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Old 02-24-2019, 10:46 PM   #1
AmandaDavenport
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Internet & Cable

We are becoming full time living in a travel trailer for 6 months, we are staying at a KOA, but their cable sucks and the internet can’t be used with our smart TVs and keeps cutting my kids Xbox off in battles.

Is there a cable and internet service for travelers that is not stationary and can follow us during travels?

I don’t want to use a hotspot device as we have T-Mobile and they SUCK for service and Verizon is out of the question.
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Old 02-25-2019, 05:27 AM   #2
wiredgeorge
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When you full time you are now moving into a whole new world as far as internet and television go. Why is Verizon out of the question? A mobile hot spot with some unlimited data plan MAY be the only real option. We used to use an AT&T hot spot and bought 32 gigs of data a month and that is NOT adequate from TV watching. Their "unlimited" plan was a joke as it didn't allow hot spots so you had to watch television shows on your phone. You may want to start doing some research and figuring out which hot spot capable phone plan might make sense for you based on if you travel and coverage and price, etc.



As far as cable TV, obviously you can't travel with one cable company as an option. Buy a self-pointing satellite dish/receiver. There are a ton of options. We have a Dish Playmaker/Wally which we pay for as part of our home plan. Costs $7 a month additional and we get the same programming as in our home. If you are full time, you will likely want to spring for a more sophisticated dish capable of multiple TV feeds and more than one receiver. A Wally receiver can only do one TV show at a time. We can record but can't record/watch at the same time.
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Old 02-25-2019, 05:46 AM   #3
AmandaDavenport
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I had Verizon some years ago, bought a iPad and iPhone outright in one lump sum, 2 months later I get a charge on my bill for the full price of both devices. I went in with receipts and bank statements showing I paid them in full at one time. They refused to remove the charge from my account. 3 month battle and I have them the middle finger and switched companies. I run a business full time, homeschooled full time and didn’t have time or patience for the bs.

I will look into satellite, I figured I couldn’t do a cable wire company, just wasn’t sure about the satellite options. I’ve been soooooo overwhelmed with this transition.
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Old 02-25-2019, 06:25 AM   #4
HitFactor
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Turn the other cheek and get a verizon hotspot.

The overall quality of service it provides will relieve frustration elsewhere in your life.

Of course, check the coverage map first.

Satellite works for radio and TV really well. But, internet (2 way data) is a kludge
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Old 02-25-2019, 06:57 AM   #5
AmandaDavenport
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Originally Posted by HitFactor View Post
Turn the other cheek and get a verizon hotspot.

The overall quality of service it provides will relieve frustration elsewhere in your life.

Of course, check the coverage map first.

Satellite works for radio and TV really well. But, internet (2 way data) is a kludge
Unfortunately turning the other cheek they want me to fork out another almost $2,200 and pay 2 times for the devices which I won’t do.
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Old 02-25-2019, 07:08 AM   #6
JRTJH
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Originally Posted by AmandaDavenport View Post
I had Verizon some years ago, bought a iPad and iPhone outright in one lump sum, 2 months later I get a charge on my bill for the full price of both devices. I went in with receipts and bank statements showing I paid them in full at one time. They refused to remove the charge from my account. 3 month battle and I have them the middle finger and switched companies. I run a business full time, homeschooled full time and didn’t have time or patience for the bs.

I will look into satellite, I figured I couldn’t do a cable wire company, just wasn’t sure about the satellite options. I’ve been soooooo overwhelmed with this transition.
Your past experience with Verizon "paints" your feelings, but Verizon is really "the only reasonable game in town" when it comes to hot spot offerings. There are others available, but they don't compare to what Verizon offers with their "prepaid unlimited plan"...

As for satellite internet, Hughesnet is the clear leader in the technology. We recent stopped using them after 10 years because a "land based internet system" became available in our area. Hand down, "land based is better, faster, doesn't have the inherent lag (prevents gaming) that your children apparently want. Aiming of the satellite dish is "CRITICAL" in two way communications with the satellite. There is virtually no "automatic aim" dish that will do the job and Hughesnet will not set up a system for mobile use. Honestly, just the typical "rocking and internal movement" that comes with living in an RV will cause the dish not to communicate with the satellite properly. So, you can "check with the satellite companies" but they really aren't an option.

