Connecting to Internet March 04, 2009, 01:45:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99917Hi All, I am brand new to LD......I came from a larger concrete bound 45' Looking forward to the real road in a 30'IB.......... I had a datastorm on my other coach which made sense(almost full time). I now would love advise of the best way to access Internet. Is it Verizon card month by month? What feedback can you give and what is the right gear to have? Thanks! Harvey and Vicki from Washington.............port ludlow
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #1 – March 04, 2009, 09:31:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99937Quote Hi All, I am brand new to LD......I came from a larger concrete bound 45' Looking forward to the real road in a 30'IB.......... I had a datastorm on my other coach which made sense(almost full time). I now would love advise of the best way to access Internet. Is it Verizon card month by month? What feedback can you give and what is the right gear to have? Thanks! Harvey and Vicki from Washington.............port ludlow H and V, I would suggest you join both of these Yahoo group forums as they will provide any info you might need regarding Internet access from the road: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/InternetByDataCard/?yguid=100194201 http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/InternetByCellPhone/?yguid=100194201I would say that many folks on the LD forum are using a phone modem(data) card with either Verizon (mostly) followed by Sprint and AT&T.Chris
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #2 – March 04, 2009, 09:40:54 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99940Welcome!And we do have some info stored in the Links that might help:Links > Improvements > Electrical Devices > Internethttp://tinyurl.com/amxlev Tessa
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #3 – March 05, 2009, 08:59:28 am Yahoo Message Number: 99957QuoteCheck the coverage maps on each vendor's website When doing so, however, make sure you're looking at the broadband coverage map and not the voice coverage map. Both Verizon and Sprint have both kinds of maps...I assume others do, too.Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com/
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #4 – March 05, 2009, 11:51:05 am Yahoo Message Number: 99971You can find a good selection at http://www.3gstore.com>, a dealer that has gotten good reviews for the information they provide on their site and for their excellent customer support. I, too, highly recommend the 3GStore for all things cellular. I've ordered our Wilson antenna and amplifier, CradlePoint router, and Verizon USB modem from them and have had excellent service. When I had trouble setting up and getting connected to the Internet using the router (operator error ;-) ), their technical service department was great to work with...and they're in the U.S., which is a great big PLUS!!! EVDOAlex, who works at 3GStore, posts on several of the RV discussion forums and is a wonderful resource for those of us who are less technically inclined.Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com/
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #5 – March 05, 2009, 07:07:03 pm Yahoo Message Number: 100010Thank you Linda ........Earl....and Andy! appreciate your help. Harvey
Connecting to Internet Reply #6 – March 04, 2009, 07:58:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99928Quote from: harveypepper"Hi All, I am brand new to LD......I came from a larger concrete bound 45' Looking forward to the real road in a 30'IB.......... I had a datastorm on my other coach which made sense(almost full time). I now would love advise of the best way to access Internet. Is it Verizon card month by month? What feedback can you give and what is the right gear to have? Thanks! Harvey and Vicki from Washington.............port ludlow--- End forwarded message ---
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #7 – March 05, 2009, 06:35:17 am Yahoo Message Number: 99953QuoteI now would love advise of the best way to access Internet. Is it Verizon card month by month? What feedback can you give and what is the right gear to have? I think Verizon does have a month to month plan, but it is not necessarily the best option. The monthly rate is higher, and the you will pay full retail for the card. It will likely be less expensive if you get the card free, sign up for two years and cancel with penalty. Check the coverage maps on each vendor's website (do not depend upon the multivendor "compare" sites being accurate) and compare that with your travel plans. I live in Indiana and most of my travel is in the eastern half. Verizon wins here. Other parts of the country Sprint wins. AT&T generally only has coverage in the cities. I personally have both a Verizon and a Sprint card. I would recommend getting a router and using Wifi or wired connection to your laptop. Not absolutely necessary, but a whole lot easier to use. There is another yahoo group more likely to help. Sign up and browse through the messages. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InternetByDataCard-Dave, '06 MB, Indianapolis
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #8 – March 05, 2009, 09:17:36 am Yahoo Message Number: 99959Thanks Dave, How does a router
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #9 – March 05, 2009, 10:56:36 am Yahoo Message Number: 99961Quote Thanks Dave, How does a router in a park work when the laptop has a built in card to pick up WiFi. I think the Verizon aircard sounds good when there is only a cell signal. You plug the Aircard into the wifi router, and create your own hotspot. Just make sure you secure the wifi link, otherwise your neighbors will jump on your wifi signal and run up your Verizon usage. Further discussion here has nothing to do with LD RVs, so take any remaining questions over to the other group I mentioned.-Dave '06 MB, Indianapolis
