Streaming Internet

BlackCat

New Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2023
Posts
8
Location
Sequim
Hi everyone. We're new to RVing.
Streaming and Internet, what do you need to get this service on the road and campsite.

Wondering what the most economical why to do this. Can you buy the device and get service without monthly payments? What is the best for the money?
We have Ruku TV and T-Mobile cell.
 
The lowest cost way for us is to use our cell phone as a hotspot. Otherwise we just connect to the cable provided at the sites where we stay. We have an OTA antenna as well and find it does a reasonable job when Cell or cable are not available.

Enjoy and all the best.
 
We have ‘T-Mobile’s 5G whole house’ box. We have unlimited data and pay $50/mo. We can roam with this plan.. BUT I think I read somewhere that they no longer offer that box with roaming, so talk to them about.

That’s my phone that’s on T-Mobile.. Laura’s is on Verizon, who advertise a whole house box.. I have no details.

If neither of those work for you, StarLink seems a popular choice.. You need to decide how critical your web access is. If you go with a cell plan and find yourself someplace without signal, can you be ok? StarLink is pricier, but more universally available (provided a clear view to the sky).
 
We've been using the hotspot mode on a Visible (Verizon) $30/mo unlimited talk, text, and data phone for a couple of years now with good success. We also have a grandfathered AT&T hotspot unlimited data service at $23.50/mo, but that plan is no longer available. Between the two, we've had coverage everywhere we've been, often with both.
 
As long as you have good cellular data service, a hotspot is the way to go. Depending on your carrier, your phone may already be a capable, high data hotspot. Check your carrier for updated plans and see if that might work. But realize that not everywhere you go will have good cell service. Depending on your travel preferences, you might need to get a Starlink system. We are forced into it if we want internet in places like Death Valley (at least a week every year, usually two) or in many of the places in the Bighorn National Forest or similar places.
 
Just a note supporting hotspots: We've had good success using the built-in hotspots on our Motorola Android phones with Consumer Cellular service -- can connect up to five devices.
 
One thing is certain, you cannot depend on a campground WIFI for your internet needs or streaming television even if the campground offers WIFI service. Why? Because the bandwidth is always questionable with many others connecting to the same service, and it seems to always fail or lag or go slow when you need it the most.

Being self-sufficient is the way to go. If you boon-dock (especially in the Western States), Starlink is the way to go when you are isolated from civilization (at least, out of range of a cell tower). If you are primarily a campground person, then most of the time you will have cell phone service. And if you have cell phone service, then your phone's wifi-hot spot is probably the best arrangement there.

Now, phone wifi-hot spot plans cost all over the charts too. As others have pointed out (above in the posts), T-mobile, Visible, AT&T, Verizon are probably your best options, especially if you already have one of these plans.

For us, we have 2 AT&T phones we can use with "unlimited" data on both. We've never been throttled. And then we have "Visible" on a dedicated ZTE $79 (one time cost) phone that is used ONLY for the Hot Spot, and we never use the phone, text, or anything else. It just sits there, like a modem and then we have a router hard wired plugged into the phone.

The router sends out a wifi signal and multiple devices can use the router's wifi signal at the same time.

We use a small router ($19 one time cost) plugged into the ZTE cell phone and Visible monthly plan is $40. That's it. We can easily run 2 streaming ROKU television, 3 computers (attached to work, including Skype and Teams meeting at the same time) and an I-pad, all at the same time, working flawless. AND never throttled. Visible is truly unlimited. And the portable "router" has a range of over 300 feet, enough we can have the phone and router set up in the camper and still have good wifi service in our house. In fact, it worked so well, we let our neighbors in their house tap into it when they had problems with their internet service.

Since our initial cost was $40 a month (and can be stopped at any time and restarted at any time) we are still at the $40 level after 5 years now. And the nice thing about Visible is, it is not dependent upon identify your current location. If you get phone service, you are "in."

It's funny though, because Prime and Roku and Tubi and some of the other stations have commercials on their programming. This last year, when in Indiana, we got political candidate vote-for-me advertisements from Indiana candidates. In North Carolina (same shows we are watching), it was there North Carolina political vote-for-me commercials. And then in Louisiana, we got hit with Louisiana political "vote-for me" commercials. And the grocery store and the ambulance chaser lawyer commercials all turned "local" too. THAT is still weird to me. But the viewing show, was exactly the same.

For local news, we switch to the other television for over the air. (Yes, we have 4 televisions in the camper... 2 are Roku, connected to the WIFI and the 2 original that are not "Smart" they are connected to Over-the-Air antenna with no internet service.

Note: When the situation is just right .... we'll take the small Roku televisions outside and set them up. With the camper (Visible) wifi signal, there are no additional wires needed, just a wire to plug the television in. It's nice NOT being tied down with cables and wires, especially when outside and sun glair forces us to move to a different spot so we can the picture. THAT is the advantage of having a smaller portable, movable Smart television that's not attached to a wall. You can set it up anywhere. Even with our Visible system, we can take the ZTE phone and the portable router and the Roku Television (or our computers) to motels, picnics, and even overnights when not camping. (something to think about there).
 
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We used Verizon MiFi's and hot spots for years. Works well in a covered area. The downside is the limited amount of data.

We began using Starlink in February and are quite happy with the coverage and ease of use. Since we like to boon-dock, it's almost a must have for us.
 
We mostly dry glamp where big rigs can't go and where cellular coverage will never exist making Starlink the only viable option for us.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"
 
We used Verizon MiFi's and hot spots for years. Works well in a covered area. The downside is the limited amount of data.

We began using Starlink in February and are quite happy with the coverage and ease of use. Since we like to boon-dock, it's almost a must have for us.
I use Visible, Verizon's pre-paid subsidiary. It's on the same towers but has no data cap, either on-phone or via the phone's hotspot. $30 a month and you can set up autopay using a credit card. Only restriction is the device has to be a phone, they don't take dedicated hot spots.
 
We went from cellular data plans to Starlink and haven't looked back. I'm pretty busy, so we don't travel as much as we'd like to (hoping to change that) but our Starlink's pay-as-you-use-it program suits us well. I think we pay $150 a month when we activate it, but when we're not traveling I deactivate it and pay nothing.

We still have our cellular data plan as a backup but we haven't used it in quite some time. If you had to pay for Starlink every month, I can see how it would be more expensive that cellular data plans, but when you only use it a few months a year, like us, it hasn't been a big deal.

Kev
 
We used Verizon MiFi's and hot spots for years. Works well in a covered area. The downside is the limited amount of data.
I have the unlimited plan on my Verizon Hotspot, but I never use that much data, so it's been just a WOM. However, I just leave it on this plan and do not even think about how much or how little I use it.

-Don- Auburn, CA
 
We have a couple of androids on ATT service where we can use either one as a hot spot. Most of the time we get a good enough connection for our smart TV.. (y)

Safe travels and all the best.
 
The rate at which campgrounds are adopting and adapting to the need for high speed internet has been great. We do have an unlimited data and tethering plan with T-mobile and use DW's ATT as backup when T-mobile is not available.

However, even travelling in modest campgrounds, we're finding we can stream Netflix/etc. to our smart TV's more and more often.
 
. They will notify you though, when they see you using an unsupported device.
But it still works? How can they tell what you're using? I didn't realize a portable wi-fi hotspot is a two-way device.

Or perhaps the fact that it isn't is how they tell. We all know cellphones are two-way. I never gave much thought to how the portable Wi-Fi Hotspots work.

-Don- Auburn, CA
 

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