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Internet On The Road

Yahoo Message Number: 85438
What is a good source for an internet connection when we are traveling in our coach, especially in remote areas.
We have AT&T cell phone service. On our last trip we bought the AT&T Hot Spot Connection. We were very disappointed as it would only work when we had 3G service and even that was inconsistent.
Your help is appreciated.
Ron Jacobs

05 Inspire #51264

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85440
Ron......Were I you, I'd dump AT&T and get Verizon. Great coverage. Then carry their Mi-Fi card in your shirt pocket and up to five devices can access it at once. 4G service blazing fast!!

Dave Trotter

01 Intrigue 11215

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85441
Verizon is often better. But if there are no cell towers (Yellowstone) there is nothing.
If there is some signal you can buy a Wilson antenna and amplifier system, or something similar, and enhance your signal.
These systems can run anywhere from $100 to more than $1000 with installation.

Bob Wexler
SOB

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85442
I agree with Dave 100%, though my SmartPhone is my hotspot, the MiFi cost an extra $20/mo.

Lee

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85443
We use a Verizon Mi-Fi wireless connection with our AT&T cell phone service and a Wilson Amplifier and it all generally works pretty good. We summer in a rural area in Montana and there it is marginal for phone but pretty good for internet. Supposedly, internet does not need as strong a signal as voice.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85444
I agree. In my experience, Verizon coverage is the best. I have Verizon 3G Mi-Fi on a "grandfathered" unlimited data plan in addition to our two Non Smart phones. The additional cost to us for My-Fi is $60/mo. It serves our two laptops nicely. They say it will serve up to five computers at once but speed suffers with each additional unit.
It works for us wherever there is a trace of a signal.

Daron Hairabedian, 98 Allure 30226

Internet On The Road

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85445
Same experience here:

Verizon with a Wilson Booster has given us excellent coverage.
Supports 2 computers easily.

Very rarely have we NOT had service, - except in areas, like Yellowstone where there is no cell service at all.

Russ and Jean
05 Intrigue
11883

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85448
We also use Verizon MiFi and when we are in Yellowstone, who cares about the cell phone :-)

Bob

'05 Intrigue 11872

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85452
We use Verizon too for internet.
Mary

06 Inspire 51784

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We also use Verizon MiFi and when we are in Yellowstone, who cares about the cell phone :-)

Bob

'05 Intrigue 11872

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85453
I hope you all Veteran's out there are getting your Verizon and AT&T discount.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85457
We have Verizon 4G hotspot Mi-Fi. We had 3G for over a year before we upgraded and have used Verizon all over the US. There were only 2 places where we didn't get internet. (and we didn't have cell service either). In fringe areas we use a Wilson Sleek booster. Get the extra, taller antenna and window suction cup mount. Ordered our Wilson Sleek from Walmart.com Both the Verizon hotspot and the Wilson Sleek work great.

Lonny & Diane Livingston
Tampa, FL

'04 Allure #31065

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85458
PS... The Verizon Mi-Fi is the only internet we used when we had a house. We are now full timers. If you have a home and have other internet, you can put the Verizon Mi-Fi hotspot service on vacation 2x per year.

Lonny & Diane Livingston
Tampa, FL

'04 Allure #31065

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85459
It seemed to us everywhere there was an RV park that we liked AT&T service was poor at best. So we changed to Verizon at the recommendation of a AT&T sales person. We have only had marginal to no service in 1 location 1/2 way between I-25 and Rocky mountain National Park.
TWI 2004 Intrigue 11731

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85474
Our carrier was bought out by AT&T so we had no choice if we wanted to keep our granfathered plan. What we have found is that service is directly proportional to the number of towers that your provider has access to and the priority. We have been told that the reason we have good AT&T service where we live is because the towers are pre-dominantly owned by AT&T and they receive priority over other carriers when traffic is heavy.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85479
We use Verizon as well and have ATT for phones. Verizon has been great in most places. Recently I installed a WiFi Booster and router, so now I have an additional wifi network in the coach. In addition, the wifi ranger encrypts a public wifi signal and makes it private, requiring password via our coach network. Only been up and running for about a week, but so far very pleased with the results and will likely be able to go to a smaller monthly plan from Verizon which will save$$$, since we can now use more public wife's for general surfing. Since we have 2 computers, iPad, 2 iPhones, and our backup Airport Express, we use a lot of bandwidth every month. Hopefully this will be a good alternative/ addition to the mifi.

Roger Harper
2006 Intrigue
#11990

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85480
Thank you for all the quick responses.
It appears as though Verizon hotspot Mi-Fi and the Wilson Sleek booster will give the best reception in the most places.
Again Thanks,

Ron Jacobs

2005 Inspire #51264

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85482
We use autonet mobile. 29.00 a month is not a bad deal. We also bought a 12volt transformer from walmart, now we use it as our many connection in the house.

Tom

2005 Inspire
51177

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85483
We have a Verizon Mifi 4G and a WiRiE wifi booster antenna. Between those to we almost always have an internet signal. However there are times when we don't. If you want a signal all the time you'll need a satellite service and those are pricey and in this day in age dare I say unnecessary.

