geeksontour

I have not tried that. Connectors can be tricky and hard to get right. Coax cable is not the same for all applications, with many sizes and signal loss characteristics. For a short run, it may work, but I recommend getting cable already fabricated with the proper ends. Jim Guld www.geeksontour.com

I too would like to hear from someone with 1st hand experience with this. It all sounds good, until you look at the price. You can get all the same functionality for a lot less money. Winegard has bundled a cellular router, antennas, amplifier and cellular service. So much depends on how and where you travel. Wilson makes the best cellular antennas and amplifiers. Cradlepoint makes the best cellular routers. Verizon is generally regarded as having the best overall service for RV travelers. We have a video on "get away - stay connected" on our website www.geeksontour.com.

By Wireless Key, I assume you are refering to a USB Cellular Data device. In our FMCA Internet seminar, we always ask the audience what they are using and how they like it. Verizon gets the best response, but AT&T is coming on strong. It really depends on how and where you travel. The best one is the one that works for you.

There's another new way to create a wireless hotspot in your RV using your Verizon data service. It's a device called the MiFi and it is like a card and a router all in one. It looks pretty cool. Check it out at Verizon.

We just gave our 'High Speed Internet on the Road' seminar here at the Escapade. We always take a poll on what people are using. We're seeing fewer satellite users - although there have never been very many - and more cellular users. And, pretty much everyone uses Wi-Fi from time to time. The people in the audience who used AT&T expressed disappointment in the coverage. Although we spoke with someone else outside of the seminar who said they had AT&T coverage everywhere they went. I guess these folks just don't travel in the same circles. Generally, happy Verizon users are the great majority. I agree completely that, if you need the Internet, and you need it *everywhere*, you will use all three technologies. The satellite dish is the ultimate - we have the Datastorm. But that doesn't work in deep forests. Cellular is the only way to get online while you're driving. Wi-Fi, when it's good, is the best connection you can get. You can get a cellular router and connect it to multiple data cards - one from each provider. Now you're talking! There is also a new thing out there called Walkinghotspot.com which is quite magical. If you have the right kind of smart phone (Verizon not supported) with an unlimited data plan, you can download this software and your phone becomes a wireless router. You don't even have to tether it. Just run the walkinghotspot software and it will show up to your computer as a wireless network!

Rodney and Shirley, I hope you saw the reply on the FMCA Geek page. I will put a copy of it here. Wayne, They are asking about Internet access, not TV, a much more expensive thing altogether. Hello, Rodney. Congratulations on your plans to travel to Canada, United States and Mexico. Sounds wonderful. I agree that if you need Internet wherever you go in those places, satellite is the best option. We have been using the Datastorm automatic roof mount since 2003 and love it. We also know plenty of people who use the manual, tripod mount. Satellite Internet is getting less popular due to the proliferation of good cellular Internet connections, but satellite is still the best option for Canada and Mexico. Even if you can get a cell signal in those countries, you will probably be assessed hefty roaming charges. I am biased toward the automatic roof mount. It’s just so much easier to push a button inside your coach and be online within minutes, as opposed to pulling the tripod and dish out of a storage compartment and spending 30 minutes setting it up. It all depends on how you travel. If you like to make tracks daily, or even weekly, you will get quite tired of the manual setup. On the other hand, if you go to a destination and stay for a month or two – the manual setup is not a problem. With the extreme north-south range you mention, you may need to change satellites to get a good signal. This can be an important difference with the automatic roof mount vs. the tripod mount. Your actual Internet service most likely will come from Hughes. With an automatic roof mount like the Datastorm, you will be supported by Motosat. Motosat will handle switching your service from one satellite covering northern latitudes to another satellite covering the southern latitudes. If you have the manual, tripod mount, your service contract is directly with Hughes. And Hughes does not like switching satellites for you! They think satellite dishes should be stationery on residential property, and although it’s not illegal to put them on a tripod and move them (like some people used to think), it is not well-supported. Hope that helps. We have a Satellite Internet FAQ page on our website at http://geeksontour.com/satellite.cfm. For more users' input, go to www.datastormusers.com — Jim and Chris

This looks like a powerful (500 mW) WiFi adapter. I looked at the specs and they don't mention Vista. Do you know for sure that it has Vista drivers? I wrote an article that includes a couple other sample USB Wi-Fi adapters. The engenius is especially nice because you can take off the little antenna that comes with it, and plug in an even better one if you want.

It is amazing how happy people are with their cellular broadband connections to the Internet while traveling. Other than the occasional black hole with no service signal, the only drawback seems to be that you need a separate 2 year contract at $60/mo for service with an aircard. We are using our cell phone, tethered to our computer for our Internet access when good Wi-Fi is not available. This is still a $60/mo chage, but since it is just a 'feature' on our cell phone contract, we can turn it off any time we want and just get charged a pro-rated $2/day. Find out more about how this tethered modem setup works.

Did you attend the FMCA Convention in Perry, GA on March 16-19? We did! After a little bit of wet weather to start with, it turned beautiful. We hear all about the RV industry collapsing, but you sure couldn't tell that by this convention! There were over 2,600 rigs there, we understand, and everyone we talked to felt the rally was a big success. We gave six of our seminars, plus a hands-on Boot Camp. All of our seminars were well attended with no less than 150 people. The Picasa seminar had over 500! If you missed it, all our handouts are available on our website: Managing Digital Photos with Picasa Every RVer Needs a Blog Safe Computing High Speed Internet on the Road Making Slide Shows with Photo Story 3 Using Google Earth And, we're looking forward to doing it all over again in Bowling Green in July!