SATELLITES DISHES AND INTERNET CONNECTION

[bsoshea]

We will be fulltime RV'ers by the end of this year and are looking into satellite dishes and internet connection for our 5th wheel. We know we won't need service for t.v. while on the move because we have a 5th wheel, but once we reach our destination we'll want it. Do any of you have information/suggestions you can offer us in regards to the best types of satellites and the best service companies there are available to fulltime rv'ers? Also we are wondering about internet service and whether or not it can be optained through a satellite service provider?

Any info while be helpful.

Thanks.

[wa8yxm]

Sat TV: your choices in the US are Dish, DirecTV (non-HD) and DirecHDTV

Antennas come in 5 types. Rooftop Mounted In-Motion (DOme) and stationary Dome (Why?) Rooftop Dish, Protable Dome and portable Dish.

DOME antennas work 100% with DirecTV (non-HD) do not work for DirecHDTV as far as I know. Does not matter if stationary, in-motion or portable.

DISH antennas, you get the dish that matches your service, and it works, 100%

Dishnet: Both HD and non-HD, uses multiple satellites (3 for HD 2 otherwise out of a total of six or seven). Now the problem.

With a dish type antenna. they work, period.

With a dome type (Again stationary, in-motion or portable) a VIP-211k, for example, will work provided the dome is able to accept "Change Satellite" commands from the receiver (The Dish Tailgater is specifically designed to mate with the 211K)

Multi-input DVR's however. or Multiple receivers.. Do not play nice with Domes on Dish.. Even if the dome is a "Dual" (Able to feed two receivers at the same time) as if you wish two shows, not on the same satellite, there is a conflict.

With a dish type antenna, no conflict since the 1000.x dish sees all 3 birds at once.


Finally Rooftop or "portable" Rooftop antennas are nice, you park, push a button and instant TV.. UNLESS YOU ARE PARKED UNDER THE EVIL SIGNAL EATING TREE (I phrase I coined based on the Evil Kite eating tree of Peanuts comis strip, and which I'm starting to see others use.. Thank you others).

So if you have a roof mount, also get a portable, and put an A/B switch in the LNB lead to the recever,, A goes to the roof mount up Above.. B goes to a connector down Below, either a Bulkhead (Through wall) connector, or a ground Block in the Basement or in my case a dual ground Block on the Brake Bell crank Bracket.


Beyond that it is all packages and price, and I can not advise you there.. I want to get just network and perhaps one or two "Cable/Sat" channels but alas, they make me buy like 40 stations, 35 of which I could care less about .. This is a rip off.

Consider Over the air TV, Most of the time I have over 2 dozen stations including all the ones I want. No problem.

[Bill_Satellite]

CA Traveler wrote:
We use our home DTV H24 receiver which can record 2 stations. Combined with a RF Mogul dish for the RV. All HD. The Verizon Jetpack takes care of our internet needs.

You must have an HR24 as the H24 is not a DVR.

[CA_Traveler]

We use our home DTV H24 receiver which can record 2 stations. Combined with a RF Mogul dish for the RV. All HD. The Verizon Jetpack takes care of our internet needs.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

DirecTV and Verizon Mi-Fi is what we have.

[cekkk]

I agree that satellite internet is not the easiest route.

As for TV reception, Dish will lease its 211 receiver for 7 or $8 a month which you attach to a $350 Tailgater (you purchase it from a retailer) with the 50' of included RG6 coax. Set it on the ground on the south side, and in a few minutes you have all the HD and SD stations included in whatever DISH package you select. The Tailgater is powered by the coax. If you want the local stations for the area in which you are parked, you call DISH, give them an address of your location, and in a few minutes you have the locals. No charge.

I run the coax directly into our trailer and leave it hooked up to the 211, so all I have to do is take the Tailgater outside and attach the coax. That take less than five minutes, unless the guy next to me comes over and starts asking what that thing is.

In our case, when we leave I bring in the Tailgater and put it and the receiver on the bed for safe travel, as the receiver sits on the shelf at the end of the bed when in use. So there is only the one coax end to monkey with each time we park or leave.

I struggled with the increasingly difficult aiming process of satellite dishes over the years and find this system neater than the microwave when it first came out.

[Bill_Satellite]

Satellite internet service is not terribly expensive if you don't mind doing the setup work yourself. Service is available from Hughesnet and Starband. A tripod setup can be obtained used for a few hundred dollars and service cost $50 to $80/month. It's not nearly as fast as cellular service but it works in US, Canada and Mexico as long as you have a clear view of the S. sky.
Cellular service (and some fill in WiFi connections when they are free and available) is a very good choice as well (and what I use as a full-timer) as long as you think you will not spend too much time in the middle of nowhere.
TV is still best received via one of the satellite services as any new cellular connection will be limited and TV programming just eats up too much bandwidth to be affordable unless you only watch a couple of hours of TV per day and don't want to watch any movies, don't care about HD and don't need to watch the evening news.
If you do go with satellite TV then you will need an antenna to receive these signals and there are 2 styles. The dome antennas, either roof mounted or portable. The domes all have some sort of limitation but work very well. The other is a standard Dish or DirecTV antenna as you would see on a home. These antennas are available as fully automatic roof mounted units or they can be mounted on a tripod and manually pointed at each new location. These antennas have no limitations and allow you to use any receiver type, multiple receivers and HDTV from either provider.
So there's the short version. Let us know more about what you would like to do in your RV and we can get you some additional details.

[the_bear_II]

For internet access the satellite service and equipment is expensive. Many of the RV'ers who have had satellite internet service for many years now say they would use an air card, WiFi and cellphone tether rather than go to the expense of setting up the Satelite internet service.

For internet access we use the following combination.... If the RV Park has WiFi we sign up for the WiFi. If no WiFi we tether to our cellphones.

We have used aircards in the past and would probably have them now if we travelled more. All of the RV Parks we currently go to have WiFi.

We do have Dish satellite service for TV and have been very happy with it. However, it's getting to the point where I'm not sure we will even need it. With internet service and using online services like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and Vudu plus websites for the shows we like you can get just about any movie or TV show over the internet. It's less expensive than Dish but takes some extra work to find what you want to watch.

[donn0128]

If you want satellite internet you will need lots of expensive equipment and a rather large dish.
If you want satellite TV you'll need some equipment, either mostly free through the provider or bought at places like best buy plus an antenna and tripod for a couple hundred dollars.
Most people rely on cell technology for their internet service.
There are lots and lots of posts on both subjects, just use the search function at the top of your screen.
BTW you have posted this in the wrong section. I have asked the moderator to move it to the correct place.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[enblethen]

We have and like our Winegard portable Carry-out. We use a receiver that we take from the house. We have Direct TV non HD. Works good for us.
We us Verizon USB air card plugged into a Cradle Point router CTR 95. We have a true unlimited usage on the air card. Newer ones have usage limitations.