Have you tried smart Wifi for TV?

Your experience not getting all the channels on Direct TV was probably caused because you were out of your home broadcasting area. A simple call to Direct TV and giving them your current zip code would have solved your problem.. Have done it many times.

Bob

If you don't now have DirecTV or DISH and want to use it at home and in the RV I would suggest having the account classified as an RV account. That way, you can qualify for Distant Network Service (DNS).

Unbelievably, I have an RV account that consists of 4 DVR's and 2 receivers. I transferred the account from home to RV describing all kinds of imaginary places in the RV that the units are mounted. They accepted my explanation without question. As a 12 year customer they seem to always be pretty lenient with me.

Getting a couple of receivers at home and then changing them to an RV account should be easy. They have a procedure you need to follow to accomplish this.

To make the Winegard antenna a simple setup, the phone app "TV Antenna Helper" (Android) points your antenna in the right direction every time along with giving you a complete local channels list. It is one of my most used apps when traveling. For a program list of locals times for your shows.....TVGuide.com

All my other channels are from DISH, turn on and off when we travel. We travel by the weather channel, so that's an important one for us.

If you wish to use the computer as a TV you have two choices. Actually you now have the same two choices with a stand alone device.

Net Streaming or "Traditional" (Cable/Satellite/Over the Air)

Streaming video burns up bandwidth something fierce,, I toss gigibytes around my RV between my two DVR's (Front and rear) and computers when I'm watching TV,, This however does not affect the park's WI-FI or my own Cellular account as none of this enters or leaves the RV But note I said Gigibytes.

(I mean I'm streaming from the Living Room to the Bedroom or the other way around after all In one port and out another of my house router, The "modem" never sees it)

Imagine if I were streaming this via the park Wi-Fi. (not much left for others to use) or via my Cell phone (Over Limit fees here we come).

Now traditional TV (Cable/Sat/OTA) uses no bandwidth at all. you can get a Win-TV usb Dongle for the computer for like 100 bucks.

What's more.. If you have the drive space (I do not on the computers) it turns your computer into a DVR as well.. So you can record a movie that's on at 3am and play it back at 2pm the next day. Very nice.

Thanks for the help guys. Thanks also for breaking it down in an understandable matter. I have attempted to go to Best Buy or even a furniture store here locally and when I ask the questions - like I did - trying to understand the different equipment, etc. The young kids make me feel dumb and it is like - I have a live one who doesn't know anything about this, I can boost my commission by unloading useless stuff to her. Needless to say, when they get too insistent about what I have to have, I walk out. I do not tolerate that when buying cars, house, RVs either. I came close to hitting one kid when he tried following me out of the store while I was on my scooter.it would have been a "oops did I run over your foot? Sorry."

Right now, me carrying 10 lbs is not possible as I need new knees and do good to get me around. The DH has had health issues and a brain tumor 11 yrs ago that gives him short term memory problems which is why I am the only driver. Several times in the last few years he has almost died, but we just celebrated 40 years in June.

I know the dome might not be best, but I think I might go with that to make my life easier. I am in the process of redesigning the coach since I am going to get the newer flat screen tv and get rid of the "boat anchors" as my nephew calls them. I saw a neat box to be installed on the doghouse that I plan to have made so I can have the receiver for which ever SAT we get and blue ray for dvd's. Right now the dvd player is in the cupboard above the passenger seat with the receiver and whatever electronics are there and it is hard for us to access easily since mother nature shortened our height as we get older.

I am making plans for the RV so we can enjoy traveling together as long as his health holds up, my knee replacement and losing weight - hurts too much for long walks. But if something should happen to him, I want to have things easy for me to go out and enjoy the trips alone or with friends. I made my house easy to use due to age and arthritis, so this is my second home and want to do the same.

One thing that might give you a little peace of mind is to download a good weather app onto your Nokia phone. I use weatherBug. It's very popular and seems to always get good reviews. You will then be able to pull up local weather anywhere and also get a good radar overlay so you can see what's coming at you. The app is free.

Tim

I will address both the problem and the suggested solution.

First: Sat Television (Dish or Direct) If you have a "Home" account and your bring your "Spare Receiver" with you in the RV, You have violated your contract with Dish or Direct (not that I care but hey, required warning) Don't worry about it.

But the Networks (ABC, CBS Et-Al) are all "Spot Beamed".. What (you ask) is a spot beam?

Imagine a theater, large map of the US painted on the stage floor, The Star is singing his solo, in the spot light, standing right on the spot on the map where your house is in real life.. THAT is a spot beam (of light in this case).. And if you drive/step out of the spot.. You are in the dark.. As you found out.

NOW: turns out they have those networks out of LA or NYC area (And in Dishes case a few other places) That are "Floodlighted" and light up the entire map.

There is a slight extra charge.. But a HOME account does not qualify for "Distant Network Service" (DNS) (Even though they often give it to you) An RV account, however, Does.

Weather fade is a problem with Sat TV, no way around it but the bigger the antenna the stronger the antenna, A DOME is the smallest antenna there is. So you really want a good DISH and likely a manual (Ground mount) one since they can be set out away from the evil signal eating tree.


Now, the Wi-Fi Solution.. I have been in a couple campgrounds where that might work, Very small with very good Internet... But in general most parks are bandwidth starved and if you try streaming video, via Slingbox or Hulu or Net-TV or Rabbit... you are going to max out the bandwidth and make a bunch of folks rather unhappy when they find what you are doing.

Thanks for info. We have cable at home and DH doesn't want to change that. I am still learning all the internet, wifi, etc. I am still learning to use a Nokia smart phone. Just doing my homework so we can have a "hopefully" better trip next time. Luckily, neither of us is hooked on sports, but when the weather is bad I like to at least be able to connect to local stations to see what to expect.

Also, being retired and fixed incomes, we plan ahead, look to see if we find something on special to pick up so whatever we upgrade, won't upset the budget applecart. I am trying to also pay cash for the hardware and have the credit card available for the software/programming fees. Since I am old enough not to get on ladders (and heights upset the balance mechanism - get dizzy) I leave all that to someone else - which means again saving to pay for their labor.

We have had several long trips, but this years 2 months was the longest and most educational in many ways. If I have access to cable or internet, I am happy since I can still check weather on the computer. I have heard about Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, etc. and trying to educate myself on all the different ways people watch tv. I sometimes forget there are other stations besides the old 3 or 4 we have had other years and other places.

Will keep studying before buying. I know I will be totally lost in a store if I go in and ask questions since the salesman will say "goody, someone who doesn't know what she needs, let me give her twice what she needs." So that is why I had the questions. Just trying to understand how all this new fangled stuff works.

Thanks for the help.

cekkk wrote:
Our WiFi-in-campgrounds has been waaay too iffy to do what you are wanting. What's wrong with watching television using television signal providers? Just buy a Tailgater and 211K from Dish, have service turned off when you're not using it to save $ and get on with RVing!

Exactly...make the wife (and you) happy.