Our company got bought out and our local office will be closing at the end of the year. Thankfully my services are still needed and instead of being asked to relocate, I can work from home. Big relief as I will be 58 this Dec and looking for another job ain't exactly what I want to do at this age. Before the acquistions, my four year plan was to retire in Dec 2020 at 62 and hit the road for a year or so. I'm a single Joe, so no one else to please but myself. Figured I'd buy a used Tradesman Ram 1 ton, put at pop-up camper on it and head out. Maybe tour around for a year or whatever and if I want to come back to Northwest Arkansas so be it. Get a part-time job maybe. Anyway, as I'm getting ready to work from home, I'm thinking it really doesn't matter where I live so long as I have access to the internet to do my work. Don't have the finances now for the Ram/Pop-up setup, but I do have a 2002 Silverado 1500 ext cab. I have spent hours and hours researching truck campers, so I know the 1500 is next to useless for a truck camper. But I figure why wait four years to start doing some traveling. I could buy a small inexpensive travel trailer and at least make some trips to a few National Parks with vacation time. And if I could arrange an internet connection, I would not have to scurry back home to work. Maybe stay a week or so. Coming here for sage advice from ones that may have traveled a similar road. Is the travel trailer a good option for now? I don't figure on camping out in the boonies for now, so is getting internet connections in National Parks an issue? I don't think I would want to invest in the satellite systems I've read about that can cost in the 5k range. Just looking for a temporary setup that will let me put my toe in the water for traveling and camping without waiting four years to do it. This work from home situation has my head swirling with ideas, just need some direction. Thanks.

Many National Parks have little or no internet or cell phone service.IMHO you would do best by planning to stay in a nearby town, or commercial campground, that at least has a good cell signal, and use your cell phone data. You will have to figure out how much you need and if you can afford the cell phone data. (Figure that into your cost of travel.) Sometimes campground wifi is OK but it is not usually secure,and often very slow or weak. In a town, you can often also find free wi-fi to work from, using your equipment, at places like a public library it is sometimes pretty fast.In your shoes I would look for a small trailer with a floor plan that suits you. You don't mention if your truck is set up for towing. Even with a light trailer you will need a hitch receiver, transmission cooler, and brake controller, plus a hitch with weight distribution and sway control.

Getting a good internet connection anywhere is iffy. I would look for an RV park where you can get a cable modem into your RV. I also work remotely and I found a park that has cable. If the park has cable, check to see if the cable company can put a cable modem in your rig using the cable connection at the site.

ncrowley wrote:Getting a good internet connection anywhere is iffy. I would look for an RV park where you can get a cable modem into your RV. I also work remotely and I found a park that has cable. If the park has cable, check to see if the cable company can put a cable modem in your rig using the cable connection at the site.Wouldn't this strategy only work if he went to the same park over and over? Traveling all around to different parks, won't this plan not work?

Yes, my Silverado has the towing package, so it has the transmission cooler, brake control and 8-wire harness. It does have 198k miles, that give me some concern about breaking down but I guess I can't sit home and not go just because something might happen. My manual says with a 5300 V8 and 3.73 axle, my Max Trailer Wt is 8,100 lbs. So a small TT should not be an issue.

You should check with your company first. Most work-from-home employees are required to have a dedicated internet access and are not allowed to use WiFi.

Going to be working from home! | Good Sam Community

WA4HTZ
Explorer
Oct 08, 2016
breeves2245 take 2gypies (I think it was) advice and go to Technomadia's web site. They are doing what you want to, although they are working for themselves, and specialize in keeping track of cellular plans and equipment for boosting a cellular signal. They have also written a cellular coverage app which covers Verizon, ATT, and maybe Sprint and a few others.

If your internet usage is mainly text-based, you will not use all that much data each month. However, if you are uploading and downloading something like Power Point presentations, you will go through a bunch of bytes real quick. Only you can estimate what your usage will be.
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Oct 08, 2016
If he wants to keep his job until he retires, he better find out what the companies requirements are. We are full-time and I have checked on positions working from home and ALL that I checked on required a dedicated line for the internet. I could not use our Mifi/Wifi.
wannavolunteerF
Explorer
Oct 07, 2016
OP, most people got into the technicalities of working via internet connectivity, and I am not going to go into that, but I will talk about your truck and trailer idea.

I am single and have an F150 extended cab with 8600lb tow rating.. I have a TT that has 24 ft box, total length of 28, that weight empty is 5200 and total weight capacity is 7000lb. I tow with a WD hitch and friction sway bar and have had no issues.

