Yahoo Message Number: 15081 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15081)
This forum is great. I asked a question regarding internet access via Verizon and T-Mobile and received numerous great responses. One responder is even staying in the same RV park and invited my wife and me over for a demonstration of their AT&T service (great) and a glass of wine! Now that's a heck of a response!
To further clarify my original post, I use Wi-Fi extensively when available and, for the last month or so while parked in the desert, have used Verizon's Express Network. . .charged for data rather than minutes. Though it is great for email, it is too expensive for web downloads. I like to read the news from various sources every morning with a cup of coffee in the comfort of my coach.
I would like to toss out a related topic for discussion.
I cancelled an appointment to install an internet satellite on my coach when it occurred to me that, in my opinion, Wi-Fi will make internet satellite obsolete for most users in a few years. If I already had one, I'd love it. I have a friend, a CC owner, whose wife makes daily phone calls to her mother in Brazil via the connection. . .for free. But I'm not sure if I could cost justify the expense now.
Already Verizon offers "broadband speeds" via their aircard in 27 major U.S. cities and "modem" speed in most of the country. Now that AT&T has finalized the merger with Cingular I suspect we'll see "broadband speed" from them very soon.
If I'm correct, why buy satellite?
So what about it you satellite users, about-to-be satellite users or confirmed WiFi/aircard users? Am I reading this wrong?
Looking forward to the posts!
Jim Gregory
'98 40' Intrigue 10613
Yahoo Message Number: 15082 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15082)
Jim, we have been using our regular Verizon cel phones, the two for $59 a month type and a $39 one time install program from Verizon that comes with a USB phone plug. After 9:00 PM in the evenings and weekends the air time is free, We have used it in 10 states around the West. We are currently parked in Washington, Utah(Next to St.
George) and it is about the same speed as dial up. The install program dials a 777 number that goes on the internet to any service you specify as if you dialed it from home. You are not searching for a number in a new area. The only exception is if you are in an extended network area. There is no roaming charge, but the program will not connect. In 10 states, there was only one place in Montana that we parked that was on the extended network. Verizon is one of the few providers that works on the Oregon coast. We switched from Alltel when their program would not work on our Sony notebook and have been happy with it for the past year. Good Luck with your search.
John
2002 Allure
#30702
Yahoo Message Number: 15086 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15086)
One thing I discovered about satellite (TV)is that you have to make sure you get a campsite with no trees. Here in the east, that is somtimes hard to do. Many times I ended up in a spot where I didn't have line-of-sight because of the trees. I'm sure this is a problem for satellite internet too. I think the tree problem is less prevalent out west. But if you must seek a spot with no trees, then you give-up the shade that we love so much in the hot summer. That's what convinced me to keep my very reliable and inexpensive ($30)T- Mobile aircard for unlimited internet surfing while on the road, and at home.
Larry, 2003 Allure #30856
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Yahoo Message Number: 15087 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15087)
Out here in the West WiFI and Digital Cell can be hard to find unless you park near the big cities. In Montana there aren't many big cities. That's why we have the Datastorm. While up in Alaska we used WiFi at parks that had it. Until we were north of Dawson Creek, BC we had a good satellite internet connection. We like the boondocks and the Datastorm works for us.
One
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that
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Yahoo Message Number: 15089 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15089)
This is very interesting to me since I'm looking at these options.
Right now I have the Cingular card. It works OK not as fast as I had hoped since I am in a major city. Someone asked about Broadband and Cingular, I can't get anyone to say yes or no. I do know that the card you buy now will not work on that. The unlimited is $80 a month.
Verison is also $80 a month. The same card will pick up Broadband if it is available. So that seems like a better deal to me, so I'm within the 30 days so I will probably return my Cingular card.
I also am curious about T Mobile and how it works in while traveling. It is by far the best deal for the dollars but I'm not sure about the coverage.
In looking at all the maps, Cingular has the best coverage, Verizon next then T Mobile doesn't look as extensive.
Any input from others would be really helpful.
Thanks.
Linda
98 Intrigue 10678
One
Yahoo Message Number: 15093 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15093)
Linda
We have been using T-Mobile for about 13 months. We love it! Speeds are acceptable and feel about like a dial-up, but a little faster. Speeds are not too slow. The Verizon maps are deceiving.
We know because we have Verizon cell phone services to. Many times where Verizon map said there should be service, there wasn't. Every time T-Mobile map showed service, we got it! Don't know about Cingular. Ask Verison to show you the map that displays "data" access as apposed to voice. They're different. Having said all that, even if Verizon, or Cingular have better coverage, it's hard to overcome the price advantage of T-Mobile. In the last 13 months, we have had about a 95% reliability rate with T-Mobile. The couple of times we didn't have coverage, we knew we were going to get it the next day at our next location. So waiting a day was not a problem when you consider the price difference. We also use it at home too, so we save additonal money there. And, I surf the net many hours a day and the speed is just fine. And, unlike WIFI, T- Mobile works while going down the road too! They have a 14 day money back guarantee. IMHO, you can't beat this service for the price!
Larry, 2003 Allure #30856
options.
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Yahoo Message Number: 15096 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15096)
Jim,
We just went through a similar excercise and like you desided that we would see what would develope in the Wireless enviorment. Having committed to Wireless instead of Satellite, we now think we are going to go with a Cingular aircard ($200 no discounts and $ 80. per month). We did a lot of going back and forth between Verizon, Cingular and Sprint until we just desided on Cingular for the broadband coverage which appears to fit our needs better. We have not bought the service yet, but intend to when hit the road in June.
