Cutting the cord with satellite provider

[Bobernal]

I am looking into discontinuing my satellite at home as well as in my RV. I am leaning towards streaming on the internet but it will require removing my satellite antenna on my RV. I am looking for some insight as to recommendations of products that will allow me to travel and provide me with internet connections!

Thanks,

Bobernal

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The most basic approach is to run a cellular modem ( = hotspot). If you are mostly out west Verizon seems to be popular. Out east, AT&T does a fine job. Depending on the phase of the moon, each of them are / aren't offering "unlimited" plans. Those plans really are / actually aren't unlimited depending on who knows what.

So far for us, AT&T's plan has worked very well and has indeed been unlimited. Indeed when the towers clog up there are gotcha's. Except for that they never seem to cut you back.

Keep in mind that no matter who you have, none of them have 100% coverage. If you are highly dependent on having access, the best answer is to have a plan from both AT&T and Verizon. You still will hit dead spots, but fewer of them.

Bob

[Daquenzer]

I would get a “buy as you go” wi if modem from Verlzon or other cell phone provider. You can buy however much data you need when you need it. Most cell phone providers “say” they give you unlimited data, but that’s a farce. My cell phone provider (a small one) gives me 25gb before it slows to a crawl. That’s pretty good. We use my phone as the hotspot, but we aren’t gone for long periods. Normally after 15GB they slow it down to a crawl. But if you buy the data on a modem device they can’t do that. Verizon will sell 30GBs at a time. It can get expensive, but it’s cheaper than satellite.

If you are at home hopefully you have an DSL provider. If not you might find keeping your satellite tv cheaper.

As for streaming services there are numerous choices on Roku to Apple TV. I use my IPAD and run the channels through that. It’s easy to hook up to the TV with an adapter. And the nice thing is that you can download programs to it from your home DSL and watch them on the road. And you can get YouTube TV as well. But that’s pretty expensive at about $50 a month.

Lots of choices. And everyone seems to come out different with regard to cost. Just have to look at how the numbers work. Good luck.

Just remember: streaming uses lots of data.

[bobmiller1]

I got rid of my DirectV back in February. Since AT&T bought or acquired DirectV their service sucks. I had DirectV for 25 years, never had a service call, paid my $160.00 a month on time through auto-pay and my dish needed to be re-aligned. They told me I had to pay $100.00 for a service call, I said OK, stayed home from work, they called 4 minutes from the expiration of the service window 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon and said they might be there that day.......that’s it I was done ! Although I have a KVH in-motion satellite on my 370LE with 2 DirectV receivers I don’t use them anymore and usually when I am camping I am parked under trees anyway so the satellite is useless. I purchased a cell range extender which works awesome and I have Verizon. With my prime TV and U Tube I stream everything I want to see and I don’t miss anything anymore, including the commercials! Plus I save $160.00 a month......Done ! Regards, Bob

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

We have an unlimited data plan from Verizon. We just tether to our phone or push to the TV via Apple TV if we wanna stream.

[Nightmare67]

We do just as that Big Sexy White Guy above does.
Personal Hotspot off iPhone. I put an Apple TV on tv.
And, just last month, we got rid of our Direct TV at home.
Stream everything and so far I can find all the shows we like and then some. Mostly YouTube then Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
So many other apps available too.

We are very happy with our decision.

Good luck.

Btw, when we called to disconnect Direct TV, the agent said we were the fifth customer THAT DAY she disconnected for the same reason. Didn’t even try to get us to stay.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I would *not* want to do streaming on a "pay as you go" plan. When we are out and it's rainy enough to be watching TV, we rack up a pretty massive bunch of data on our plan (like over 200 gigs). Even without any streaming, our normal on the road internet usage gets into the > 50 gig a month range. Here at home, typical numbers are in the 300 to 500 gigs a month range.

