Best Way to get good Internet when RVing

[boyscout]

We use an unlimited data plan (truly unlimited) that covers the US and Canada, a WeBoost Drive X RV and a Pepwave Max BR1 router. We have generally good download speeds wherever we are although we do not tend to go miles off grid, but do camp in the mountains in Canada.

Each month we use around 200GB of data - for internet and streaming live TV. In the last year I have only had 2 places where the download speed was too slow for TV - and both of them were in cities so I assume that was just an overloaded network issue. The system works so well we never bother trying to connect to park wifi now, as soon as I power up the trailer I have a my own hotspot working and all our devices connect.

What data plan are you using? Please use the "Reply With Quote" link at the bottom of this message to reply so I get a notification of your reply. Thanks.

[AJG1960]

What data plan are you using? Please use the "Reply With Quote" link at the bottom of this message to reply so I get a notification of your reply. Thanks.

ATT International Unlimited - got it through livinlite.net - if you dont see exactly what you want on their website give them a call as the service they supplied to me was not advertised.

[ramcneal]

I just purchase the Togo Roadlink and was very surprised and happy with the setup. The reason for my happiness is that the unit is working, providing 15MB up and down, while currently sitting in my basement on the passenger side. I haven't installed it on the roof yet, which I may not, so I was looking for a simple way to give it a test during our shakedown camping trip. I had an old 12v transformer which I mated up to the unit and it powered right up. While in my basement my RV was sitting between two other large RV's and yet the signal was strong enough to work which I thought was great.

The reason I'm thinking about not installing the unit permanently is so that I can use it at home and just cancel my current cable provider.

[CWSWine]

Contemplating this myself. We could actually use it all the time even though we're still trip-based. Our home is so far out, we only have DSL or cellular for internet options. The price is better than our DSL cost by almost $200/yr. The camper is parked in our driveway when home and always connected to shorepower.

Anyone already doing this, or maybe at least test the range reach away from it?

We have the TOGO for a week now other than problems getting signed up it has worked great with 25 to 35 on a speed test. We have canceled our Dish service and signed up with Dish Outdoors. We have also CXL our internet at home ane currently using the TOGO and the Version PrePaid unlimited account for home internet service. We are using between 200 and 300 gigs a month.

[zadiemay]

@Wildman, before someone tells you to look for the MANY other threads here on this topic, take the advice you've (mostly) got so far and commit yourself to a cell-based solution.

I say that because there are well-meaning people here who will probably soon jump in to tell you - as they have in other threads - about all the best ways to boost wi-fi signals and the great (and sometimes-complicated) systems they've devised to do that. Some threads here have at least several dozen messages that end up giving EVERY kind of advice, including not-great advice, about all the different ways to approach the requirement for internet.

You've said that - like us - you need good reliable service and you want to stream video. I've gone deep into both approaches - wi-fi and cell - and hope that gives me some credibility.

With all due respect to @Firescue above who is as I write this the only one so far promoting a wi-fi solution, boosting wi-fi signals is a very hit-and-miss and usually unsatisfying way to get internet. Boosting to get a better connection to your campground's wi-fi service may get you the best connection in the park but the park's inadequate wi-fi will still be inadequate. We were in dozens of campgrounds in the S.E. U.S. with our very good wi-fi equipment and were pretty much always dissatisfied with the service. A system that can reach outside the park to other sources of wi-fi as @Firescue suggests - I used a commercial Ubiquiti system that could find signals as much as a dozen miles away - will usually show you a list of possible connections but they will nearly always all be password-protected. You would generally be suspicious of any that are not protected unless they are provided by reputable companies such as Daytona or McDonalds or Starbucks, and these are not generally visible in campgrounds.

The only ray of hope for people who choose the wi-fi approach is that some companies (Xfiniti is one) are already claiming, and may one day actually provide, nationwide wi-fi networks. Their systems are often based on sharing equipment that their existing customers have installed. My experience late last year and early this year with my see-everything wi-fi booster system was that we did NOT have access points visible in many of the places we traveled, so I didn't subscribe to the expensive and obviously-spotty service.

What I did instead was what most of the people (so far) in this thread have suggested: buy a hotspot or "MiFi" device from one of the big carriers and purchase a pre-paid or monthly plan for data (pre-paid plans generally seem to be better value). We used Verizon and - after some frustrating startup problems - were very pleased with it in the S.E. U.S.

If you're going to be camping well outside developed areas consider also picking up a cell phone booster system after learning what they can and can't do, and how best to deploy them. As someone here has noted already they don't offer night-and-day improvements, especially with data use, but they can make the difference between having a connection and not having one.

Good luck with your choices.

Boyscout:
Have your found that the hotspot or "MiFi" device will work, where your cell phones won't? I purchased the We-Boost. ya, it works on cell phone calls, but not even texting will work. So some improvements, but I was hoping it would work for the hotspot on my phone.... not so much luck, very little luck on that front. As they say data is not included on the boost.... So, do you still have to have cell service to get the MiFi to work? We both have ATT phones & have thought that maybe the Verizon hotspot thing may help just because if one doesn't the other may.... More specifics if you would please, will it work out in the boonies, down by the river or are we just SOL?

