Hello from soon-to-be Full-timers

[MikeHanson47]

Hello, Everyone! My bride and I are soon (within next 2 or 3 months, tops) going to join the full-timer ranks. We've been trailering every couple of months for the past two years, but we've recently determined that if we're ever going take seeing America seriously we'll have to up our game to full time. We're pretty clear about setting up mail-forwarding services and domiciling, but I have a question about connectivity. In recent years we've cut the cable in favor of streaming services (Netflix, Prime, Discovery+, etc.). We'd like to continue this as far as possible. Have any of you also faced this? Have you been able to meet the challenge? What services and devices are available to address the challenge? Just looking for suggestions for where to direct my questions. Thanks.

 

[Second Chance]

You're going to find it difficult, expensive, or both to depend on streaming for all of your TV and video watching. HD video consumes about 2GB per hour and the few truly unlimited data plans out there are pretty pricey. We have a Verizon MiFi on a grandfathered (truly) unlimited data plan... but that isn't available any more. Even with that, there's not 4G connectivity everywhere - even with the best carriers. We have a Dish Network outdoor account and use a Wally (with a hard drive/DVR capabilities) and a Pathway X2 automatic satellite antenna. There's a lot of good information on this site (considered the gurus for full-time connectivity info):

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

BTW - you can create a signature block with your RV and tow vehicle information (see mine below). That way you won't have to repeat that information whenever you post or ask a question. You can create a signature by going to:

Forum Actions (on menu bar) -> Edit Profile -> Edit Signature (under My Settings on the left)

Rob

 

[bertschb]

Have any of you also faced this? Have you been able to meet the challenge? What services and devices are available to address the challenge?

Yes, with caveats. We have a 500GB AT&T plan that costs $160/month. That isn't enough data to stream 4K all day but it's plenty for browsing the internet all day and watching Netflix in the evening. The equipment was around $1,200 (Pepwave cellular router with roof mounted antenna). Last year that same data plan was truly unlimited and $120/month. But it has since been capped and rates increased - presumably due to increased demand. As long as we have good AT&T service, the speed is pretty good (30-50mbps). If you're in an area with no cell service, you are out of luck! I'm personally waiting for mobile Starlink service- hopefully later this year.

There are many data-only cell providers with lower prices but from what I've learned, some of them will cancel service with no notice. The provider I use is expensive but isn't supposed to do that.

Rob has pointed you to an excellent resource (https://www.rvmobileinternet.com). They have many good articles and also equipment reviews. I'd start there.

 

[MikeHanson47]

Thank you, Rob. This was very helpful. Mike

 

[MikeHanson47]

Thank you, Brian. As with Rob's comments, your note is very helpful. Both of you have given this soon-to-be fulltimer some good places to check out and review as we move forward. Mike

 

[Second Chance]

Thank you, Rob. This was very helpful. Mike

Mike,

If you use "Reply With Quote" (to the right of "Reply") as I have done here, that person will get a notification. Otherwise, they might not know to come back to the thread and look. You can also tag people by using the "@" in front of their user name: [MENTION=40109]MikeHanson47[/MENTION]. That will also generate a notification of a mention.

Rob

 

[RVingFT]

We have the $49.95 monthly (NO contract) MiFi device through FMCA. We paid $40 at the FMCA #Perrydise 2021 rally and so far have had no complaints. Do ALL streaming (YT, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+) and internet on this 1 device. 15 days into our new month we are at 71.6GB of data and counting. It is on the Sprint network, which was bought by TMobile. We have Verizon on our phones but have never had to use them so far. Friends of ours have been on the FMCA Sprint device for over 2+ years and have no complaints.