New to the RV life--recommendations for TV/Internet?

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3dogmom

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Posts
5
Location
Connecticut
Just bought a 5th wheel (2005 Sunny Brook Titan 28') and will be living in it for several months at a campground in northeastern Connecticut. I will need Internet, and would like to have TV. I have Roku, but would like to be able to watch live programming, especially during the Olympics. Not an absolute necessity, however. I would appreciate recommendations for how to accomplish TV and Internet for someone who is technically challenged, and budget-constrained. Thanks.
 
A little more information about the year of your RV, the make and model, and where you will be camped will all help you get better answers to your questions.  Welcome!
 
For the technically challenged and budget constrained, choosing a park with cable tv and wifi is the best answer. [Really! I'm not being a smart-ass]. Use of a plain old rooftop tv antenna is also a simple and cost effective method for tv, but how well it works depends on the location. Satellite is an option for tv too (as long as you are not parked under trees), but not cheap either.

There are no inexpensive solutions for your own internet. Cellular internet service in the USA is pricey, especially if you want to stream large amounts of data. And at best it is probably only marginally adequate for streaming to your Roku.  $50-$100 per month are common costs.

There are articles in the RVForum Library about obtaining internet and tv "on the road".
 
Howdy.

Gary RV Roamer said:
There are no inexpensive solutions for your own internet. Cellular internet service in the USA is pricey, especially if you want to stream large amounts of data. And at best it is probably only marginally adequate for streaming to your Roku.  $50-$100 per month are common costs.

One option for the OP would be to get a T-Mobile cell phone plan with the "Binge On" feature, plus a Netflix on Amazon Prime (which includes video) subscription: I've no direct experience with it, but I've read it allows to stream video with no additional data charges.

Cheers,
--
  Vall.
 
It all depends on how critical it is for you to have reliable internet connectivity.  As the multitude of threads on the forum suggest - park supplied Wifi can be pretty unreliable for a variety of reasons.  IMHO, the most reliable internet connectivity available is via a cellular connection.  Over course this is both expensive (you're almost certain to be on a metered data plan) ... and highly dependent on which service provider you choose to go with.  Selecting a cellular provider is not an easy task - the "best deals" (i.e., cheapest plans) tend to be offered by providers who have limited network coverage.  The providers who seem to offer the best network coverage - are rarely cheap.  You really have to know what providers service the areas you plan to be in.    I work my day job from my coach - via a VPN connection over a cellular internet link (cell service thru Verizon).  I have yet to find myself in a campground that I couldn't get service (note that I'm using a Cradlepoint router in combination with a Weboost Drive 4G-X signal booster).  I typically burn through 20-30 GB of data per month at a cost of $100-$150 per month.  It's the price I pay to be able to travel AND work. 

To me, TV is a little easier to deal with (although it's not cheap either).  Given the costs associated with streaming data - we don't bother with any "internet" based TV technologies.  Instead, we chose to go with DirecTV ... installed the dish and "box" ... and pay the monthly bill.  We went with an HD-DVR for our "box" - which we try to keep loaded with "current" shows/movies/content we're interested in watching - so that we've got stuff to watch when we're parked in places that are not "satellite friendly" (i.e., too many trees to get a good signal).  Again - it's not the cheapest way to get TV ... but, it does seems to be the most reliable.
 
3dogmom said:
Just bought a 5th wheel (2005 Sunny Brook Titan 28') and will be living in it for several months at a campground in northeastern Connecticut.

If the campground has cable TV, you might be able to get Internet access using a cable modem -- especially since you're staying several months.

For example, I've work camped several months at a campground that has SuddenLink cable TV. It turned out that they also offer Internet access for about $50/month (50 Mbps with 250GB/month data limit). They even supply the cable modem.
 
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