Size is great for one person.. I could live in it long term or full time if I needed. Sofa isn't most comfortable, but other than in the evenings, I don't sit on sofa much.. I can sit sideways in dinette and prop my feet or sit at table to use laptop or for other work/tasks. My TT was bought new, and may be more than you want to spend, but you can find a used one for a lot less. Not a lot of difficult/expensive maintenance if you are somewhat handy. As I am now old enough, that I am not as comfortable balancing on top of ladder or crawling on ground under, I find I can hire a fairly competent young person to help with my directions. I just last night had a young man help me replace my backup camera. He did the ladder climbing balance act to get the screws in straight, while I provide tools, cold water and guidance. Although it took us nearly two hours, I paid him half the shop rate for one hour. He was happy to have a little cash, I was happy to get it done for less, plus we did it where the trailer sits, so I saved the time of going to and from dealer.
dcason
Explorer
Sep 29, 2016
I know nothing about the technology part of this but it is workable...many do it.

Why not use your vehicle just to take off in and camp...portable toilet (maybe), mattress or memory foam and a cooler. Don't wait years to have some fun...get on the road now.

Research your options for the technology and don't buy any vehicles now...go have some adventures.
Effy
Explorer II
Sep 27, 2016
I work 100% remote was in the same predicament. When we lived in MD cable was not an option. That is the ideal method though but for a fill time rv'er it's not practical - unless you have a 4,000 mile long cable. Satellite was very expensive, not portable and the latency was unacceptable. You do not want to be reliant on a campground or anyone else for that matter with respect to internet connectivity. Not only is CG wifi woefully inadequate they will throttle you back so it really won't work very well and if it goes down you are out of business. You need to be self sufficient, reliable and portable. I used a Verizon Mifi/jetpack and had an account that had about 20GB of data allowance. Preferably 4G. There are no issues with respect to company being on Wifi that have ever heard. I work for a very large bank and use a dual encrypted VPN. Trust me, wifi is not an issue. You will churn through data though and you need to be in a location with fairly decent signal. But the jetpack is very small, very reliable albeit pricey.
allen8106
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
ncrowley wrote:
check to see if the cable company can put a cable modem in your rig using the cable connection at the site.

you can also buy your own cable modem. Many are compatible with multiple cable systems.
DallasSteve
Nomad
Sep 27, 2016
breeves2245 wrote:
Before the acquistions, my four year plan was to retire in Dec 2020 at 62 and hit the road for a year or so.

For me retiring in December is the worst choice. I plan to retire in the April to June range because the last year it puts me in a lower tax bracket - I'll pay less taxes, like Donald Trump.
G7ARYM
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
For 7 years I worked from home and the motorhome starting 12 years ago so some of the connections may have improved. So I took nothing sensitive from my computer on the road I connected the laptop on the road via a Mellenicom air card using GoToMyPc and had my 800 number ring to my cell phone. I called on customers if I was in their area as it did not matter if I was in a corn field in Kansas, a casino parking lot or a winery somewhere. It made no difference to my customers and a few of them wound up going full time after seeing what I had going. Go for it and the tax benefits were a big help also. I stopped working 5 years ago and the rig is still going great.
ramgunner
Explorer
Sep 26, 2016
We have an Asus RT-AC66U router that all of our internal systems (Roku, Apple TV, computers, etc.) connect to. It can connect to the Internet using either an Ethernet connection from an external modem, or a USB connection from an Android Phone or other wireless broadband device.

We have three different modems that we can connect to that router for external internet access -

DOCSIS3 Cable Modem (Ethernet output)
ADSL2+ DSL Modem (Ethernet output)
T-Mobile Z-917 w/22GB/month high-speed then reduced speed unlimited (USB output)

We can also connect our two Android phones to it, which have 7GB of high-speed data tethering.

http://rvgunner.com/rvintnet.htm
mgirardo
Explorer
Sep 26, 2016
I am an in dependent web site developer. I work out of our home or our motorhome or a hotel or family members' homes, etc. With my Motorola Droid Turbo on Verizon, I can use my phone as a WiFi hotspot. When doing that long term, I generally use about 6 GB/month of data. On the East Coast, Verizon is pretty reliable and has had good service every where we camp. So if the campground we are at doesn't have WiFi, I can use the phone.

Our seasonal campsite offers free WiFi. I have a ubiquiti nanostation loco m2 that amplifies their signal and allows me to use my own WiFi router in the camper. My router keeps stats on my usage. This summer, I used an average of 6.5 GB/month. The campground owners are aware of my setup and they are fine with my usage.

We have done what ncrowley has mentioned, using a cable modem. We've only done this at Fort Wilderness in Disney, but I'm sure there are other campgrounds that allow it. Fort Wilderness actually provides you with a Cable Modem (again, we bring our own router) if you ask for it.

-Michael