How tech (Internet) has changed in 7 years for RVers

[Neal]

I started RVing in 2017 and back then it was a science to get Internet, much less unlimited Internet in your RV. The big thing in 2017 was the AT&T Mobley device and plan which was designed to plug into the OBD port of a car and power up a small wi-fi/cellular system to give your vehicle Internet. The plan is and still is $23/mo for unlimited AT&T. How it still works today is a miracle but I still have mine going, but in my Pepwave.

Then the next big thing back then was Wi-Fi Ranger. Now a way to centralize a device in your RV that manages Wi-Fi internal and incoming and connected devices such as Mobile hotspots. The era of mobile hotspots sprouted up, this was the era of 3G wireless. We started seeing "MIMO" become a thing, more cellular antennas for dual bands and higher speeds. I went through so many antenna options inside and on the roof and oh yeah, let's not forget the Weboost device that supposedly boosed the cellular signal, using it was an art if it even worked.

Then the Pepwave era came along and this is still what I'm using today with my cellular plans. Still a great and highly innovative series of devices but seems to have matured and/or slowed, still working wonderfully for my dual Pepwave setup.

And as we all know, we're now in the Starlink era.

Dish and DirecTV were the big thing to get TV into our RV's, now many of us have ditched the equipment, some have removed the dish antennas off the roof and the popular way now is streaming services to get content to entertain us.

It's been an interesting time period especially as I run a small tech business and Internet has been vital to my daily lifestyle. This is what got me into RVing, the ability to take my office on the road and blend living my best life and maintaining my business along the way.

Our next chapter will be "how grills have changed" in the last 7 years Stay tuned...

 

[Jonf254]

I started RVing in 2017 and back then it was a science to get Internet, much less unlimited Internet in your RV. The big thing in 2017 was the AT&T Mobley device and plan which was designed to plug into the OBD port of a car and power up a small wi-fi/cellular system to give your vehicle Internet. The plan is and still is $23/mo for unlimited AT&T. How it still works today is a miracle but I still have mine going, but in my Pepwave.

Then the next big thing back then was Wi-Fi Ranger. Now a way to centralize a device in your RV that manages Wi-Fi internal and incoming and connected devices such as Mobile hotspots. The era of mobile hotspots sprouted up, this was the era of 3G wireless. We started seeing "MIMO" become a thing, more cellular antennas for dual bands and higher speeds. I went through so many antenna options inside and on the roof and oh yeah, let's not forget the Weboost device that supposedly boosed the cellular signal, using it was an art if it even worked.

Then the Pepwave era came along and this is still what I'm using today with my cellular plans. Still a great and highly innovative series of devices but seems to have matured and/or slowed, still working wonderfully for my dual Pepwave setup.

And as we all know, we're now in the Starlink era.

Dish and DirecTV were the big thing to get TV into our RV's, now many of us have ditched the equipment, some have removed the dish antennas off the roof and the popular way now is streaming services to get content to entertain us.

It's been an interesting time period especially as I run a small tech business and Internet has been vital to my daily lifestyle. This is what got me into RVing, the ability to take my office on the road and blend living my best life and maintaining my business along the way.

Our next chapter will be "how grills have changed" in the last 7 years Stay tuned...

Interesting, we found having 3 of all 3 main cell services works great and keeps us in all the internet we need while boon docking or in parks.At n t, T-Mobile or Verizon, 1 of them will work well regardless where we are and it’s less then 150 a month for all 3.We use 2 prepaid service with old phones we own and no contracts as we only RV 2-3 months of the year.

 

[J&JD]

Our satellite dish decided to quit going up/down. Just had Starlink installed. With the addition of You Tube Tv we can match up with everything we do at home. So far we couldn’t be happier. Super fast WiFi and great streaming, what more could a rv’er want!

 

[AbdRahim]

Doesn’t Starlink require an unshaded site?

 

[J&JD]

Doesn’t Starlink require an unshaded site?

To a degree but much less so than our DIRECTV dish.