Need suggestions for onboard WiFi in areas of no signal

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

Hi All,

We've come back from our annual Ozark trip, and were reminded once again of the long stretches of no signal.

It is a an uneasy feeling when that happens.

Anyway, how are you all coping with getting internet when you have no signal, or free WiFi?

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

Nevermind...I just found out nothing is 100% whether it's expensive satellite installation, or WiFi/Cell contracts...makes no difference.

Oh well!

[MelissaD]

Depending upon your phone it may have a "hot spot" built into it. Some plans allow you to use it at no additional charge other than data usage. We have the Verizon "Share Everything Plan" and I can use the hot spots in our phones without additional charges.

[rvgrammy1953]

Cindy, no cell phone company's coverage is "perfect"...and yes, there are going to be places where no one will get a signal....it just part of the life on the road...it basically, what can you live with/without .....

[retiredhappy]

Yep, as everyone says - there will always be dead spots no matter who your carrier is. Just try to remember when all we had was land line phones and if you needed to make a call, you had to find a payphone. OMG!! How relatively quickly we've become used to being able to make a phone call anywhere we happen to be.

[bluepinecones]

I have AT&T cell service and the pay as you need it plan with Verizon on the iPad. And yes, I still frequently find places where no service on one or the other. Have been a little surprised that there are also locations where neither works.

[cnq50b]

I do the same thing Sarah (bluepinecones) does. My cell phone is t-mobile (can be used as a hotspot) & I have 'pay as you go' with verizon on my ipad. On my long trip to the west this past summer I could usually get some on one or the other. It wasn't always good enough to use my laptop, but the ipad seemed to function ok even with a weak signal.

[avalen]

Depending upon your phone it may have a "hot spot" built into it. Some plans allow you to use it at no additional charge other than data usage. We have the Verizon "Share Everything Plan" and I can use the hot spots in our phones without additional charges.

yep, me too and you do have to be careful. When I went to Colorado I used my data limit half way through the month so I changed it to
the next one up for that cycle. Cost me a little extra but I went back to the original gb when I got back home.

[JudyJB]

Because I absolutely need to check email every 24 hours, I usually check cell coverage someplace before I go there. (Actually it is every 48 hours, but I like to check it more often.) Often, the RV review site will give that information, or I will call the campground in advance. (I use a mobile hotspot so get my internet through cell service.)

I do occasionally choose a place with iffy or no cell coverage, so then I check how far away I need to drive to get a signal. Sometimes I will find a scenic pullover or rest area just a very few miles away, so I unhook and go there for a couple of hours each day. For example at Fisherman's Bridge in Yellowstone, one day I drove 3 miles east to a place overlooking the lake where I had been told I could get coverage. Another day, I rode my bike with my laptop and hotspot in my backpack to a nearby (6 miles) hotel where I bought 24 hours of internet access for $12. I used it one afternoon and the next morning.

As I drive, between campgrounds I also will stop at a highway rest area and sit for an hour to check email and upload and download student papers.

I checked into satellite, but it would require additional equipment besides the dish I already have, so that is just not practical. There are just a lot of places in the country where we want to go with no coverage, so I live with it and adapt when I can.

The other option is to stay only at expensive commercial campground where they have internet available, or to stay only close to big cities.

[BirdbyBird]

Judy....and that just won't be as much fun!

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

Thanks Judy.

Looks like you got your situation worked out!

But I'm not worried about when I'm parked I can always get connected when I park...I'm worried about while I'm driving through miles and miles of no coverage, and then I get a break-down.

[BirdbyBird]

Even driving though West Virginia I found that the main highways had Verizon Service but get a few miles off the interstate to the state park or COE and you might come up with nothing.....

Keep reminding yourself of the pioneer widows that completed the covered wagon trip out west...they didn't get texts from home or have Coach Net to call. No promise that we are 100% covered everywhere but you can still often rely on the kindness of strangers for those other areas...just like we all had to in our youth (BC) before cellphones.....

Oh, I remember some broken down cars in out of town cities..... running out of gas and a flat tire or two..... I have been rescued before by strangers......

[JudyJB]

What, no Coach-Net or cell service?? How will we survive?

My son teaches high school and more than occasionally has to confiscate cell phones. He says the kids are panicked because they cannot text for the rest of the day.

Actually, other than needing it for work, my only problem with lack of cell service has come when my elderly aunt and uncle could not reach me and were convinced I had fallen and could not get up. They started calling my kids and were about to send the highway patrol out for me!! My kids have now received my permission to lie and tell them that I was fine, they had just spoken to me, but was having problems with connections.