Streaming media is not only where we are headed but where we are. Looking into the future I have decided against SAT for the MH simply because I know the future will be all streaming media, and SAT has it's limits with respect to line of site and a plan of it's own. But there is a huge constraint to streaming media. Gig usage. If anyone can stream virtually anything, how does this model work if you pay for portable devices and are contrained to a plan that offers limited usage. I pay for a jetpack and a 14 gig a month plan. If I go over it's expensive. This is barely enough to function and run a vpn. If I wanted to watch a show or a few movies I would go broke. So with all the talk and usage of streaming how is everyone acomplishing this with your plan contraints? As fas as I know there is no plan or company offering unlimted usage. How does this model even work in the future? I read folks streaming TV etc and totally unplugged. In my setup the cost for this would be astronomical. Am I missing something?

You're not missing anything. All that bandwidth has to be paid for somehow since it's not free for the connection providers. Like anything else in life, we all decide what's worth paying for and what's not. Since I own stock in a couple of companies that provide network equipment, I hope the streaming craze continues :-)

The currently available hot-spot based options do not work for streaming any volume of data. The main reason being that the cellular infrastructure does not have the bandwidth to accommodate it. For example, if you go to a large sporting event, wireless data almost always comes to a grinding halt. Cellular bandwidth is very expensive to provide. Carriers have dealt with the limitations by imposing data caps that cost dearly to exceed. It works for them, no doubt.There have been several threads in here with "vigorous" debate with regards to campgrounds' ability/willingness to provide real high-speed broadband access. Obviously, if the service is not available to the campground at all, the issue is moot. If it is available to the CG, the issue becomes cost to implement, as well as whether or not to charge for it (and how much). With some planning, I am able to bring my iPad to the office, download some shows and movies, then play them through my APPLE TV back at the campground. Not the most ideal options, but it avoids the huge data charges that streaming a few movies a week would cause.

paulcardoza wrote:The currently available hot-spot based options do not work for streaming options. The main reason being that the cellular infrastructure does not have the bandwidth to accommodate it. For example, if you go to a large sporting event, wireless data almost always comes to a grinding halt. Cellular bandwidth is very expensive to provide. Carriers have dealt with the limitations by imposing data caps that cost dearly to exceed. It works for them, no doubt.There have been several threads in here with "vigorous" debate with regards to campgrounds' ability/willingness to provide real high-speed broadband access. Obviously, if the service is not available to the campground at all, the issue is moot. If it is available to the CG, the issue becomes cost to implement, as well as whether or not to charge for it (and how much). With some planning, I am able to bring my iPad to the office, download some shows and movies, then play them through my APPLE TV back at the campground. Not the most ideal options, but it avoids the huge data charges that streaming a few movies a week would cause.So how do you solution portable streaming media? It's coming like it or not. But it won't stick to the wall with contraints like bandwith and cost. BTW my 4g streams just fine. It's just expensive.

I doubt seriously RVers are going to abandon satellite TV any time soon in favor of streaming services. With satellite TV, you can pretty much get a signal anywhere in the US and parts of Canada and Mexico, even if you're in the middle of nowhere. Try doing that with your wireless broadband connection. We stream many programs at home, but recognize the technology is not suitable for RV use due to various limitations.

At one campground we were given access with only one wifi device. While it wasn't ideal, it seemed to work and everyone was able to do what they had to do.At another totally high end premium resort they issued a disclaimer telling about their poor internet and how difficult it was to provide a better system in their area. It was totally frustrating and we vowed we would not go back there again. They I started to wonder... while it's nice to just sit on the internet, is it possible to have a rotating system that could take one small section of a campground at a time and give them reliable access for a time period, then move on to another section? If a camper knew in advance of his access period everyone might be a lot happier.Maybe that is not possible, it's certainly not anything I know much about?thanks

Streaming with contraints | Good Sam Community

76 Replies

Effy
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2014
SO, as summary - after unintentionally apparently sparking a lot of heat, this is now a moot point. I believe we are "not there yet" with repsect to streaming on portable devices, or more to the point you can but at what cost. Thanks for your input. I posted this on a few other places and got the same result. Somehow - call it wishful thinking- I thought we were there now. But from what I can decipher, technology is there, it really seems more about money and strategy to "conrol" user's limits. It's a revenue model that inhibits all you can eat data, not really a tech one. As another poster put it, if they were allowed to deem this as a utility instead of a monopoly I think I would have a different answer. Thanks to all of you, I know this may have been frustrating. I created a situation unique to me, and I have no idea wth I am talking about with respect to cell technology. Did not mean to ruffle feathers.

