Reliable WiFi on the road

[Echozepher]

Thirty days on the road and WiFi has been spotty at best. I’ve found that park WiFi is generally not consistent enough to get much work done or stream much on the computer. I’ve tried using my phones hotspot for WiFi but, again, results not good. I’m currently using Sprint which is not the best for cell coverage. Considering switching to Verizon for better coverage.

Would appreciate hearing about which solutions work best for providing strong reliable WiFi while traveling. Not really interested in TV, mostly WiFi so I can stream if I want to.

Thanks all.

[bikendan]

We don't count on any campground wifi. We almost always use our cellphones as hotspots.

[Theb2b]

See my post on a personal, portable cellular tower I put together to pull in a cell signal.

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...er-209554.html

This should work for whomever your provider is but requires a hot spot with external antenna ports as you need to plug the antenna into it. My Verizon Mifi has two antenna ports so it fits the bill.

[kcmusa]

Another is a weboost https://www.weboost.com/
A bit pricy but they work.

[Villagerjjm]

While we are on the road we use a Jetpack with Verizon service. It is the most reliable for when you are in motion or at a campground. It will use data up quickly if you stream video or allow a lot of ads to pop up with your browsing. I set all our on road devices to not allow updates, pop-up third party ads and I limit the rendering on websites. If you use an app like WAZE, it will eat up a lot of data as compared to using a dedicated GPS device like a Garman.

[Mitchell 2020]

I use my ATT hotspot and it works well. I also have a visible cell phone. Unlimited data for $25. Something to look into.

[ewittig]

Our GMC Sierra has a hotspot feature with unlimited data that we pay $25 a month for. We leave the truck electric cord hooked to the trailer and leave the ignition key on ACC. As long as we are hooked to the 30A electrical service, the trailer keeps the truck battery charged. We have always been able to park the truck close enough to have wifi, and since our new Rockwood 2104s has a Ranger wifi booster, we always get 5 bars. This feature is designed to be used while traveling, which is nice, but it is while camping that we really put the hotspot to use.

[Sleepy]

We use Verizon hotspot on our cell phones and also a Mifi via Verizon. They work well as long as you have a good cell phone signal. We have an "unlimited" package, HOWEVER, even with an unlimited package, streaming is not easy. There are data limits that are quickly exceeded when streaming, and even with an "unlimited" data package, they then "throttle" you down or slow you down to the point that streaming is difficult at best, and impossible at worst. Then it may be another month before the package resets for the next month data plan usage. I really wish there was an option that would allow true unlimited data, with a reasonable consistent speed that would allow the streaming that modern conveniences require. The companies that I am aware of, simply do not attempt to offer services to meet the demand for mobile customers. If new companies or packages are now offered I am unaware of, please let me and all of us know. I had the same experience with satellite providers prior to going with Verizon.
Thank you.

[Echozepher]

Thanks for sending the link. Nice work!! I’ll certainly consider using it. However just today in Boise Idaho I wad able to get a good internet connection on my laptop using the hot spot from my phone. I plan on switching from Sprint to Verizon to get coverage. If that is not adequate then I will certainly consider your cell tower. Thanks again.

[jkoenig24]

There is LITTLE to NO "strong reliable WiFi" when RVing. A good RV park WILL throttle their WiFi because if they don't, one or two A-hole hogs will use up all the available WiFi to stream TV & movies. You should be able to get email and place an order with Amazon if a park does have WiFi BUT, bandwidth is ALWAYS limited because RV parks CANNOT get good "backbone" service from their internet service provider. Pretty much ALL levels of government are NOT demanding that high speed, reliable internet service be made available to ALL of their citizens so, the result is a VERY WIDE "digital divide" between those who HAVE good access and those who are S.O.L. As already mentioned, Many (most?) knowledgeable RVers make sure they have a GOOD cellular phone data plan (and often a dedicated MiFi jetpack) and then, they still have to hope that they'll be close enough to a cell tower that's NOT overloaded so that they MAY get decent throughput. Major RV rallies are especially bad because the limited capacity they have is quickly "used up" when a thousand or more RVs show up and EVERYBODY wants a large piece of a small pie.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by jkoenig24

...Pretty much ALL levels of government are NOT demanding that high speed, reliable internet service be made available to ALL of their citizens so, the result is a VERY WIDE "digital divide" between those who HAVE good access and those who are S.O.L. ...

