Advice on Best Type of Internet

[bsteinagel]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post on the forum. I am in the beginning stages of exploring RV living. I am fortunate to have a job in the healthcare industry that is 100% work from home. This requires that I have RELIABLE internet at all times. I am currently exploring satellite internet options. StarLink is very intriguing, although currently not available where I'm at in southern Arizona, although that will change in the future. My plan is to spend winters in AZ while spending the summers in WI so having an internet option that is flexible with location is a must. I've heard that satellite internet only works in certain regions--if you travel outside of your region your equipment won't work anymore. Can anyone confirm this?

Also:
If any of you have satellite internet, how reliable is it in overcast/rainy weather?

If satellite isn't the best option, what would be a better alternative?

I'm curious to hear others' experiences with internet and what works best for them. Thank you in advance for your time!

Brad

[Dutch_12078]

Starlink has just introduced a "roaming service" option that lets you move from place to place for an extra $25/mo with no caps. That makes the monthly fee $135 plus the $599 initial equipment fee. The roaming service is only for stationary use though, not mobile use.

[theoldwizard1]

Satellite internet IS THE FUTURE and for some lucky individuals it is here now. It is not as reliable as a landline.

• If you have a fixed base in AZ and in Wi then a cell phone to internet/WiFi/HotSpot may be your best option.

• You must be in a place that has strong reliable 4G phone reception.
Large quantities of data (many Zoom calls, streaming television, movies) can make your monthly bill quite costly. If you are in an area with absolutely no cell service, it is game over.

• There are many different hardware options. Pick a product that has external antennas as good antennas mounted as high as possible will give the best, most reliable signal.

• There are many different service plan options. All (?) have SOME restriction/limit. You are typically better to go through a third party Mobile Virtual Network Operator. They buy large "chunks" of network from the Big Three (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) at huge discounts, repackage it and resell it.

One example is Nomad Internet. Not cheap, but it is month by month so there is no contract. Read some reviews. I believe the are currently offering service on T-Mobile.

If this sounds difficult, it is meant to be that way. They do NOT want knowledgeable customers. Buckle up, read up. It will be a long bumpy journey

[Gdetrailer]

Satellite suffers from "rain fade", heavy rains will cause interruptions. Overcast skies shouldn't bother it though. Too early to tell with Starlink since it is only available in limited areas but I suspect it too will suffer some outages from heavy rains.

Conventional sats in order to appear stationary are in a geosynchronous orbit which is around 22,000 miles above the earth. This distance creates a time lag problem called "latency".. If you need to use the internet connection for things like Zoom meetings or VoIP phone calls the high latency make make that unusable for you.

Not to mention sat internet is very expensive for the speed and data limits you get. Hughes net has Plan starting at $70 per month with 20GB data limit, 25Mbps speed and a contract of 24 months.. They throttle your speed when you exceed your data limit to 1-3 Mbps

Compare that to a cable Internet like I have which offers 200 Mbps speeds, 2TB data caps, no contract and costs me $80 per month.

Since you need 100% uptime, hard wired cable internet (copper or fiber) is generally your best choice, followed by cellphone services and sat, last.. Heck just last night I lost my sat TV for several hrs during a heavy rain storm..

If you are shopping for cell internet, don't go by the cell companies marketing maps, they are not 100% true and often shows more coverage than there really is.. You can search for cell towers maps, those maps will show you the locations of the cell towers near you and often will have overlays which will show the service coverage of the towers..