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Originally Posted by Camping family
What does everyone do for internet n tv while camping. Haven’t had a problem till this weekend. Problems with cable n internet at camp ground. Tried running off hot spot of phone first day worked. Second day a no go. Thinking of Getty no the Furrion router in the camper. Any ideals
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We take having the internet, and streaming tv, for granted. For us it's hard to camp without some, or a lot, of connectivity. And it's different for different families. I'd like to throw out some ideas and concepts for people who are researching what they can do, what they can live without, and what they can't live without.
Data plan size on your cellphone service does not automatically mean you can stream that amount of data when using your phone as a Hotspot for your laptop, or your roku connected to the TV. All the phone providers are different but they usually say how much of your data can be used by turning on your cellphone Hotspot. We have Straight talk, which is Walmart. We have Unlimited data, but the fine print says that after using 60Gb, they have the right to slow you to 2G. But of the 60 Gb, I can only use 10Gb to Hotspot my laptop or roku. After 10Gb I have to buy more data, even though I pay for an unlimited data plan. Read the fine print of any service you consider. They get to say HOW you use the data.
Hotspotting is different than using a cable from your phone to the TV, if the tv is just a mirror screen of your phone. This would not use any of my 10Gb limit. But my Motorola phone doesn't output video through the usb-c port. Other phones do do this.
Some phones don't allow you to Hotspot. The feature is grayed out in the settings. But there is a software app that will let you plug the phone into your laptop with the charging cable and then the laptop can access the internet, up to your data limit. But this method will not let the roku have access to the internet. Because this is not a wireless hotspot. Then I found another app that will let you share internet access from your phone to your laptop wirelessly, but at least I'm not tethered by a cable. But again, not to the roku. The upside of both of these is that you are not Hotspotting. So no service restrictions and no hardware restrictions.
We plug a roku-3 into our TV, regardless of how smart the TV is. The upper end Rokus have a USB port and software in the roku to watch movies or TV shows from a thumb drive or hard drive plugged into the USB port. We've recorded favorite movie and TV shows/series in advance of our trip and always have that to fall back on. We used to bring a blu-ray player and 10lbs of discs on the road. Now we have a 5 terabyte hard drive about the size of a pack of cigarettes on steroids. It's so much easier.
There is also legal to use software that will record shows/movies, but only from places you have a legal right to view. For instance Netflix. If you have an account, Netflix will allow you to use the software to record now and watch later the same way you use your DVR at home. It's a cloud based DVR. Software is free and you pay 10-40 cents to record an event. I usually buy enough recording credits at a time that I pay 10-12 cents per credit.
And there's still other ways like using your home satellite TV service on the road. And dedicated wifi hotspot devices sold by the cell phone companies.
It comes down to how much money do you want to spend, how tech savvy are you, what can you live with, and what will you do for internet or TV when there's no cell phone reception? We've traveled all over the country, and yes, there are many places that do not have cell phone reception. Oh yeah, we also load up our Kindles before we hit the road.
Have a Plan-A, and a Plan-B. If those don't work, then pull up stakes and camp somewhere else. LOL.