long road trip

[kallermi]

We are going on a long road trip an will be staying in a lot of campgrounds. My wife wants to use netflixs while we are in the camp grounds. In the past the wifi signals are very weak. Will a wifi hotspot work to make this possible. Has anyone solved this problem? All help or ideas welcome

[PilotEd]

We have Verizon unlimited data plan on a Samsung 5S that I use as a hot spot. I then use apple tv to access Netflix, HBO Go, or whatever is on apple tv. If that's not enough, I have a sling box on my cable box in my stick house, can watch anything that's on the cable at home. We stayed in FL for 4 weeks in Feb-Mar and used 100 Gig of data on my unlimited plan, just streaming. I'm sure glad I upgraded my phone and kept my unlimited data plan. I'm sure Verizon doesn't like it though. Sprint now has unlimited data, I think. Might want to check it out. Apple TV is only $100, we are never out of options for what to watch.

[kallermi]

I want to thank everyone for all their advice. Sorry for taking so long to get back to this post. Wife has cancer and with doctor appointments an chemo and trying to plan this last trip with her I've just been busy. Just know that your help has been a big help. From the bottom of my heart Thank you.

[fj12ryder]

And nary any kind of response to this thread either. A thank you, or some such is generally appreciated by responders.

[2oldman]

fj12ryder wrote:
NetflixsYou never responded to any of the suggestions on that thread.

:S

Good catch.

[rekoj71]

This is what I did and it can be complicated and expensive but for me it was happy wife, happy life. I fulltime and use T-Mobile and have a true unlimited data plan for her phone. It's a higher end smartphone that has an HDMI output on it. She connects the HDMI cable to the TV and then watches Netflix all she wants straight from the phone.

Now the problems....

T-Mobile coverage is decent close to cities but iffy in more rural areas so it may not be the first choice for most RVers. There might be other carriers that have an unlimited plan but usually they are not unlimited LTE (high speed). (Thankfully it hasn't been much of a problem for us as I need to be closer to cities for work, No contracts either so if it doesn't work, no loss).

May need to upgrade phone to a smart one that has a TV out or HDMI output. Even though most phones will tether all plans that I have found will only allow a small amount of data to be tethered so unlimited streaming won't work using the phone as a hot spot, only directly streamed from the phone itself.


If you already have some of the above it may not be a huge initial expense but for a shorter trip it probably isn't worth it.

I do like having the unlimited LTE for more than just streaming as I use it almost exclusively for our internet but I do most of my internet browsing on my phone, and only a few times have I been without coverage.

[MrWizard]

I try to return "redbox rentals" to the same location
they can only keep one or two copies of each movie per machine
when returned to a different location, you deprive people using that machine of the chance to rent the movie

[sdianel_-acct_c]

nope. sorry. We use Directv pay per view and DVD's. We also rent movies using the Red Box at many McDonalds and Walmart locations. You can rent them in one city and return them in another.

[cmcdar]

OOOps, sorry, I focused on the wifi part and not the netflix streaming.

I'm going to try the Karma as a fall back alternate internet access.

For entertainment we will have DVDs.

[catkins]

I agree with all comments thus far. Using a hotspot is not economically realistic. Movies simply use too much data.

We use Direct TV and others use Dish. You have access to lots of TV shows and movies. Not ideal but, is what most TV/movie addicts like me do....................

NO WAY will campground Wifi be useable but very rarely. Most are bad to start with and one person streaming can bring the entire system to a grinding halt.

Good luck!

[rk911]

kallermi wrote:
We are going on a long road trip an will be staying in a lot of campgrounds. My wife wants to use netflixs while we are in the camp grounds. In the past the wifi signals are very weak. Will a wifi hotspot work to make this possible. Has anyone solved this problem? All help or ideas welcome

yes, a hotspot will work but it will likely be expensive.

[fj12ryder]

You might check this thread in which you asked the same question: Netflixs

You never responded to any of the suggestions on that thread.

[MarkTwain]

kallermi wrote:
We are going on a long road trip an will be staying in a lot of campgrounds. My wife wants to use netflixs while we are in the camp grounds. In the past the wifi signals are very weak. Will a wifi hotspot work to make this possible. Has anyone solved this problem? All help or ideas welcome

1. Depending on RV parks for Wi will leave you disappointed and frustrated:(
2. When I snow bird for 4 months in Ariz. I just call Dish and have them set up your stand alone Dish ( I do it with a meter on my own). Your ready to watch netflixs.
3. As a back up I use my Dish receiver at home and record a bunch of movies on CD's to carry with me. When I am only staying a few days 1-2 while on the road, and I don't want to set up my remote dish, I just pull out one of recorded movies:)
4. when I snow bird for 4 months, I call Dish and have them set up a router for my computer for a few bucks a month. Many RV parks have WiFi but it's range is very limited and usually to you have to go to their club house. You can use satellite for a connection for your computer but check your data package plan or you can use all your data plan and end up with a extra charge.

[MrWizard]

Can you stream movies to the pc using a hotspot...
Yes..
But it can use a lot of data, and cost quite a bit of money
In many cases it would be cheaper to buy the dvd
The data plans being offered by carriers is just not enough data to travel and stream movies for enjoyment

At one time several years ago, providers offered unlimited data plans on phones, Verizon dropped offering theirs in around 2010

That or an 80gb plan is about the only way to truly be able to stream movies
you might get by with a 40 gb data plan, if you can find one you are willing to pay for
A low Res SD movie is about 500mb aka 1/2 gig
An HD movie is easily 1 gb or more per hour
Watch a couple hours of hi Def and your typical monthly data allotment is All used up

[Tom_N]

If she wants to watch NetFlix movies this is what I would do.

Load up a couple USB drives with movies before leaving home.