Alternative satellite option?

I do not recommend installing any streaming app where they recommend hiding your IP address to avoid copyright legal issues. There are plenty of completely legal free streaming apps that offer a wide variety of movies and TV shows such as Pluto, Kodi, Crackle, Tubi, Popcornflix, and a number of others.

I have a firestick. I don't know if it is better than roku stick but I wouldn't trade it. It has a lot of different options for streaming apps both free and paid. There are plenty of choices. I found an app a couple weeks ago that has absolutely everything I was looking for - it calls Cinema Apk, for more info https://www.firestickhow.com/cinema-apk.html

FloridaRosebud wrote:

way2roll wrote:
We had in motion sat on our first MH. Never again. It was spotty at best and as you figured out, requires line of sight. Friends of ours have a portable one that seems to work ok. My issue is that it's cumbersome. We cut the cord a while ago and find that with a firestick and mobile hotspot we get what we want and have less issues than we ever did with the Sat. Nothing to set up, drag around, position, no wires and cheaper than DTV or dish. The only caveat is that you will probably want an unlimited data plan. Something that a few carriers are finally coming around to offer with reasonable prices. That said, if you really like and want DTV or Dish then carryout portable units seem to work pretty good from the experience of our friends - better than the fixed units anyway.

What Mobil Hotspot are you using? We're "new" and have not yet taken the satellite plunge. With Hulu (and their cloud DVR) and the Amazon Fire Stick I can not imagine needing more (we do not fulltime, but will be out probably 3-4 months per year) but I want to have a hot spot we can use at home as well as the RV, and cut the cord from my home internet service with AT&T U-Verse.

Al

We use a VZ jetpack. But it's a few years old and I have a plan through my company that I get truly unlimited data for almost nothing. I work remote so this is a must and a unique situation that I am lucky to find myself in. So you won't get my deal, but I have read recently on here that ATT offers truly unlimited data in a very affordable price range as well as a few other companies. To me, this is a breakthrough that kept the RV folks from cutting the cord. Now that unlimited data is available on a budget - personally if I were new to the game I wouldn't even bother with a Sat set up. This is where TV and entertainment are going. $40 a month for unlimited data opens the door for streaming anything you want and there are no wires, no cumbersome sat dishes, no positioning, no line of sight etc. All you need is decent reception - which it's pretty hard not to find in this day and age. Sure there are some dead spots but nowhere that I travel. My wife can work on her laptop while I drive endlessly if she wanted and my son can be watching TV or a myriad of other things on a device or TV. No constraints.

way2roll wrote:
We had in motion sat on our first MH. Never again. It was spotty at best and as you figured out, requires line of sight. Friends of ours have a portable one that seems to work ok. My issue is that it's cumbersome. We cut the cord a while ago and find that with a firestick and mobile hotspot we get what we want and have less issues than we ever did with the Sat. Nothing to set up, drag around, position, no wires and cheaper than DTV or dish. The only caveat is that you will probably want an unlimited data plan. Something that a few carriers are finally coming around to offer with reasonable prices. That said, if you really like and want DTV or Dish then carryout portable units seem to work pretty good from the experience of our friends - better than the fixed units anyway.

What Mobil Hotspot are you using? We're "new" and have not yet taken the satellite plunge. With Hulu (and their cloud DVR) and the Amazon Fire Stick I can not imagine needing more (we do not fulltime, but will be out probably 3-4 months per year) but I want to have a hot spot we can use at home as well as the RV, and cut the cord from my home internet service with AT&T U-Verse.

Al

Thanks for that....that's why I've decided not to make any moves in any direction until DirectTV gets their proverbial $hit together. The dates keep moving and so much confusion. Ideally, they will continue to broadcast a substantial package of programming on the 101 Sat. But like you say, who knows???

Funny, a recently retired friend just bought a NEW RV and he was asking me about what to do about a Sat Package....initially told him to hold off and wait also but in lieu of that, getting the Traveler Dish would be the next best idea, I think that's the direction he went.

On edit.....If the programming isn't up to snuff on the 101, that would make the decision a tad easier. After 25 years with Direct, I'm not resistant to switching to Dish or changing Roof top and Portable dishes for Direct. I realize HD on 101 would entail me getting upgraded receivers and SWM switches for my current antenna's...BUT why do anything until we know!

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
My wife wanted an In Motion, so I found a used King Dome Dual LNB Model a few years back...works fairly well still although it can be a pain between losing power sometimes when going from Generator to Shore or Inverter. I left my Datron(very old auto seek dish) towards the front of the motorhome(amazingly, this unit still works quite well). With the addition of a portable tripod dish I use a three way switch to select which Dish I can use. We tend to look for a shady site so setting up the portable gets done quite often.

Still hoping Direct is following through on changing the 101 Sat to high Def, choosing a couple different receivers for myself, making a couple mod's on Dishes and NOT having to completely change everything!

DTV will be changing to HD but that does not mean you will get all of DTV's channels from that 1 satellite. The SD will go away but so will many of the channels currently broadcast. The problem is that no one knows which channels will still be there after the change. I am almost certain that there will be NO Network programming but the question is will Food, Fox News or any other channel you like be there or not be there. Right now it's just a waiting game.

My DTV HR44 receiver can record 5 shows at the same time so no record/watch conflicts.

A lot of folks would like to know what DTV plans for the 101 bird. The last date that I heard for the switch was Feb 2020.

My wife wanted an In Motion, so I found a used King Dome Dual LNB Model a few years back...works fairly well still although it can be a pain between losing power sometimes when going from Generator to Shore or Inverter. I left my Datron(very old auto seek dish) towards the front of the motorhome(amazingly, this unit still works quite well). With the addition of a portable tripod dish I use a three way switch to select which Dish I can use. We tend to look for a shady site so setting up the portable gets done quite often.

Still hoping Direct is following through on changing the 101 Sat to high Def, choosing a couple different receivers for myself, making a couple mod's on Dishes and NOT having to completely change everything!

Like Big Katuna, we have used a Winegard Pathway X2 automatic portable for almost four years, now. Picks up both Dish eastern and western arcs (albeit one satellite at a time). The new phone app makes it very easy to change our location to get the locals. I use it with 50' of coax to get out from under trees, etc. We've been quite happy with it. "Most parks" do not have free cable - and we've found that, when they do, it's often limited channels and poor signal.

Rob

Thanks everyone, great info.... it also occurred to me that most parks have free cable, too, so that's another option... I mean, really... it's not about watching TV ALL the time (if at all)... it was just a question I didn't have an answer to before, that I have now... thank you again!