geeksontour
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Posts posted by geeksontour
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We do this with a Samsung phone and an adapter (USB C to HDMI) in our van. Works great!
It does not work with all phones, though. My Pixel does not work with the cable, for instance.
There are adapters for iPhones and iPads as well.
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I understand frustration and confusion.
What are you trying to do?
What is working and what is not? What's connected to what and how?
A router takes a wired connection (UTP,Coax,Fiber) or a 3rd party WiFi signal and creates and connects devices on a unique local network (your stuff.) It often has the ability to repeat a WiFi signal to "extend" or "repeat" the effective coverage of an existing wireless network. An extender is a simpler device used to extend a local WAN signal.
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Did you see our article in the January Family RVing Magazine? It is titled Five Steps to Planning an RV Trip and it's on page 68. We like RVParky.com for simple trip planning, but there are lots more ideas as well. Here is our companion page on our website where all the links are shown.
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It has been our experience that Verizon has the best overall Nationwide coverage. The Verizon plan offered by FMCA does require a 2-year contract while the Sprint plan does not. Much depends on where you plan on traveling. I recommend checking out MobileInternetInfo.com for the most comprehensive information.
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The Great Lakes Area rally (Glamarama) is scheduled for Allegan, Michigan June 6-9 this year. We'll be there.
http://glamaramarally.blogspot.com/
And, I hear that next year's summer convention is set for Madison, WI
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The experts on connectivity and equipment are our friends at MobileInternetInfo.com. They cover both cellular and wifi and do extensive testing with published results. We trust their info.
The bottom line is that boosters and antennas do improve signal. You can buy turn-key solutions or build your own.
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I hear it will be a new exclusive Cellular plan with a hotspot for FMCA members. You may remember a failed plan earlier this year that was too good to be true.
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I think it is a brilliant way to get new members.
I contend there will be ubiquitous high-speed connectivity in the not too distant future. Not soon enough for most of us here.
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We highly recommend the information from our friends at rvmobileinternet.com. They keep up with the changes and trends of mobile technology.
You need to determine how much you are using now and how much you think you will need in the future.
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I recommend checking with RVMobileInternet.com.
You are the one who can determine how much you need boosting and how much you wish to spend.
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We use a combination of Verizon and AT&T cellular Internet. We are lucky that our Verizon data is grandfathered in unlimited. The AT&T is a 5G plan.
Speeds in excess of 25G down and 10G up are spoiling us.
We typically have more than 5 devices connected, so we connect our WiFi Ranger Go to one of those signals. The WFR also can connect to public WiFi when it is better than cellular (rarely!) To extend our reach to public WiFi, we connect our WFR Go to an external WFR Mobile on a mast.
Our friends at Technomadia have updated their excellent Mobile Internet Handbook. I don't think there is a better resource out there for this information.
http://www.technomadia.com/2013/06/announcing-the-mobile-internet-handbook-now-available/
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We will be teaching some smartphone/tablet classes here at the FMCA convention in Perry this week.
We have had Droid RAZRs for many years and loved them. But technology just keeps marching on. The most popular make/model these days (by a raise of hands in our seminars) is Samsung.
Jim, my husband, just got the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. It's big. It's beautiful. He won't be using his Nexus tablet as much now because the phone is so big. aka a Phablet. We also have an iPad mini and love it as well. We watch movies by bringing them up on the iPad's Amazon Instant Movie app, then sending them to the TV using AppleTV.
I think the smartphones are worth it just for the Google Maps navigation. And if you want to knock your socks off with what's in store for us with this technology watch this: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp/50582822#50582822 and see how your smartphone can prevent your heart attack.
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Thank you for posting. We have used the (older version 3G) Sleek with very good results.
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Welcome Jaimie.
I was your same age when we decided to go full-time 10 years ago. It was a great decision, and we still love the lifestyle. Attitude is everything. You'll meet some exceptional people and have experiences that will knock your socks off.
I agree with Brett, come to Perry in the spring.
Hope to see you there.
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Our friends at Technomadia have written the definitive book on the subject, "The Mobile Internet Handbook." They are full-time RVers with a great knowledge of technology and the ability to explain it. Order it on their website
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If you're in Gillette for the Rally and are interested in learning the latest in computers, smartphones etc. for RVers, we are teaching 7 free seminars and one $30 hands-on Smartphone class. If you can only attend one, we recommend the one on Wednesday at 11:45 in Seminar 7. It's titled simply Technology for Travelers Subtitled: How Geeks on Tour use Technology to Plan, Preserve and Share their Travels. It's an overview of all our topics - Staying Connected, Making a Blog, Using Picasa for managing pictures, and how the Smartphone is the best device ever invented for travelers!
Here are all the seminars we'll be teaching this week.
If you can't make it, you can download the seminar handouts here.
