So you work from your RV. What's your Web connectivity strategy?

[ganchan]

When I begin full-timing on the road as a freelance writer, I'll need to be able to use the Web fairly freely -- and frankly, the occasional streaming movie would be welcome too.  I can use local business' Wi-Fi for my work during the day, but I'd better have a mobile hot spot ready to go at night and/or in the boondocks. I was hoping to get an unlimited data plan through Verizon, but it looks like they stopped offering it....

If you work from your RV, what do you do to ensure online access?

 

[herekittykitty]

Go to Technomadia.com.

 

[Wigpro]

I do photography and web and graphic design and I have a 20 GB data plan through Verizon with my jetpack Hot Spot, it works fine for internet, email and transferring files, but I don't use it to stream movies or anything, mainly because it is a data hog and I really am not interested in most movies - I have Dish Network over Sat for the TV and find that is sufficient. Any movies I want to see I find there!

20 GB seems to be fine for what I do and i am online most everyday for a fair part of the day!

Good Luck - BTW Verizon coverage is the best, had an ATT IPhone for a while and it could never connect, so bad I forwarded it to my dumb flip phone through Verizon and after a year dropped the ATT Phone!

Jim

 

[docj]

We are lucky enough to have a grandfathered Verizon data plan and we do use it for all the things you mention.  If we didn't have it, I would still probably invest in as large a data plan as I could afford.  It's getting to the point where I would consider not having satellite TV and just using streaming for my TV watching.  We could probably get by with ~70-80GB of data/mo and still do quite a bit of streaming.

 

[Rstrahan]

Our phone has a built-in hotspot if needed.  Alternately, you can get a hotspot at the electronic stores, about $40 a month.

 

[docj]

Our phone has a built-in hotspot if needed.  Alternately, you can get a hotspot at the electronic stores, about $40 a month.

Not to be picky, but your phone doesn't have a "built-in hotspot".  What you are doing is running an app that turns the phone into a hotspot.  All Android phones (and iPhones, also) can become hotspots if they run the necessary apps.

 

[John From Detroit]

Here are your options and a bit about them

Park Wi-Fi... This is for the enjoyment of the park guests, NOT the EMPLOYMENT of them, please do not use park wi-fi for commercial use..  Generally limited bandwidth and this can lead to frustration, also not all parks offer it.

HughesNet or other 2-way Sat provider.. Expensive to set up, works nearly everywhere (Generally if it does not work a simple change of site within the CG is enough to get it working) basic Hughesnet is low speed and limited bandwidth, Gen-4 is not compatible with RV life (but is faster) Exceed is like Hughes Gen-4 (Basicaly identical).

Cellular:  NO cellular company has 100% coverage, (Verizon has the best coverage but... I have been to places they are not).
There are generally bandwidth limits, streaming videos can slam up against the wall on those.. There are overage charges on most plans.

That said T-Mobile offers unlimited plan,, the catch is only the first so much (you decide) is "high Speed" (Streaming video quality), the rest is throttled (I get 7 Gig) and they just started a data-stash (10 Gig) which is basically Rollover bytes,, If I only use say 3 Gig this month (I am mostly on park/other Wi-Fi) the remaing 4 Gig rolls over,, Stashed for up to a year.  You use your Stash first so you roll over fresh bytes nearly every month (Less you max out).

And finally there is McDonalds et-al, but you already know about them

I've done the library trip a few times too.