[CWSWine]

I just purchase the Togo Roadlink and was very surprised and happy with the setup. The reason for my happiness is that the unit is working, providing 15MB up and down, while currently sitting in my basement on the passenger side. I haven't installed it on the roof yet, which I may not, so I was looking for a simple way to give it a test during our shakedown camping trip. I had an old 12v transformer which I mated up to the unit and it powered right up. While in my basement my RV was sitting between two other large RV's and yet the signal was strong enough to work which I thought was great.

The reason I'm thinking about not installing the unit permanently is so that I can use it at home and just cancel my current cable provider.

Excatly what I'm doing.

[boyscout]

Boyscout:
Have your found that the hotspot or "MiFi" device will work, where your cell phones won't? I purchased the We-Boost. ya, it works on cell phone calls, but not even texting will work. So some improvements, but I was hoping it would work for the hotspot on my phone.... not so much luck, very little luck on that front. As they say data is not included on the boost.... So, do you still have to have cell service to get the MiFi to work? We both have ATT phones & have thought that maybe the Verizon hotspot thing may help just because if one doesn't the other may.... More specifics if you would please, will it work out in the boonies, down by the river or are we just SOL?

Sorry, we didn't stretch the MiFi in that regard... after we bought it (and later got one that worked!) we were never out of range for it.

Before we got it, after we'd given up on using wi-fi, we were using our iPhones and iPads as hot spots. We have two cell boosters, one made for RVs and the other made for a medium-sized house that needs to be carefully deployed to avoid crosstalk that will kill its effectiveness. Each of them has been deployed a few times, mostly in the Florida Everglades but also once near Port Charlotte. The lesser one was used when our service was there but flaky and the stronger one with directional antenna was used when we had one bar or even no bars indicating on our devices inside the trailer. Each time the booster made the difference and gave us a signal we could use.

However I don't know if it will do the same thing for the MiFi device.

[D2Reid]

Each month we use around 200GB of data - for internet and streaming live TV.

AJG1960 please share the name of this product. We currently pay through the nose for around 20gb of data.

We travel constantly. I have tried weboost but didn't like it much, probably user error. We have had Verizon MiFi devices forever, they work pretty well in most places that have decent cell coverage. Cell coverage gets scarce, they don't work well. I recently change DW's phone over to ATT system. The place we were spending a month VZ just didn't work, ATT did. We have run into that scenario enough times that the change is warranted for us.

Data. We basically pay for every 1 megabit we use. The industry is full of misinterpretations and fake news, like VZW's "unlimited data". It's unlimited in that there is no high cap on what you use, but it is limited in that when you reach a certain amount of usage the rate is reduced a lot, to the point of being unusable in most cases. Oxymoron's.

ATT and VZW both do this. Other brands. I really don't know; it's my belief that ATT and VZW have put in most of the cell towers and control their usage. They lease time with other companies, I think that's a law. The other companies can claim whatever they like, and in some isolated instances secondary companies systems work well, just don't leave that area.

Currently I have my wife on an ATT plan that gives her "unlimited" data to around 75gb, + 15gb of hotspot data (you can log your computer into it). I had her on a lesser plan but when she hit the limit her phone would not load facebook, etc. Around $100 a month. I am on the VZW beyond unlimited plan. I have 1 mifi broadband router, it is allowed 15gb of data transfer, then it is throttled back to .6 mgbps, normal throughput is between 1.6 mgbps to 26 mgbps. It takes about 2 mgbps to stream a tv show with halts for buffering. My cell phone is allowed 75 gb, plus 30 gb of hotspot. Runs me about $120. So about 45 gb for computer streaming. I am looking at getting a tv that allows casting. So if I cast data from my phone to a tv without using wifi hotspot I should be able to use the full 75gb per month at the best throughput available.

So 200 gb per month, I would like to know how. What's the throughput rate? What is the coverage? What is the cost?

And remember, what works in one location may or may not work in another.

[orbiker]

We have a ATT Mobley and a T Mobile Coolpad hotspot. The Mobley is unlimited 3G and 4G if available for $20. The Coolpad is $25 for 6G and unlimited 3G. The coolpad is a good deal. The Mobley is a great deal, but not available any more.
we still live in out stick house and these are what we use all the time. Camping in Central Oregon or the Oregon Coast; we have no problem streaming Netflix. Here in Springfield, Oregon they do great.
ATT and Verizon are so popular, the speed goes way down. KEN

[AJG1960]

AJG1960 please share the name of this product. We currently pay through the nose for around 20gb of data.

It is ATT International and costs us $140 a month - but we need that for when we are in Canada. If you only need US coverage then you can get it a bit cheaper.

I got the service through Erik at livinlite.net - if it isn't shown in their store then ask as my service wasn't on their site and they found me something that fitted my needs.

From what I understand the service is generally available only to large corporations and government departments but some companies buy a batch of lines to get that contract and then re-sell them on to individuals.