Cheers
DSDP_Don
Explorer
Mar 04, 2014
Effy.....I think your theory of streaming is here now is seriously flawed. First, you proved your theory of satellite not being the way to go is flawed because you can't find a better alternative!

Second, streaming only offers a limited amount of programs, where many of us want to watch a show when it first airs on Thursday or Friday.

Third, many of us aren't camping under a cell tower on the east coast and most of the places we go, you get limited service and satellite is the way to go. '

Lastly anyone who tries to respond to your statement is corrected by you as wrong. So I guess this is a wasted post if you already have the answer. If you don't have the answer.....it is....streaming is STILL TOO EXPENSIVE and probably will be long after a new satellite is obsolete.
RJ_2003_Traditi
Explorer
Mar 04, 2014
I have skipped most of the previous posts so forgive me. Bandwidth is the new revenue generator and if you really wanted to stream everything, you could. Unless you have unlimited bandwidth plans, you'll have to learn to live within limits. Why would the provider business model change just to make a few happy? Most people that stream will do it on copper or fiber. If you want cellular, plan to whip out the $$$ for a long long time. And most CG's are so timesliced that streaming is painful. And that will never change either. As long as you can check email and do a little browsing, they've done their duty. After all, a single DSL connection split between 300 users only goes so far (wide)...LOL
Effy
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2014
This is not about my business needs. I am not a contractor, I am an employee and thereby can't claim it. I do have my own businesses ( 2 actually) but that't neither here nor there. (I get reimbursed for it at the end of the year) This is not about how I manage my fincances. I wanted to know how ISP's expect growth in the streaming sector when they throttle bandwith and have limits. They benefit from both sides.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2014
Business requirements are very different than a normal RVer would have to deal with. Since this is really a "How do I manage my business needs" it likely should have been started in a thread appropriate to that topic. If you are getting paid to be on the internet, you should have worked that into your budget before you began the work.
It appears that you now want to bemoan the realities of cellular internet and try to find someone to blame other than yourself.
I don't see where anyone has done, or is doing, anything wrong.....except, possibly, you.
eubank
Explorer
Mar 04, 2014
You know, if this is for business, then any expenses you can document at least be written off as a business expense; check with your CPA.

Granted, a write-off doesn't re-coop all of the money you spend, but at least your taxable income will be reduced. And, if you think about it in these terms, it's better to set this up as an expense with a separate provider because it is somewhat doubtful that an RV park that wraps WIFI service into its regular rate would be willing to write you a separate receipt for that part of the offering.

:)
Lynn

Pogoil wrote:

Sorry, no where in your original post did you say you needed all this bandwidth for work or business.

Pogoil.
Effy
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2014
Lobstah wrote:
Effy wrote:
Streaming media is not only where we are headed but where we are. Looking into the future I have decided against SAT for the MH simply because I know the future will be all streaming media, and SAT has it's limits with respect to line of site and a plan of it's own. But there is a huge constraint to streaming media. Gig usage. If anyone can stream virtually anything, how does this model work if you pay for portable devices and are contrained to a plan that offers limited usage. I pay for a jetpack and a 14 gig a month plan. If I go over it's expensive. This is barely enough to function and run a vpn. If I wanted to watch a show or a few movies I would go broke. So with all the talk and usage of streaming how is everyone acomplishing this with your plan contraints? As fas as I know there is no plan or company offering unlimted usage. How does this model even work in the future? I read folks streaming TV etc and totally unplugged. In my setup the cost for this would be astronomical. Am I missing something?

