Broadband Internet Services

[GreenSalsa]

Just a quick question. I used to be a full timer and used an air card to provide our family with the internet services we needed. Typically that handled our needs for about 65-70% of the time. Today our demand for the internet has grown. I am thinking about getting a satellite service and then broadcasting the signal through a router--does anyone else do this?

I am trading out my signature rig for a Class A rig in 6-8 months, should I be looking for a satellite dish on the rig? Which services or equipment do you recommend?

[2oldman]

That's 3 quick questions.

[ricklord2001]

Millenicom is Verizon service but cheaper monthly rate and no contract you can turn it off and on you do have to purchase the wifi unit for like $100

[hitchup]

Just like a Satellite Dish has rain fade, we had the same problem with our Hughes.net which we got back in 2005. Too many trees and we'd have to get longer and longer RG6 cable to move the dish free of trees. Then we had problems with weed eaters cutting into the cable.

We finally got fed up and switched to a USB and Cradlepoint after 3 years. Then we updated to the Millenicom earlier this year. Couldn't be happier.

[wandering1]

Why not get a hot spot and plug that into a wireless router?

[sdianel_-acct_c]

Verizon Mi-Fi. Connect up to 10 items. We've used it all over the US and no complaints.

[Alfred622]

For surfing the internet a cellular hot-spot is better than the Sat services due to speed. I've been able to get cellular services in most all of the places we've camped - I use Verizon network, a Verizon MiFi hotspot, and - when needed - a cellular antenna on top of a 35' pole strapped to the back of the RV (only when camping, of course). This almost always delivers a signal. I've been skunked in the deep woods of Northern Minnesota up by Zipple Bay (that little "hat" on the top of a Minnesota Map buy the Lake of the Woods).

Oh, that is another thing, I think the Satellite technique requires a clear line-of-site to the appropriate satellite. I'm not sure you can always see that depending upon your latitude, tree cover, hills/mountains, etc.

Recommend: a MiFi (make sure it has a plug-in for an external antenna) on a network with wide coverage (ie, Verizon).

[ricklord2001]

we are getting ready to go fulltiming at the end of Dec. While I don't have direct experience with multiple companies. All the research I've done and people I've talk to that had it, says/said Millenicom hotspot service is the best. We got it and are using it at home while we still have the cable internet back up. It's been working well so far a few hiccups just recently we had to call there tech support and uncheck something because a lot of websites wouldn't come up.
The problem I hear with the Sat services is the low data amount they give you which you can burn through pretty quick then the problems/expenses start to pile up.

[Bill_Satellite]

The satellite service is going to be very slow compared to anything that you have ever done with cellular. Cellular speeds generally run 1-5MB up and 5-15MB down (3G vs 4G) while satellite internet speeds generally run 0.1MB up and 1MB down. That combined with the high latency (delay) caused by the distance a satellite signal must travel (22,300 miles x 4 for a complete round trip) makes satellite a poor choice unless nothing else of any kind is available.
It's also quite expensive as far as start up costs and the monthly services start around $70-$80/month. You can also forget about any of the "high speed" satellite currently being offered as those services are provided on a KA spot-beamed frequency and it NOT mobile.
That only leaves the old Hughesnet HN7000S service or Starband as a mobile choice.