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zenarmy · 09-08-2009, 03:16 PM

so.... we are heading out on a year long tour and we MUST have internet access

Wireless cards will not provide enough coverage
so Satellite will have to be the way

BUT
I am having a hard time figuring out HOW to do it? we do not want to mount it and we have a tripod just need to figure out what service works and how to get it..

PLEASE advise

Thanks!!!!!

dstalzer · 09-08-2009, 03:47 PM

Wild Blue provides one of the least expensive satellite internet connections that I know of. Many people use it in rural areas where any kind of high speed internet is impossible to get except for satellite. I checked their website wildblue.com and saw they were advertising $99.95 plus s+h to get started. You might check them out to see if it will work for you.

Dennis

**moosetags** · 09-08-2009, 04:21 PM

We travel in our Lucy extensively (500 nights and 50,000 miles in three years) and depend on Internet access to run our business. We have used one of our Verizon cells phones tethered to a notebook. We have been accessing the Internet while on the road this way for several years now with excellent results.

We thought about going to a satellite system. We have talked to several RVers using these systems and each told us that they were not really satisfied with it and that it was cumbersome to set-up.

Brian

Al - K4GLU · 09-08-2009, 04:38 PM

I've been using Autonet since last May and am generally very pleased with it.

itâ€™s what your car has been waiting for. â€º Autonet Mobile

Take some of their advertising with a grain of salt but all the mobile services fib a bit when it comes to describing what they will do and their coverage. I'm at Finger Lakes State Park in MO at the moment and have excellent I-net with the Autonet. I prefer this to going thru one of the cell phone companies. And it is easy to add external antennas and a preamp if you want extended coverage.

I've never had satellite but have used satellite I-net in a few campgrounds. My experience is one day it's great and the next day the pits. Spent a week last summer at Valley of the Rogue SP in OR and they had satellite I-net that you had to pay for. Most days service was iffy and two of the days I was there it didn't work at all.

pmclemore · 09-08-2009, 05:20 PM

Not sure what you mean by "wireless cards" - if you mean wi-fi, then, no, you are dependent upon hot spots. However, if you have not tried broadband cards (such as Verizon's) then you may find that they are a good solution. I have had good luck with them wherever I could find a cell signal.

Good luck - Pat

Mikethefixit · 09-08-2009, 05:37 PM

Verison has the best coverage area of any company in the US. Look at their coverage map. Thier air cards I understand run about 60 buck a month. I personally don't own one but I would if I was gonna travel alot and use my laptop.

zenarmy · 09-08-2009, 05:55 PM

We cannot use an aircard as we will need more than 5 gig a month and will need coverage in ANY area... out in the boonies

Al - K4GLU · 09-08-2009, 05:58 PM

If you need that kind of coverage I'd suggest you stay right where you are. I don't think there is any mobile I-net of the type you're looking for and if there is I hope you've got lots of money.

TheLuvShack · 09-08-2009, 06:37 PM

I have used Verizon air card from Wisconsin to Florida for the past 18 months. Very few dead spots. I have unlimited use for $60 per month. Air card was free.

dukester · 09-08-2009, 06:37 PM

We've been traveling since Mar of this year and have had good results with an AT&T cell tethered to a laptop. Speeds aren't the fastest but they are decent. We have been all over the US and only encountered a few dead spots. One warning however. If you plan to spend time in Canada, the tethering can get extremely expensive. We just got back from several months in the Maritimes and simply shut our phones down while up there. The flip side is that the vast majority of campgrounds have wifi (including those we encountered in the Maritimes). Good luck & enjoy your trip!

LI Pets · 09-09-2009, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenarmy

We cannot use an aircard as we will need more than 5 gig a month and will need coverage in ANY area... out in the boonies

My aircard has no limit?

If you want, contact Bob Thompson he wrote a detailed paper on the issue.

In the mean time get an aircard to have a second source backup.