This strikes me as injecting politics.

[formerFR]

we've been all over the country, Alaska included, and most provinces in Canada, and still the 'hotspot' from our phones works the best in most all/any situation where no other connection is available, even with a WifiRanger.

VZ and ATT are very good in most places, but you still can't expect much of anything in the far west, especially at 'destination' National Parks and the like - that's just not realistic. Most anyone who is traveling extensively or full-timing already understands that having 'internet' is not a 'given' everywhere you go - it's a luxury, not a right.

the WifiRanger and other types of 'antenna' devices are o.k. if you are near signals, but otherwise they are just another antenna that is not useful, otherwise. Most folks now don't want to rely on 'standard' wifi signals, anyway, since they aren't the speed they expect and still can't 'stream' and do other heavy usage with them. Many campgrounds and rv parks are even banning the use of such devices. I'm not sure how they can really police this, but they restrict it anyway.

Your cell phone or a cell 'device', such as a mifi or hotspot, is the only way for 'mobile' internet... some may find that they think Vz is the 'best', since that's what they have, and other will argue that Att is 'better', because that's what they have - and a few will have a cell phone with one and a cell device with the other, to cover both bases, which is probably a good idea.
With the merge of tMobile and Sprint, we may have another large 'national' player in the market, but it might be too early to tell whether they have the reach and coverage most might desire. In metro areas, I'm sure they'll be fine, but unless they also reach the rural and far away areas, especially along the major interstates and roadways, it might be a stretch.

We have 4 phones on our Att Unlimited 3gb plan, which we switch to the 'Unlimited Elite' plan when we are traveling, then back again when we return to our 'home base' where we have 300gb Windstream land-based cable internet. The Elite plan does very well, since we also hotspot to our laptops and computers while traveling, with much higher 30gb hotspot caps for EACH line, instead of the whole account. Whether Vz or tMobile will allow this same type of 'change' I'm not sure. tMobile does offer it's MAGENtA plan, which is truly UNLIMITED 4g on the phone itself, but only restricts it's hotspot usage to 3gb per month. We just recently tried to 'switch' to tMobile, but after receiving the sim cards and taking a 'test run', we quickly saw that, in our area at least, it was far more restrictive and lost a signal all together in areas where Att was still at least two bars. While it would 'save' us $40 monthly, I've decided that now's not the time to change. Sorry tMobile.

[jkoenig24]

Originally Posted by eye95

This strikes me as injecting politics.

As you're in the U.S., you have the right to have your own opinion and, for every opinion, somebody is going to find it objectionable. Perhaps you're not old enough to remember when POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) was 99.999% reliable. You picked up a phone, and it just worked. Phone service was considered a PUBLIC UTILITY and as such, EVERY home and business was entitled to be connected. I personally knew a gent who bought property and built a log home way upstate in NY (very close to the Canadian border). He told me he was more than FIVE MILES from the nearest telephone line but, the local telco by Public Utilities Commission (PUC) rules, HAD to run a POTS line to his home once he applied for service. In addition to reliable phone service, he was then able to have dial up internet (which back then, was still in widespread use). From what I've seen, cable service providers have been able to get themselves exempted from PUC rules (laws) and, then get away with NOT servicing large segments of America because they would NOT make enough profit (even though, in MANY cases, cable providers are hanging their wire on telephone poles making them de facto Public Utilities) and therefore, could extend cable service more easily than they claim. I expect that there are STILL parts of the U.S. that at best, have dial up internet. The current Covid19 Pandemic is proving how fragile the cellular phone system is vs the old POTS system (and I haven't even addressed "Can you hear me now" voice quality). Back in 1987, Hurricane Gloria knocked out electric power for much of Long Island, NY. Although I was without electric service for EIGHT DAYS, my POTS service was restored in THREE HOURS! That was reliability. Pretty much EVERYTHING today has been "politicized". That's simply what the world has degenerated to. Get used to it.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by jkoenig24

As you're in the... [snip]

Nah. I have just been advised not to go political on this site, so I won’t. Moving on.