Internet access in RV

[bchines]

We are looking into living in our RV and wondering who offers internet service to RVers? Can you get something you can use wherever you are, or do you have to use a cellphone? Thanks for any info you give me.

[junglejim0745]

We used Hughesnet for about five years while full time RVing. It at the time was the fastest option and others would tell us it was faster than their AirCards. I was waiting until the Air Cards were developed well enough for fringe areas and when people started saying our satellite was about like Air Card, we changed to Verizon with an Air Card and receive great internet service with it. Much easier to simply plug in a usb Air Card than to set up the satellite antenna wherever we are. ATT and Sprint plus some others also have air cards, but it was a toss up between ATT and Verizon for us. Finally an ATT store manager told us Verizon had a bit faster service in the fringe areas, so that made our decision easier.

Most Air Cards you will have service within 15 to 20 miles along any and all interstate highways and in all cities. Sprint is more of a metro card and does not offer very good service in the fringe areas.

Happy RVing. 

[ginabo]

If your computer is equipped with WiFi capabiltiy can't you use that and use the air card as needed?  Or do you use the air card for all internet connections?  The reason I ask this is I believe the air card you are charged for the amount of time you are on the internet.  How are the cost?  My husband and I are planning to go full time as soon as we can get our mortar and bricks sold.  I run a business out of my home which requires me to be on the internet all the time.  I currently pay about 80.00 per month for that connection because it is supposedly the fastest speed available.  I am trying to determine what I will need to keep my business going while we travel around.  Any guidance would be helpful.

[junglejim0745]

If your computer is equipped with WiFi capabiltiy can't you use that and use the air card as needed?  Or do you use the air card for all internet connections?  The reason I ask this is I believe the air card you are charged for the amount of time you are on the internet.  How are the cost?  My husband and I are planning to go full time as soon as we can get our mortar and bricks sold.  I run a business out of my home which requires me to be on the internet all the time.  I currently pay about 80.00 per month for that connection because it is supposedly the fastest speed available.  I am trying to determine what I will need to keep my business going while we travel around.  Any guidance would be helpful.

Very few computers are not equipped for wifi now unless they are several years old and have no added card for wifi, but you can use the park wifi if you want rather than using your aircard. The problem you will probably find is that most RV Parks do not have good, reliable, fast wifi for you to use.

Our aircard costs us about 63 bucks a month for 5 gigs of use and with two computers on it and turned on all time we have never went over the monthly 5 gigs. We do not download movies, nor do we download music via internet. Our usual usage is around 2.5 to 3 gigs per month. I have no idea what your usage is and that would determine whether you would go over the monthly 5 gigs or not, but most aircards have options for higher usage limits each month. I think at the moment Verizon is 99 bucks a month for truly unlimited internet usage but I have not checked in a few months so it could have changed.

Most air cards are free, but you have to sign a two year contract when accepting one, however most will also give you 30 days to return the aircard and cancel the contract if it is not sufficient for your needs.

Happy RVing.  

[LindaH]

I run a business out of my home which requires me to be on the internet all the time.  I currently pay about 80.00 per month for that connection because it is supposedly the fastest speed available.  I am trying to determine what I will need to keep my business going while we travel around.

If you HAVE to have Internet access no matter where in the US, Canada, or Mexico you are, your only choice is satellite Internet.

If you travel only in the US and travel along the Interstates and stay near metropolitan areas, then an air card would probably be sufficient for you.  While air card access is available in areas other than along Interstates and metropolitan areas, once you leave those areas, you cannot be guaranteed Internet access, particularly in the Western half of the US where there are still vast areas not covered by any cell towers.

[docj]

Verizon has now introduced the MiFi, a wireless "hotspot" that does the same job as the AirCard.  What is great about MiFi is that it can serve to connect up to 5 computers to the Internet at the same time.  Rather than plugging an AirCard into a single computer, the MiFi acts as both modem and router to connect to the Verizon 3G network.  If you are in an EVDO service area I've observed download speeds well in excess of 1 MB/s.  If you leave the EVDO service area speeds will be less than that but much better than dialup. Having used both MiFi and Hughenet, one advantage of MiFi is far higher upload speeds, if that is important to you.  I've observed uploads at 50% of download speed which is much higher than on Hughesnet.

[htwtusa]

When I'm out of range of a wifi point, I just use my Motorola Droid's tether capability to access the web via 3G...it's about as fast as 1st gen DSL...fast enough to view Netflix, etc.

[LindaH]

Verizon has now introduced the MiFi, a wireless "hotspot" that does the same job as the AirCard.  What is great about MiFi is that it can serve to connect up to 5 computers to the Internet at the same time.

You can do the same thing, with less cost, by using a Cradlepoint router with your air card.