ON THE ROAD COMPUTING ?????

[stuball]

Hi Everybody

I am looking for any help I can get from anyone who has computer hookup in an RV and is traveling cross country...We are planning on leaving on an extended trip in our RV. Moving away from high taxes to ????? in the state of ????

I need to know if anyone has tried satellite tv and computer services...I think it is Direct TV
has several different plans..cost??..reliability??
actual speed?? Any info you can contribute would be greatly appreciated..I will contribute any thing I can to anyone that needs the help after we
experience any positive or negative vibrations.

Looking forward to this experience and hope to make it as painless as possible by doing my homework kinda like handicapping..Anyone the lives in a great climate - low taxes - great whatever -
give me a heads up and we may stop and visit if we are in the area...or we may make it a point to come and visit... I love to talk horses and my wife is into training dogs...

Thanks to all

Have a nice day !!!!

Stuball

[BillW]

Originally posted by stuball
Hi Everybody

I am looking for any help I can get from anyone who has computer hookup in an RV and is traveling cross country...We are planning on leaving on an extended trip in our RV. Moving away from high taxes to ????? in the state of ????

I need to know if anyone has tried satellite tv and computer services...I think it is Direct TV
has several different plans..cost??..reliability??
actual speed?? Any info you can contribute would be greatly appreciated..I will contribute any thing I can to anyone that needs the help after we
experience any positive or negative vibrations.

Looking forward to this experience and hope to make it as painless as possible by doing my homework kinda like handicapping..Anyone the lives in a great climate - low taxes - great whatever -
give me a heads up and we may stop and visit if we are in the area...or we may make it a point to come and visit... I love to talk horses and my wife is into training dogs...

Thanks to all

Have a nice day !!!!

Stuball

Stuball,

I don't have any experience with this but a little understanding of the technology. Dishes need to be precisely aimed and could be a problem on the road (or just one of those little inconveniences, depending on how you look at it!). Also re ISP via Sat. There is a probagation delay that may be annoying ... appx. 400 - 500 Mi. round trip (X2), I believe. This would probably introduce greater than 1/2 second delay. The internet protocol is very handshake intensive and could add up.

At least I may have given you a few questions to ask an experienced road warrior, should you come across one.

Good luck,

Bill

[JustRalph]

Using your computer to connect via Sat sucks. I had Starband when it first came out and tried to play races via the Sat. The delay is 4 times what they advertise and the bandwidth was 1/4 what they advertise. I got locked out sometimes with 5 minutes to post. It was down a bunch also. The company is about to go out of business. Last time I checked they had over 500 lawsuits and the stock had hit rock bottom. I am told that the direct tv version is better, but still unreliable. I know a guy who uses direct tv on his RV and he spends more time aligning the dish than he does having fun watching it. It can be a nightmare.


Thank god the cable modem gods came out in the country here.

[BillW]

justRalph,

Do you have any idea what the "dsl" is that direct TV is offering. The dsl I am familiar with is digital subscriber line (i.e. made with copper and wooden poles).

Bill

[JustRalph]

In my area (Central Ohio) its straight DSL to your home. Hardwired. They are just another contractor pre-selling for the local Telco. Hitting the sheets.....will check back in tomorrow.

[rrbauer]

DirecTV's DSL offering (DirectvInternet) is the old Telocity company that DTV bought out to get into the DSL market.
I've been using it in SoCal (PacBell circuit) for about 7 months and I have had zero problems. I'm close enough to the telco's network connection to get the full 1.5mb speed. I've had mixed results with their tech support (in setting up my web pages on their server) group.

I can't speak to all of the DTV satellite/internet technology, but the one that I'm familiar with requires a land-line hookup from your PC for all outbound communications. That would seem to limit its usefulness on an RV.

Try
http://www.rvtrips.com/

They have a chat room

[Rick]

I'm not sure about this so check it out, but I think I read something about mobile satellite systems that transmit uplink being non-compliant with FCC regulations because they can't be aimed accurately. I think, by law, their direction is supposed to be set by some kind of certified technician and not moved.