I guess I’ll just call this “what’s in Erik’s brain today”, because I know how to solve it but lack the funds to do so right now. I have a Verizon card for work that has a 5 Gigabit limit per month so can’t use that. The parks that have either free or paid Wi-Fi have limitations where you reach an amount of data downloaded and it lowers the bandwidth available for you. This renders my Slingbox/Netflix/Vudu and other streaming technologies to maybe one or two shows and then the data stream will slow down reducing quality to unacceptable levels.
At least, this is how it works at our two favorite RV parks. I know I could get Satellite Internet service and problem solved to a point. I could pay for an unlimited data plan from AT&T or Verizon but those aren’t cost effective just to watch streaming movies and we plan on using those services during bad weather mostly.
We are spoiled however and I usually come up with something to solve technical issues and I suppose my Verizon card could suffice if we kept it to just a few movies. My Samsung TV has Internet apps built in so my Verizon card would be useless unless I traded it in for the MiFi or bought a router that can use the card for sharing but that wouldn’t be easy because it’s my companies card, not mine and I have a hard time using company equipment for personal use. I don’t use the company laptop for personal use either.
Another thing to mull over for camping this year. I’ll talk to my boss and see if he minds me using it for streaming/sharing and if he approves maybe I can chip in for a bigger data plan and if so, then I’ll buy the router that can use this card. Yeah, that sounds like a plan…
5 comments:
I find buying DVD box sets solves alot of the need to stream and saves on bandwith tremendously :p.
I put a long range WiFi mast on my rig a while back to allow for better internet access, but sometimes I end up being able to see businesses and the occasional home that didn't do their security settings right from quite a ways away from the park.
So, usually, if the park wifi gets really bad, I'll see if I can find a McDonalds or Starbucks within range and bump their internet for a little while, then stop by if I can find them later on and buy a coffee or something for the use of their services.
On the subject of Satellite Internet and Streaming. Most plans I've seen have lower bandwith limits than your cellphone and the latency of the connection is so high that real-time streaming isn't reasonable.
Matt,
We have about 4,000 DVD/Blu-Ray's and can of course bring whatever we want with us. True about Sat connections but there are packages where once the stream is going, the download buffers enough to not worry about latency.
Regarding nearbye wi-fi, the parks we have gone to, are out in the sticks, no houses or businesses to "borrow" from. :)
Gonna have to put a couple terrabyte hard drive farm in that motorhome and then rip yer video library to disc so you can have it all with you without needing all the discs :p.
Matt,
Agreed, I do have a gen1 Apptle TV that I may expand the space on. It's only 160gig but again, money constraints being what they are right now it has to wait. However, later this summer this will get done.
A Gen1 1TB Apple TV would be fantastic and take up very little space.
You might look at millenicom.com. I get 20GB/month for $60 using verizon towers. THe 50GB plan uses sprint. The 4g is great where it works, but that area is limited.
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