Bob

[rustyoldman]

We had DirecTV for many years at the house and just decided last month it was a ridiculous expense for what we were seeing. I bought a Roku device for the living room TV and hooked it up. Downloaded a few apps going free movies and free TV. We have an Amazon prime account, so we get the Amazon app free with that....great free TV and great free movie selections. I bought a OTA TV antennae from Walmart for something like $55, removed my DirecTV dish from the poll and installed the TV antenna in its place....I get 45 channels OTA free including ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX networks clear as a bell in HD. Not sure if you are aware or not, the feds ruled effective January 1st, that TV signals were public property and now all networks must broadcast their signal in HD free OTA. I am now investigating either a Verizon hotspot or a wifi booster for the trailer. Any advice? BOB. what wifi booster are you using?
Bill

[John1048]

I went with a Roku devices on both TVs with WiFi connection to Verizon plan which gave me 15G high speed and then throttles back. It only takes about 3 hours of 1020 bps to deplete high speed and then get throttled back. Sadly in adequate.
On the plus side, no external antennae/cables. Easy set up.

John1048

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by rustyoldman

We had DirecTV for many years at the house and just decided last month it was a ridiculous expense for what we were seeing. I bought a Roku device for the living room TV and hooked it up. Downloaded a few apps going free movies and free TV. We have an Amazon prime account, so we get the Amazon app free with that....great free TV and great free movie selections. I bought a OTA TV antennae from Walmart for something like $55, removed my DirecTV dish from the poll and installed the TV antenna in its place....I get 45 channels OTA free including ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX networks clear as a bell in HD. Not sure if you are aware or not, the feds ruled effective January 1st, that TV signals were public property and now all networks must broadcast their signal in HD free OTA. I am now investigating either a Verizon hotspot or a wifi booster for the trailer. Any advice? BOB. what wifi booster are you using?
Bill

Hi

We use a Wilson / WeBoost cell booster. It's not needed 100% of the time. I have a directional antenna for it that (so far) is still in the box. There have been a few places that it has come in very handy even with the omni directional antenna on the roof.

Another alternative would be a hotspot designed to mount outdoors. I have not seen many of those on the market. Doing external antennas on an indoor mount it problematic. Rational sized coax has a lot of loss at cell frequencies .... Having a roof mount gizmo break and need to be tweaked ... yikes ....

The gotcha's with the booster:

1) It pulls power. If we are off grid, every bit of current matters. The computers / phones / hotspot also pull power so it's one of several evils associated with internet usage.

2) The "boosted" device needs to be very close to the indoor antenna. A couple inches is better than a couple feet. "Halfway down the trailer" is not a good distance to be from the booster.

3) You do need to mount the outdoor antenna somewhere. Roof mount with an omni is one way to go. Pole on the hitch with a directional antenna also seems to be popular. In both cases cables need to go places ....

None of it is unmanageable, it's just one more set of things to deal with.

Bob

[Magnet18]

Here is a great website 100% devoted to answering the question you just asked
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

Verizon currently does unlimited data plans for their jetpack devices for $65/month, I've been using one of those to the tune of about 300 gigs per month for the last 6 months as my primary internet and entertainment source with no problems

I also use a 2X2 MIMO directional antenna plugged into it to get better signal when needed

[CWSWine]

Rob
That Verizon plan went away last month and the people that have it are grandfathered but who knows what the future holds for the plan. I wouldn't let the plan lapse for fear I couldn't restart it.



I have been using the Verizon Pre-Paid unlimited plan above and been using around 300 gigs per month at my sticks and bricks. I have a great signal at home and very seldom have problems streaming. I also have the AS Connect Package (https://www.att.com/plans/connected-car/airstream.html) up and running. So far Verizon has had a stronger signal but both seem to work. To be fair I have only had the AT&T connection for about 6 days so really not a fair comparison.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

Rob
That Verizon plan went away last month and the people that have it are grandfathered but who knows what the future holds for the plan. I wouldn't let the plan lapse for fear I couldn't restart it.



I have been using the Verizon Pre-Paid unlimited plan above and been using around 300 gigs per month at my sticks and bricks. I have a great signal at home and very seldom have problems streaming. I also have the AS Connect Package (https://www.att.com/plans/connected-car/airstream.html) up and running. So far Verizon has had a stronger signal but both seem to work. To be fair I have only had the AT&T connection for about 6 days so really not a fair comparison.

Shoot, good to know, definitely need to make sure that never lapses


I've been considering getting an at&t or sprint unlimited plan as a backup, definitely going to do so now