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85492
We use a Wifi Ranger with boost antenae- connected to an air card from Millenicom- 3G/4G Hotspot for $69.99 per month- no contract . The air card is purchase for $100.00 and its your to keep. Card is a verizon even though they can't say.
System as installed covers our laptops, Ipad and printer. If you phone works then you have internet.

Robert & Chee Chee Huffhines
2007 Tribute #81042
2006 Jeep Liberty



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From: Mary Frederick

To: "Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com" Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 12:56 PM Subject: Re: [Country-Coach-Owners] Re: Internet On The Road

We use Verizon too for internet.
Mary

06 Inspire 51784

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We also use Verizon MiFi and when we are in Yellowstone, who cares about the cell phone :-)

Bob

'05 Intrigue 11872

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Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85498
Internet on the road in our experience is still not nearly as easy as at home. We have had Verizon phones for years. I used to have one of the Verizon dongles that delivered high speed internet to my computer when a signal was available. We have two Verizon smart phones now. I have a Motorola Droid which I can use connected to a computer of as a wifi hot spot. So it works similar to mifi.
Getting a Verizon connection in the west has improved the last couple of years. I would say now that over half the places we camp you can get signal.
We also have found that many commercial RV parks have improved their wifi signals. IMO when park wifi works well it is faster in ping time than Verizon 4G. But that happens seldom.
We also have a Motosat F1 sat internet dish. With it every time you can see the sat you get an internet connection. Sometimes it is fast and sometimes not. When I say fast I mean 850-1meg. This is much slower than a good Verizon 4G connection.
Our experience including a trip in Jan to Arizona is that if you need to have an internet connection reliably you need to use a combination of sources. That was the case 3 years ago and still is. When I hear the frequent comment that "I get Verizon signal everywhere we go", I know they travel to different places than we do. Don't get me wrong we like Verizon, but they have their limitations. I also think Verizon has vastly! improved their big city /dense urban area service. Three years ago I had great problems with many area in Los Angeles. Today Verizon is quite reliable in big cities.
I am hopeful that sat dish internet will improve dramatically. Both Hughes and Via Sat have put up new high speed satellites that have true high speed. You can buy it in our area for the same price as cable. So far I am not aware that either offer mobile service. If that came to pass sat would be the way to go for the best broadband connections unless you live in a forest. We have sat radio in one of our cars and it works great almost everywhere.

Bob & Barbara
2002 Affinity 42'

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #20 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85503
We travel a lot and because we still work part time from the road a usable internet signal is required, if we can't get a good signal, we move.
The most reliable combination we have found (short of a satellite connection) is the Verizon MiFi 4G card combined with the Wilson SOHO booster kit with the 'trucker antenna'. The SOHO amp does require a little fine tuning when you relocate but it's easy.
The antenna is mounted to the ladder and gives us a usable signal most of the time. In those rare instances where we show zero or one bar I can always improve it by raising the antenna. I do this on a flagpole type mast I bought at Camping World. It takes the antenna up about 10 feet and takes the signal from 0-1 bar to 2-3.

Jim Coshow

2005 Inspire 51501

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #21 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85504
Hello everyone,

I do not use any Cell phone service for my 'Internet on the Road'.
I'm not sure if this will help but what I've done is purchase a stand alone system called Wave WiFi. It was developed for the marine industry when a boat is anchored out in the bay/harbor, through a dedicated router and a special antenna, it picks up all networks within in a line of sight 6 - 8 mile area.
I have the antenna mounted on a telescoping pole attached to my ladder. When I'm not in an RV Park that has its own wifi, I get a signal from Tango Internet where I buy a day or week or month time. In today wifi world most networks are encrypted and require a password. However, it is not 100% 27/7/365 coverage.
It is very handy when the RV Park signal is week or you need to go to their hotspot for the signal, I just put up my antenna, find their network, input the password and have Internet service in the comfort of my m/h.
There website: www.wavewifi.com and click on #3 which is what I bought a couple of years ago. At that time the system cost me $365.00 plus shipping. I bought it from Land & Sea Wifi, 954.636.1967. Good service and technical help.

If you need additional info, please contact me OFF Forum.

Michael

05 Inspire #51381

**************************************** Michael Title

Halfmoon Bay, BC, Canada
CDN Cell: 604.741.3328

San Miguel De Allende, GTO Mexico MEX Cell: [52] 415.100.1543
 

Re: Internet On The Road

Reply #22 –
Yahoo Message Number: 85524
Re Wave Wi Fi

I use a similar system which I also had on my boat. I purchased a folding antenna mount for the roof from Diamond, K9000LRMO, DIAMOND MOTORLUGRAC, and the hi gain antenna is coaxed to my Bullet AP, which in turn connects to the router in the coach. There are several benefits apart from the huge distance that the system will cover, these are that any WiFi service I connect to "sees" the MAC address of the Bullet and so I only have one account to pay (if it's not free) for both myself and my wife and also I get a wireless network inside the coach for our tablets and laptops as well as printer, with my wife only needing to log onto the router not any number of 3rd party sites, which inevitably means I am constantly being asked to sort it out!. All very clean and neat. Here is the link to the guys who sold me the package. http://islandtimepc.com/ Here is the antenna mount http://www.diamondantenna.net/k9000lrmo.html

Michael Slater
2008 Allure 31683