Lumatic · 09-09-2009, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

We have used one of our Verizon cells phones tethered to a notebook.
Brian

What do you mean by "tethered to a notebook"?. My wife just got a Toshiba mininotebook and just ordered a jack or some kind of connection device from Verizon that plugs directly into the computer. 30 day free trial, then about $40 a month. She does not use a Verizon cell because there is no coverage in our area.

**moosetags** · 09-09-2009, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lumatic

What do you mean by "tethered to a notebook"?. My wife just got a Toshiba mininotebook and just ordered a jack or some kind of connection device from Verizon that plugs directly into the computer. 30 day free trial, then about $40 a month. She does not use a Verizon cell because there is no coverage in our area.

By "tethered to a notebook" I am referring to our method of connecting to the Internet while traveling. We have cellphone/internet service through Verizion (we were formerly Alltel) that provides our notebook computers access to the internet by plugging our Motorola Razr cellphone into one of our notebooks. This "tether cord" is a USB on one end and a micro USB on the other end.

We have had this service for three years and have used all over the United States with excellent results. We depend on this service to run our business. Wherever we can get a cell signal, we can access the Internet.

We have this service for $25/month with unlimited use. Now that we have been merged with Verizon, I don't know how long our good deal with last.

Brian

NashBuff · 09-10-2009, 06:54 AM

I agree about the Verizon cards, I am on one right now. I have used it all over the country.

NeillBeavers · 09-10-2009, 07:37 AM

Checked on Satelitte a couple of years ago and what stopped me then was the cost-about $100/mo and the fact that if you are mobile you had to be trained as a tech in order to properly set it up each time. The dealer said I could work with him a few days to learn how. I believe it is because you are sending a signal to the Satelitte. Plus the system was expensive to buy. Too may problems.
Have been using the Verizon air card for several months from Florida to the Upper Penninsular in Michigan--It has never failed to work--sometimes better than others. I have no complaints whatsoever. The new cards are wireless, so you can use two computers at once on one card. It cost $60/month. There is a charge for the card--which I don't remember how much it was--but there was also a rebate.

SilverRanger · 09-10-2009, 08:30 AM

I've had very good luck with my Verizon air card, especially this last year. A few years back, I couldn't even get a signal in my backyard. So I started out with an air card and an external antenna with a signal amplifier. As they have added new cell sites, I found I was using the amplifier less often, and now it's rare when I have to use the external antenna.

I'm on the "unlimited" 5 GB per month plan, don't download many files, and have never come close to using 5 GB. However, my daughter maxed her card out the first time she got it in under 10 days.

SilverRanger · 09-10-2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeillBeavers

The new cards are wireless, so you can use two computers at once on one card. It cost $60/month. There is a charge for the card--which I don't remember how much it was--but there was also a rebate.

I believe they call it the MiFi card, which is a very compact aircard combined with a wireless router. If I recall, you can connect 5 devices to it at the same time. I was tempted to go with it recently, but was concerned what impact making my laptop a hotspot may have on my 5 GB limit. Because we usually travel off the beaten path and, even though the signal is generally strong in most places, I'm not quite ready to give up my external antenna system just yet. On a recent trip to the Midwest, there wasn't any place I couldn't get a signal, but as you said, sometimes it's better than others.

richinny · 09-10-2009, 10:23 AM

i believe the mifi has the capability of setting passwords to pervent unauthorized users.

Lani · 09-10-2009, 11:11 AM

We've been using a MiFi and it has worked out great...except for in remote areas (the areas we most like to travel to!) We have learned to check Verizon's coverage map before we go to our next campsite. We just recently purchased a tripod satellite unit so we could go to the more remote areas and so far, we have had the worst luck with it. It never works when we need it to work the most. Of course, we were warned that setting it up takes a lot of practice and patience. We are still hopeful that we will figure it out (especially since the cost was so high) but it seems the MiFi has really come through for us MOST of the time. We do have a limit of 5 gb but have yet to reach the limit each month. My husband works M-F/8 hrs a day and I'm usually using the MiFi as well during that time. We just are careful to not do any videos (YouTube, Netflix, etc.). And, you can set up passwords to prevent others from using it.