We currently use a DSL line for internet access.
--
Regards
Jose'
'03 Allure Cascade 40' tag # 30863 '03 Silverado toad
http://www.your-rv-lifestyle.com
Yahoo Message Number: 15097 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15097)
Linda,
Wow, your note has got me rethinking what I'm going to do about internet access on the road. Are you parked near a city that is covered by in their map and you are not getting broadband? If you are, did you called Cingular to complain about it? If their maps are unreliable I may have to reconsider going with a Cingular aircard.
--
Regards
Jose'
'03 Allure Cascade 40' tag # 30863 '03 Silverado toad
http://www.your-rv-lifestyle.com
Yahoo Message Number: 15101 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15101)
Hi
There is a way around the trees in most cases. I have a portable DW6000 satellite internet system mounted on a tripod and have used it from Southern CA to Oregon to Maine to Key West back to CA. The only place I was unable to get on the internet was along the coast in Oregon. The trees were so big and thick I couldn't see the sky at all, let alone the southern sky. There are a few folks that have the DataStorm and carry a tripod system for the times they are under trees. The portable system can be a couple hundred feet away and usually a `hole-in-the-trees' can be found in that radius.
There is a great new forum (Internet by Satellite) if anyone is interested in learning more at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RVInternetbySatellite/messages (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RVInternetbySatellite/messages)
Here are a few more good forums:
Broadband forum
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/sat (http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/sat)
Datastorm users group ? look for TRIPOD discussions http://www.datastormusers.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi (http://www.datastormusers.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi)
Escapees forum - look for Sat and Internet discussions http://escapees.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=cfrm&s=256606751 (http://escapees.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=cfrm&s=256606751)
These are all open to the public and free.
The cost of a portable system seems to be from $1200 to $2000 for a complete system ready to run or $600 for the basic system and whatever you can build or buy the support and other things for. I started with a homemade tripod made of steel fence materials. It was strong and stable but bulky to move. Monthly internet service is $59.95 for the basic consumer level. I find the speed so much faster than dialup I can't use anything slower now. I'm spoiled.
Some of the vendors that sell the systems are here:
Portable satellite system vendors:
Glenn Simpson -- glenn@... (glenn@...) http://www.businesswebsupport.com/ (http://www.businesswebsupport.com/)
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~flicka15/hardware.html (http://www.home.earthlink.net/~flicka15/hardware.html)
http://dustyfoot.com/ (http://dustyfoot.com/)
http://www.rv-anywhere.org/ (http://www.rv-anywhere.org/)
http://www.maxwellsatellite.com/ (http://www.maxwellsatellite.com/)
http://www.businesswebsupport.com/index.html (http://www.businesswebsupport.com/index.html)
Barb and Joe (Sorry, all I have is email address) bjnolly@... (bjnolly@...)
Adrian 602-918-8965 formerly an installer for Ron Brundage
There are many many, more but I just can't remember them all. My apologies to those I have left out. This post has got too long.
It's out of control so I'll stop typing. If anyone wants more let me know.
Andy
The truth about our gas prices.
Why are we low on oil? Simple - we forgot to check it.
Our oil is in Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas.
OUR DIPSTICKS ARE IN WASHINGTON.
{Stolen from some other forum}
DW6000 / Satmex5 / Xpndr 1070 / linksys befw11s4 2002 36' Allure #30787 / 2000 Subaru Forester
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didn't
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and
Yahoo Message Number: 15102 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15102)
For some reason the email address for Barb and Joe is messed up in the last post.
I try again.
Its supposed to be
bjnolley@... (bjnolley@...)
Andy
Yahoo Message Number: 15104 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15104)
One more try. Seems to be yahoo messing it up. I try this:
b j n o l l y at r v n e t w o r k i n g dot c o m
My my
Yahoo Message Number: 15098 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15098)
We are about 20 miles out of St. Louis. We show we are in an area that should get "Edge" with Cingular. Edge should get 80 to 150 from what Cingular says. The GPRS areas should get 40 to 50.
When you call Cingular is is VERY hard to get anybody that knows anything about the data. I'm sure that is the case with many of the providers.
That is the question, many seem to like T Mobile even at slower speeds and for $30 vs $80 per month it might be a better deal.
For anyone that has this service, there is a web site you can check your speeds. Go to www.dslreports.com/stest You can pick a location and then just hit start. It will give you the actual performance. I would be really interested in what the people on T Mobile are getting. It shows up and down speed. With Cingular I'm getting around 38/42 on average. So not great for the $80. I do live in a valley so that is part of the problem. I'm going to Verison today and try to run the tests to see how it does.
From my research, Cingular has the most coverage, Verison is next and T Mobile has the least coverage area. Verison is updating to broadband in many major cities and if you get the $80 unlimited with them you can use Broadband where it is available. Broadband claims 300 - 500. T Mobile only says dial up speed, but again their price is by far the best and if we are actually only going to get dial up maybe that is the best deal.
Linda
Intrique 10678
Yahoo Message Number: 15111 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/15111)
OK, I just did the T-Mobile speed test and got 20/33 (up/down) which surprised me because it feels faster. But it doesn't look like Cingular is getting a whole lot better at over 2 1/2 times the cost. Like I have previously posted, we have been very happy with our T-Mobile for the last 13 months, at home and on the road. Good luck with what ever you decide.
Larry, 2003 Allure #30856
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