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #10 – March 05, 2009, 11:38:27 am Yahoo Message Number: 99970"I would recommend getting a router and using Wifi or wired connection to your laptop. Not absolutely necessary, but a whole lot easier to use." There are two situations where you might want to use a wireless/cellular router. First, if you're a couple with two computers, and you want to share a cellular internet connection, a router makes it easier. Second, if you need to connect a roof-mounted cellular antenna and amplifier to get a good signal, a router will let you do that without "tethering" your computer to the antenna cable. You'll be able to move around inside and near the rig and still use that boosted signal. However, if you only have one computer and you only use it in one place, then a router may be an unnecessary expense and complication. Note that you'll need a special router to work with a cellular modem ("aircard"). The Cradlepoint models that have been mentioned here recently are the most popular; some of them even run on batteries or 12VDC. You can find a good selection at http://www.3gstore.com>, a dealer that has gotten good reviews for the information they provide on their site and for their excellent customer support. "How does a router in a park work when the laptop has a built in card to pick up WiFi?" In or out of a park, the kind of router we're talking about essentially "translates" the cellular signal into a Wi-Fi signal. Thus you use your computer's Wi-Fi capability, whether built in or added on, to connect to the router, and thence to the cell tower and the internet. Range will probably be about 50'-100' from your router, since your coach's metal walls weaken the Wi-Fi signal somewhat. "Sometimes I have noticed where there is WiFi, they will say...'Good if you are within 150' of the office.' What are the best applications for the combinations in a park where distance may be an issue?"You'll have to judge on a case-by-case basis. If you have a strong cell signal, AND it's capable of high-speed (EVDO or 3G) data rates, you can use that as your connection to the internet, and ignore the campground's Wi-Fi setup. If the cell signal is marginal, or it only supports slower data rates (EDGE or 1xRTT), then you may want to use the campground's Wi-Fi connection, assuming you can get a good Wi-Fi signal at your particular campsite. (As you noted, Wi-Fi has very limited range.) Be aware that a campground Wi-Fi connection may not be very fast if dozens of people are sharing the same "pipeline" to the internet. In that situation, you might want to switch back to your own cellular internet setup, if a good cell signal is available.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Connecting to Internet Reply #11 – March 05, 2009, 01:14:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99975Quote "I would recommend getting a router and using Wifi or wired connection to your laptop. Not absolutely necessary, but a whole lot easier to use." If you use router in theis fashion, BE ABSOLUTELY SURE you secure the wifi access. This involves setting a password or "key" for wifi access. If you do not do this, anyone else in the campgroud can jump on your wireless and potentially run your wireless card beyond its monthly limit. That can easily result in hundreds of $ overcharge fees, which YOU are absolutely responsible to pay. Verizon/Sprint/AT&T will have absolutley no sympathy for your misconfigured router (nor should they). You need to make sure you create a PRIVATE access network and not a public one. As Andy pointed out chances are that your private network will be much better than anything the campground provides. If you do not secure it, it will be found by someone within minutes. Cradlepoint routers come configured for secure access out of the box, just don't turn it off.-Dave
How NOT to connect to Internet Reply #12 – March 05, 2009, 02:52:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99987Speaking of overcharges on Verizon modems, I got a call from them a few months back alerting me that we were about to go over limit. Here's why; we were in the habit of leaving web pages "up". Some web pages, Townhall is an example, refresh every minute or so. Loading graphics every minute on two computers for hours a day will eat into your 5gig.I thought it was darn nice of Verizon to give us a heads up.Don & Dorothy A MB named Koko SE #21
Re: How NOT to connect to Internet Reply #13 – March 05, 2009, 04:06:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99991The warning about auto-refreshing web pages is well taken! Most web pages are static--that is, you can look at one for twenty minutes without any additional bandwidth usage--but as Don & Dorothy point out, a few of the gimmicked-up homepages belonging to major media outlets and ISPs use auto-refreshing code (mainly to push more ads in your face) that can chew up bandwidth without your realizing it. Meanwhile, for what it's worth, Verizon has reduced its per-megabyte surcharge--the extra fee they tack onto your bill when you exceed the 5 GB per month limit--from 50 cents to 25 cents. That's a small step in the right direction, but it's still going to cost you $256.00 per gigabyte if you exceed the limit--and if you watch video or download Windows upgrades, it's very easy to rack up extra gigs. So watch your usage like a hawk, and don't count on Verizon to be as nice to you as they were to Don & Dorothy! ;-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Topic: Connecting to Internet (Read 2 times)
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