14G/mo? And you're going through that without TV or movies?
I can't imagine what data you're actaully downloading.

14G is huge.

I can stream netflix to my Samsung Galaxy S4 as long as I've got an Lte connection, which is almost always. WiFi isn't always a requirement. It'll still eat your data plan on your phone, but you can spread your bandwidth usage around.

Also, some companies (Amazon on Kindles) now allow you to download some of their content to your device and watch that content without being online.

There's always DVDs from the library ;)

Jim

You ever use a double encrypted VPN? I work for a major global bank and thereby likley the most laborious hog for internet security for remote work. I have a work laptop, 2 personal laptops, one for me and one for DW, my son's tablet and 2 iphones. All of these devices share the same data plan and most of them are on pretty much 24/7. If I am working from home a lot - something due to weather I've been doing a lot lately, using webex and voip phone (about 8 meetings a day), with several of our international sites, it goes fast.

I know I can download media to devices and watch later, but you still have to download it to a device to start with. I don't see much lift with that method.

Amen to the DVD's. I think that's my M.O. until another solution comes along. Heaven forbid we are traveling and the Bachelor is on and DW can't watch it.
Lobstah
Explorer
Mar 04, 2014
Effy wrote:
Streaming media is not only where we are headed but where we are. Looking into the future I have decided against SAT for the MH simply because I know the future will be all streaming media, and SAT has it's limits with respect to line of site and a plan of it's own. But there is a huge constraint to streaming media. Gig usage. If anyone can stream virtually anything, how does this model work if you pay for portable devices and are contrained to a plan that offers limited usage. I pay for a jetpack and a 14 gig a month plan. If I go over it's expensive. This is barely enough to function and run a vpn. If I wanted to watch a show or a few movies I would go broke. So with all the talk and usage of streaming how is everyone acomplishing this with your plan contraints? As fas as I know there is no plan or company offering unlimted usage. How does this model even work in the future? I read folks streaming TV etc and totally unplugged. In my setup the cost for this would be astronomical. Am I missing something?

14G/mo? And you're going through that without TV or movies?
I can't imagine what data you're actaully downloading.

14G is huge.

I can stream netflix to my Samsung Galaxy S4 as long as I've got an Lte connection, which is almost always. WiFi isn't always a requirement. It'll still eat your data plan on your phone, but you can spread your bandwidth usage around.

Also, some companies (Amazon on Kindles) now allow you to download some of their content to your device and watch that content without being online.

There's always DVDs from the library ;)

Jim
Pogoil
Explorer
Mar 03, 2014
Effy wrote:
Pogoil wrote:
We are way to dependent on a service that did not exist not to many years ago.

I know how to fix this perceived problem.
TURN OFF the TV and computer and get outside and enjoy this fine country first hand.

I will never understand why anyone needs so much speed. Remember a few years ago dial up speeds? Nothing else to complain about.

We frequent a park that has a 5 mbps service for 40 sites and guess what it works well for all. Why because the owners give out with the code guide lines for no downloads, streaming of movies and music and to disconnect when they are not using the service. And yes they monitor their router to make sure people follow the rules.

Pogoil.

Thank you for your insight, but I use my conection for work. I also look for cost effective alternatives. Why should I pay for several services when I can use one and cover eveything? Why your suggestion of unplugging has it's merits, it's not practical for some. I enjoy plenty of outside activities. And this thread is not targeted solely at camping. Thanks for your archaic solution to this dilemma but it doesn't work for me.

Sorry, no where in your original post did you say you needed all this bandwidth for work or business.

Pogoil.
Pogoil
Explorer
Mar 03, 2014
rgatijnet1 wrote:
Effy wrote:
Frankly I don't care about Japan or any other country as I live here. I simply would like to know if or how or when or why, with the technology available how you access streaming content on a portable device without selling a kidney on the black market. technology is there, content is there, plans are cost inhibitive. This has to change as I forecast this is an area of growth.

Why does it have to change? You and most other customers in the USA will pay whatever the carriers want and accept it. Where is the incentive for any of the carriers to increase the speed and lower the cost?

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Streaming with contraints

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