Many people who are full timing choose to connect to a land based cable TV/internet provider and many campgrounds have installed a system that allows for "monthly contracts" with the system provider. You might discuss this with the KOA that you're currently in and as you move, search for campgrounds with that feature. Some do offer it (very few) and most do not. That "cycles you back to Verizon" .... Like it or not, your hands are pretty much "tied" in shopping from system to system and provider to provider. There's very limited "players in this game".....
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Old 03-04-2019, 11:08 AM   #7
daveinaz
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I agree. Verizon is the priciest, but they continue to have the best coverage and speeds. We switched to another provider for a year for their cheaper rates (T-Mobile) but their coverage was very poor compared to Verizon and we ended up switching back. But yes, they really bend you over the barrel with their pricing!
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Old 03-04-2019, 12:59 PM   #8
wiredgeorge
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I recall the ol' song, "if you've got the money, I've got the internet" or something like that... there ARE mobile satellite internet solutions BUT... if you have to ask how much...

https://www.mobilsat.com/RV-satellite/

We had a couple satellite internet providers over the years and Hughesnet was by far the best. We had a 50 gig data plan so could stream movies (well when not in peak demand hours and then there was buffering). It was pricey but worth it to us as my business is internet based.

If you ain't moving your trailer at all, you might be able to talk to a local Hughesnet installer to put the dish on a pole near the trailer and enjoy the pleasure of latency and occasional weather issue and slower speeds during peak usage times but you don't want to use a hot spot so options grow slim. The guy who installed our Dish TV set up lives right nearby and is also a Hughesnet installer and I bet I could talk him into a Hughesnet install on a pole. Not sure if a bona fide street address comes into play but where there is a will, there is a way.
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Old 03-04-2019, 07:28 PM   #9
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We have an AT&T hotspot with their unlimited plan, and the service is great. My phone and tablet is also on AT&T, and DW's phone is Verizon. We have coverage for phone and internet almost everywhere, because if one doesn't work, the other will. May not be the cheapest way to go, but it works for us. For the TV, have the Travler with DISH, two Wallys, and have great service from them too, easy to change service locations as needed. We've been doing this for over six years and have never had an issue with any of the providers, phone or DISH.
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Old 03-04-2019, 07:57 PM   #10
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We have an AT&T hotspot with their unlimited plan, and the service is great. My phone and tablet is also on AT&T, and DW's phone is Verizon. We have coverage for phone and internet almost everywhere, because if one doesn't work, the other will. May not be the cheapest way to go, but it works for us. For the TV, have the Travler with DISH, two Wallys, and have great service from them too, easy to change service locations as needed. We've been doing this for over six years and have never had an issue with any of the providers, phone or DISH.

OK... AT&T unlimited? You can use your hotspot unlimited with no throttling back? We were AT&T hotspot users and the BEST plan they had was 32 gigs of data. The account was in my wife's name and they sent her a great deal for "unlimited" data and she agreed (over the phone). The next day my hotspot went dead... I could stream all the whatever with my phone but NO HOTSPOT. She complained she had been tricked and they told my wife the fine print was somewhere on their website online. Couldn't go back to the 32 gig data plan and best we could do before speed throttling was 22 gigs and it would cost more. I am not really a huge fan of AT&T but still keep them for our cell phones. We still have 12 gigs we can use for a hotspot and do this when camping on weekends. No steaming, of course.
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Old 03-05-2019, 04:50 AM   #11
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Been using AT&T Unlimited and Net gear Nighthawk since it came out 2 years ago. Only found two places I could not use it, Rocksprings WY and Hawthorne NV. Your mileage may vary.
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Old 03-05-2019, 10:11 AM   #12
bobbecky
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OK... AT&T unlimited? You can use your hotspot unlimited with no throttling back? We were AT&T hotspot users and the BEST plan they had was 32 gigs of data. The account was in my wife's name and they sent her a great deal for "unlimited" data and she agreed (over the phone). The next day my hotspot went dead... I could stream all the whatever with my phone but NO HOTSPOT. She complained she had been tricked and they told my wife the fine print was somewhere on their website online. Couldn't go back to the 32 gig data plan and best we could do before speed throttling was 22 gigs and it would cost more. I am not really a huge fan of AT&T but still keep them for our cell phones. We still have 12 gigs we can use for a hotspot and do this when camping on weekends. No steaming, of course.
Yes, and with 10 days left in the billing period, we are almost at 160 GB of data used, and that will for sure be over 200 GB before the bill period ends, and movie streaming works well with no problems. We use AT&T's Netgear 815S hotspot. I have a grand daughter to thank for us getting on the unlimited plan. She and her sister were staying with us, and was on her phone constantly. I got a notice from AT&T that they were going to add a GB of data to our plan because we exceeded our plan's data amount. I logged into my account, thinking I was just going to jump up to the next data level, when I discovered they were offering the unlimited plan, so signed up, and found our monthly bill was $100 less on the unlimited plan, so the grand daughter saved us a bunch.
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Old 03-05-2019, 01:53 PM   #13
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Last months data was 172 GB. Just did a speed test and was 64.47 down and 14.28 up. Not bad for rural Texas, This at 3:54 in the afternoon.
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