Technology For TravelersWednesday, June 19, 201311:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.Seminar 7, Energy HallMovie MakerWednesday, June 19, 20133:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Seminar 6, Energy HallEvery RVer Needs A BlogThursday, June 20, 20139:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.Seminar 6, Energy HallSmartphone OverviewThursday, June 20, 20131:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.Seminar 8, Wyoming CenterSmartphone Photography Workshop, hands-on, bring your smartphone or tablet, limit 20 attendees(pre-registration and $30 required - go to Info Center at Wyoming Center Wednesday 7am to register)Thursday, June 20, 20133:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.Seminar 8, Wyoming CenterPicasa & Picasa Web Albums, all need to manage your digital photos - all FreeFriday, June 21, 20139:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.Seminar 1, Central PavilionGoogle MapsFriday, June 21, 201311:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.Seminar 1, Central PavilionRV Destinations And Idea ExchangeFriday, June 21, 20131:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.Seminar 2, Central Pavilion -
BSanders ... COOL tip on Daily Roads Voyager! We're going to try that. We always have an Android phone sitting in a dashboard mount when we're traveling. This should work great.
Then ... using the video tools and picture editing tools in Picasa, I'll be we can get some nice pictures.
btw - if you're in Gillette for the FMCA convention and want to see what I'm talking about with Picasa, we're teaching a seminar called Picasa and Picasa Web Albums on Friday at 9:45 in Seminar 1. I'll be sure to show how to capture an image from a video and then make it look good.
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We were just there (11-17-2012) and we were surprised that there was no Wi-Fi at the campsites. It was available at certain facilities in Fort Wilderness (as mentioned by PeterSharon above.) Verizon worked just fine so we used FoxFi on our Droid phones - that makes a hotspot that our computers connect to - just like we did all summer long.
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For smartphone users, there is a relatively new way to get an Internet connection. All summer long, as we traveled, we depended on our Verizon Motorola Razr phones using FoxFi to turn it into a hotspot. So, our computers connect to our phone's hotspot. We have the grandfathered unlimited data plan on our phones, so this is a way to get Internet to our computers for no extra charge. FoxFi is a free app for Android phones. Check it out at www.foxfi.com
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We were beta testers for the Tripmaker 7710. Rand McNally is still improving the software based on input from users. That is one of the things we like about it. It is not without flaws, but nothing we have used is.
Find our articles and the review HERE.
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Every public hotspot is different in my experience. Tengo has been very good and sometimes unusable.
When you connect to a public hotspot, you are not connecting directly to the Internet. You are connecting to an access point that is in turn connected to an Internet modem.
Many factors affect your experience. Your proximity and orientation to the access point is important. The bandwidth backhaul (connection to the Internet) and loading (how many people are accessing) are the things you have no control over.
The main advantage to using a public hotspot is no bandwidth limits. Great for getting those large system updates, etc.
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Unlimited 4G - sure would like to have that. We've only been in one good 4G area since we got our 4G mobile hotspot from Verizon. It worked Great!! but, we zoomed thru our 5Gig allotment in record number of days. We even paid $80/mo for the 10Gig plan and went thru that too. See our article: 3G vs 4G: the Tortoise and the Hare
As for the Cradlepoint - we have that too. It's a great device, but it needs a a USB or Ethernet connection. We have switched to the WiFi Ranger as our router because it can accept Wi-Fi as it's Internet source - see more discussion here: Discuss the WiFi Ranger.
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Here's a Youtube video I made to show how to get a picture from your Picasa Web Albums and insert it here in FMCA's community - in your blog, or a forum post.
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What can you tell us about add-on antennas that work on the existing antenna for digital? Also, cell phone and air card booster for Verizon internet?James,
TV antennas are the same for digital as they are for the old analog signals. Just like any other RF signal, a better antenna will give a better connection. With TV, that is a receive only signal.
The add-ons, like the one for our bat-wing antenna, absolutely help with range and tend to be more directional. That means you need to point the antenna for the best signal. There are amplified antennas and omni-directional antennas, both passive and amplified. Omni antennas do not need to be pointed, but generally have shorter range. If you are close to the TV transmitter, you do not need amps, or even much of an antenna. As you get some distance away, you need all the help you can get.
A neat website that has a lot of antenna information and helps us point our TV antenna is www.antennaweb.org. You tell the site where you are and they will show you where the TV transmitters are.
Much the same applies to cellular phones and data cards. The antennas are different because of the wavelength of the signal. Cellular is also 2way, transmit and receive for both voice and data.
The experts there can be found at www.3gstore.com. They have a full line of antennas and amplifiers. Be sure to tell them the Geeks On Tour sent you. They have the best selection, prices and support I know of.
Sprint Hotspot battery swelling
in RV Internet to Go/Staying in Touch
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Is it possible to power the hotspot with 12V and remove the battery. That's what I do with our Netgear hotspot.