Coach Internet and TV service

[Robert Norris]

I'm new to the forum, and honestly to BAC and my coach. I would like to get some ideas of what service members are using for TV and Internet service when on the road.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Carl Boger]

You will likely get all kinds of answers depending on the location most traveled and the budget.  Many people get two different cell phone carriers and hope that one will have service using data or the hotspot.  Some do that and have starlink as well.  T mobile released a hotspot that some use that is a 110 volt unlimited data station.  I don't know all the details about it.

Right now I personally use a $25.00 Visible unlimited hotspot that is theathered to a router.  It is supposedly capped at 5 mbps, but generally will stream the roku tv channels or netflix, and surf the internet on our computers.  I just switched our cell phones to ATT from Verizon and we have a 50K hotspot on each phone and unlimited unthrottled data, so we can mirror to the TV from either phone. I also just switched to FUBO tv so should be able to take it with me too.   Visible runs on verizon towers so we have now joined the camp of two carriers.

We are weekend to two week travelers on the east coast so far.  A few times we had no signal, but usually got enough to get by pretty well.  We hope to start traveling to the west coast so hopefully everything will still work there.

Others may have better advise but hopefully this will get you started.

[David T. Richelderfer]

When we traveled more using the coach, we had one Verizon JetPack and two Verizon Android cell phones for internet and communication.  If we used up the JetPack's monthly allowance of 15 GB for internet, then we used the phones' hot spots (30 GB limit per month on each phone) to get through the month.

Now that we do not travel much, we gave up the JetPack and have only the two Verizon Android phones.

For TV we have a single DISH subscription, the Gold 250 channels including the Golf Channel.  We recently upgraded to one DISH Hopper 3 and two Joeys.  They go with us between our Yuma home, our coach, and our Hermiston home.  It takes but a few minutes to move the Hopper 3 and two Joeys from home to coach and from coach to home at both our summer and winter residences.  The three DISH devices are used in both houses and the coach.

Our coach had a self-seeking satellite dish, an RF Mogul Eagle III for DISH, installed when we purchased it.  It works well while parked but must be stowed while traveling.  So... it doesn't work while moving on a highway nor can the satellite dish see through trees, buildings, nearby cliffs, etc.

Unlike most retirees, we manage and trade our retirement funds that are invested in the stock markets.  Reliable daily internet and TV reception has always been very important.  Thus, we spend more on internet and TV reception technologies than most retirees do.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

We have a stick home so travels may be months apart. Thus we use services that only charge us when used. For TV we use Dish. It's a pay as you go plan that runs ~$60 for a month of usage. We then turn it off when we are home with no charges until we activate it for the next trip. For internet we use a Solis Global Hotspot. The only cost is the cost of data. It finds the strongest available network in the area you are in. We use the GB plan where you purchase data by the GB. Once purchased, it never expires until you use it. They have sales so we normally buy then so it's available when we travel. We use it for internet but not for streaming.
Steve

[David Ciotti]

For TV we depend on the campground and that has worked well but we do not watch commercial TV much.

For internet I used a verizon hotspot on an iPad then the 50Gb T-Mobil mobil hot spot then the 100Gb T-mobil hotspot and I ran out of data by the middle of the month.  So now we are using a Starlink because of the unlimited data and it has been great.  We spend every winter on Floridas forgotten coast.  The Starlink is turned off every summer.

[Robert Norris]

I want to thank everyone that provided feedback to my question. I provides me options to explore. There is a dish on top of the coach. I need to learn more about that and what company supports it. Again, thank you.

[Don White]

Hi Robert, as noted a lot has to do with how much time you will be on the road, where you are staying, and your tolerance for not having decent internet and tv.  I typically spend 7 to 8 months on the road before returning to FL in the winter.  Solid internet is a must for me.  A lot of the time on the road is in National Parks in the west and the far reaches of southern and western TX.  For the last year+ I have used Starlink for both internet and TV.  A mobile account costs $150 a month.  I use Prime and Sling TV to stream TV programs I want to watch.  My phone is Wifi calling capable so I don't need to worry about cell reception when I have internet. 

I have been happy with Starlink.  The biggest factor with Starlink is making sure you have a good view of the northern sky.  I typically get download speeds of 40+ mbps, often as high as 80 mbps...no buffering when you want to watch something in 4k.

Prior to Starlink I had a cell extender for phone and Direct TV via a Wingard Traveler roof mounted dish.  Direct TV worked well for me, the cell extender not so much.

Hope this helps.