plan that has a larger amount of data before they throttle.

I’m in the same situation as you.
3 phones and MIFI. My numbers are the same. I’ve asked recently, and was told there is no higher plan.
Please update if you find anything better.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by oregon jayflight

I am trying to figure this out as well. The teen says no more camping unless wifi....lol
I bought a weboost. Not good enough for our needs so i returned it.
Keep thinking about myfi from vz but does it boost whatever tiny signal one has? Almost everywhere we go camping in oregon has no signal.

About how many miles would you say you are from a tower when camping in Oregon?

[Stavman]

It's appearing that for at camp the mikrotic LHG LTE kit-US dish is gunna be the ticket for me


Be testing it in a week

[oregon jayflight]

I wish i knew. I should figure that out. We camp in the cascade mtns a lot. Sometimes our phone signal is lost only 5 to 10 miles or so before we get to a campsite.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by oregon jayflight

Keep thinking about myfi from vz but does it boost whatever tiny signal one has?

No, not really. Yeah, you can get on VZ MiFi that will allow you to mount external antennas, but that's a big DIY project in itself.


If the WeBoost didn't work out, was it with the Omni (round) antenna?


If you're 5, 10 miles from a cell tower then it seems that you're now into "directional antennas" for a WeBoost type booster or this MikroTek.


Bear in mind, there still are a dozen ways that you'll not get any signal even with those.




C'mon Musk, C'mon Bezos - get that satellite internet setup!!!

[Kim Sassaman]

This couple has got it figured out:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

I buy my gear from this site, the owners are also full time RVers:
https://www.mobilemusthave.com/

I live in NM and travel the mountain west, going with a CAT18 LTE modem with 2 sim cards, one from Verizon and one from Tmobile for band 71 access when in BFE. Using the PUMA 402 antenna and a xpol mimio external antenna when the PUMA wont work. Whole setup was around 1400, not the cheapest, but can stream movies for the kids and do Microsoft teams meetings.

Kim

[newsleet]

I live in rural NE Ohio and have limited options for home internet. Ran a Verizon myfi for a while at 4 gigs I think cost was around 60 bucks. Inquired at at&t they were about the same but because I was rural they offered me a home phone and internet router with 250 gigs for 60 bucks. We take it with us when traveling works ok and price was ok.

[Johnynorthland]

At first I went to ATT since we’ve had them for many many years. They set me up with the Netgear Nighthawk M1 router and told me I had an unlimited plan for $50 a month! I verified this with a supervisor. Was on phone for 1:44 just to make sure it was unlimited, I made them repeat it 4 times while my wife listened in. Then lo and behold when it arrived it was a 5GB limited plan! I flipped out! Called them up and they didn’t even bat an eye and try and defend their deception and trickery ! Disgusting ! They even gave me a $25 credit on my regular cell phone bill and a complete refund!

So I did some more research and placed an order with nomad internet and I just received our new Netgear nighthawk M1 Router a truly unlimited, in throttled “Blue” plan.
So far so good, speeds are great. No issues streaming or going online with any of our devices. But it’s pricey at $129 per month. It’s ATT service. We Use it for personal and entertainment purposes. But if I had to rely on internet every day I would buy a pepwave dual SIM card router and have dual simultaneous coverage with ATT & Verizon.

[belisba]

Originally Posted by Freeman

I am curious to hear from everyone with recommendations and testimonials as to how to access the internet while traveling around the country in their RV. We have a Greyhawk 26y and use it to go to antique shows and flea markets across the country. None of these venues have hookups or WiFi, so we need access to the internet. We currently have a Verizon MiFi; however, after 15 GB it throttles down to 600 Kbs. We need internet for obvious reasons — email, web browsing — and to run security cameras and inside temperature for dogs. We would like to be able to access some video streaming providers, if possible.

Any suggestions?

I use the ATT nighthawk WiFi mobile hotspot and attach a Roku to the TV for streaming. Don’t know if they throttle but so far doesn’t seem to matter, I get pretty good TV with YouTube TV, Netflix, etc. I usually find that my ATT iPhones are fine on there own without using the WiFi. Keep in mind though we typically camp at sites that aren’t too remote. If remote camping is your thing, then your best bet is to go with a directional external antenna and booster to bring in your service. Some folks have both. Of course there is always campsite cable or RV OTA which in some locations not bad at all.

[Karlaweil]

I used my new router GOTw3 with their rural internet plan. Worked all over the South for 3 weeks when I travelled both on the hwy and also at every campsite we visited

[gypsmjim]

When I worked at my last gig I was supposed to be available 24/7/365. It seemed that nobody was willing to step up to the plate if I was gone. At home, if the phone rang at 3 AM I was expected to go into the plant to solve the problem. If I was on an authorized vacation, I was to be at least available by phone or email to guide them through it.

We camp in the mountains with no internet or phone access. I told them so. That was my story and I'll stick to it....LOL.

Camping is my respite from the daily grind. Now that I'm retired its still my respite. And....., I still have no internet access when I'm sitting in the mountains simply enjoying the scenery, the solitude and life in general.

Why in heck does anyone need internet access when camping on vacation??? If you do, you need to chill out and start enjoying life.