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Old 07-31-2020, 05:14 AM   #1
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Satellite dish or wifi?

Wish is the most advantageous? Cheaper in the long run?
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Old 07-31-2020, 05:49 AM   #2
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WiFi is the most reasonably low cost option, but you do need to have good equipment to pull wifi signals out of the weeds. Most wifi in campgrounds is basic and not good for streaming to your TV, and only reliable enough to check your email. You can, of course, set up a wifi hotspot providing you have the proper equipment to do that. For TV, you could use a Roku or Amazon stick, but these are basically designed to use at a stationary location such as your home with central router in place. Moving around with these devices is not a reliable option most of the time.

Satellite is by far the most efficient, and the most expensive option. It can be quite pricey depending on who your provider is. Dish network offers the best deals while Hughes can be a challenge to your bank account. The biggest problem is that you have to buy all your equipment. This can range anywhere from $500 to $2500 depending on the type of equipment you get, the service you want, and where you live. If you already have Dish network service in your home, you can add it to your rv for minimum cost, but you still need to buy equipment, dish antenna and router, in order to use it.

Of course, the cheapest option is to stick an OTA (over the air) antenna on you rv and take your chances with channels. And, of course , this option is no good for internet service. You could make a hotspot with your phone's 4g or 5g network, but unless you have a unlimited data account, you will use it all up very quickly. In some locations you won't even get a connection.

It all boils down to money. The more you are willing to spend, the better and more reliable the service.
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Old 07-31-2020, 06:04 AM   #3
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I use it all. I have used DirecTv since 2010 and have been very happy with it. I have always used a standard Slimline dish on a Tv4RV tripod and have never been to a campground where I couldn’t find a place to put it where I could receive signals from all three satellites. I have over 100’ of cable so I can set it up wherever I need to. I have a ROKU for those times when I want to watch something I can’t get with DirecTv — I will use the campground WiFi, the Verizon Wireless hotspot on my iPhone or the AT&T hotspot on my iPad depending on which gives me the best throughput. With these three options I almost always have good internet on at least one of them. I will also use campground cable or OTA broadcasting if I don’t feel like setting up the satellite, but that is very rare.

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Old 07-31-2020, 06:07 AM   #4
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We had DirecTV for many years but once AT&T bought them service and quality dropped like a rock and prices skyrocketed. So we switched to Dish Network and have been very pleased (at home and on the road). Plus we also use WiFi a lot with our Verizon hotspots.

I think a lot of people use the hybrid...both WiFi and Satellite choice.
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Old 07-31-2020, 06:33 AM   #5
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A lot depends on where you camp and what is available at the campgrounds.

We do not use pay for wifi or satellite while camping. We usually only go for a weekend or week at a time and do not feel the need. If we stayed out longer then we would go for WiFi.

My sugestion would be go camping and find out what your needs and wants are.

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Old 07-31-2020, 05:05 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Mlhaskell View Post
Wish is the most advantageous? Cheaper in the long run?
You won't be happy if you're expecting good campground WiFi. Very few have decent enough WiFi to stream tv.
We were given a Winegard satellite dish and we have a Dish Network account. So we were going to get a Dish receiver to complete the system.
But I discovered that with our cellphones as a hotspot, we could use our Dish Anywhere app to watch tv and shows recorded on our DVR. Just as if we were sitting on our couch at home.
So I gave the satellite dish back.
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Old 11-30-2020, 07:43 PM   #7
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With newer higher end phones you can plug your HDMI USB C cable intothe phone. Then set with a streaming service run it on your phone and you'll get a mirror of it on your tv with no hotspot data usage.
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Old 12-10-2020, 08:09 PM   #8
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With newer higher end phones you can plug your HDMI USB C cable intothe phone. Then set with a streaming service run it on your phone and you'll get a mirror of it on your tv with no hotspot data usage.
While you are streaming on your phone aren't you using the data plan on your phone? Does that run up the bill unless you have a true unlimited plan?
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Old 12-10-2020, 09:15 PM   #9
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It's called mirroring. Like watching a movie on your phone. If you have unlimited data for your phone it's all good. It does not use your hotspot data either. It works but to change what's running I have to go to the phone. There are discussions about doing mirroring wirelessly without using a separate internet source but I be not had luck with that. Both Ruko and chromecast dongles always want to be connected to an internet source. I've read it can be done but...
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Old 12-10-2020, 09:18 PM   #10
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On a separate note. T-Mobile listed the address where I keep my fifth wheel as open for there new home internet. Unlimited, full speed 4G LTE, with upgrade to 5G soon for$50 monthly. That should solve my TV streaming issues.
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Old 12-25-2020, 02:22 PM   #11
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Jet pack with unlimited plan works great for computer usage but watching Netflix or the likes burns it up in a week. They say unlimited but at 22gigs it’s throttled. Use a dish tailgater have had no issues with it, cost is low because my family has dish I piggy back of there plan I bought 2 receivers and it cost 20 bucks a month added to families bill. Tailgater was 250. I also have a hdmi to c cord that I can hook to a phone and watch Netflix if I can’t find anything. Hope that helps.
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Old 12-26-2020, 06:39 PM   #12
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For TV you cant beat satelite. I was lucky enough that my DX3 had the winegard directTV dish allready installed when I bought it.


Ive had directTV in my coach's since my first coach. Love it. I can be anywhere and it works great. No need for cell service.


For Internet, its always a challenge. My current project is putting a router with dual wifi in the coach and using one for incoming internet and the other for all the devices to connect to. This way it works at my offices when im outside them, and when traveling i can have the router connect to the jetpack. Im all for simplicity, so using this setup, every time i go to a new wifi spot, i dont have to go setup every device in the coach over and over again.


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