Internet and TV access

Thanks everyone for your information and advice.
It is a bit complicated, but at least now I know what my options are, and will now just need to do some specific research getting prices, etc.
Thanks very much,
Wade

Wade,

Realistically, you will need either OTA antenna, Satellite Dish or both for TV on the road. You will then need either Upgraded WIFI booster system on your RV (to increase the odds of grabbing a signal from the park), a MIFI card from a wireless carrier, or satellite service(pricey and somewhat unreliable).Possibly a combination of them.

Info on OTA (Free) TV

Info on Satellite TV

Info on RV internet options

Info on WIFI Ranger (WIFI booster system)

I wish it was simple but its anything but!

We upgraded a Winegard Dome to a Winegard HD Trav'ler to use DirecTV DVR's. One of the first things we do in setting up is hit on the ON button and have it do it's search. If we're undercover of trees, then we can easily watch what we've previously recorded. If we're staying longer, we use a free standing dish.

Since you want "Parked and traveling" I will limit to traveling (What works while traveling also works when parked).

TV you have three options, I will give the US options.

First: Over The Air, which is what I use.. Some times it does not work well, sometimes it's great. The major advantage is .. it is free (or nearly so)

I upgraded the antenna on this Motor home as follows.
1: Factory installed a Winegard Sensar II (the most common RV antenna).
2: I added the "Wingman" which just about doubles signal strength on an "on axis" UHF station (not much effect on VHF) ("On-Axis" means I'm pointed toward it).
3: I added the SENSAR PRO indoor module This makes it way easier to point the antenna, plus it includes a variable gain amplifier that improves things even more.

Result.. Basic Sensar 2 where I am now 1 station, wingman about 3, Sensar pro... About 8 and over 25 "Services"

Station (the numnber in prens is the broadcast channel, other numnber is display

2 (2) 7(41) 4 (45) and so on
Services, 2-1, 2-2, 4-1, 4-2. 7-1, 7-2, 7-3.

You do not need to know the number in prens (Well you do for aiming) because your television or digital TV converter will discover them for you and tell you what they are. As long as it's not a Vizo.

I should point out all the really good shows from the 60's 70's earlier and slightly later are on Tier 2 for the most part (N-2)

Your next two options for TV are: DISHnetwork or DirecTV (DirecHDTV) Many threads on Satellite TV, which is best.. My recommendation is to look at the packages and price, pick the service you want and then post here before ordering for further information.

INTERNET: Two choices

2-way satellit internet, Kind of slow, plus a long delay between click and response.. But nearly 100% coverage nation wide.

Cellular internet (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, Virgin and a host of others) the first 4 are service proviers, Virgin (And the host) generally use one of them to provide service.

Speed varies, where I am now 2-way sat is way better (Dialup is better) as the phone says "G" That's Generation 1 folks about 28K if I'm lucky.

A few miles away (When I go to church) it says 4-G, That is Greased lightening What takes me hours here in the park on 2-way Sat took 45 minutes. And I was downloading a video at the same time.

The moral of this is coverage varies depending on where you are. Verizon is supposed to have the best high speed coverage. but some places I've been I had high speed (T-mobile) and they did not.

Best suggestion here is two accounts. one a "pay as you go" where you can put 10 or 20 dollars into it if you need, The other your "Regular" service.

If you plan to keep your stick and bricks home have the cable replaced with DirecTV, then when you travel take a receiver or two with you.

For internet, we originally had a Verizon aircard that we plugged into the USB port of our computer. As I recall it was $50 per month for 5Gb of service.

Last year we got a great deal on a Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone. So we dropped the aircard and went with a voice, text and data package from Verizon. The voice and text are unlimited and the data is 4GGb per month. We use the "teathering" option and connect the smartphone to the computer via USB port. It works great. We can talk on the phone and use the computer at the same time if we need to.

Check with Direct TV or Dish TV for your satellite TV service. Either can fix you up. Check with Verizon (or some other cell carrier) for your phone and internet service. Either can fix you up.