Internet in Your Pocket - or Glovebox

I've used a decent variety of mobile broadband adapters over the years, as I've tried to stay connected on the road. Some combinations work better than others. And nearly all fail at times - mostly dependent on where I was at the time. I recently used the Verizon Wireless MiFi, and had a pretty good experience.

The MiFi is a small device - about the size of a smartphone. It's role in the world is to connect to the Verizon Wireless network and allow any device to connect to the Internet through its WiFi connection. So, basically, it's a hotspot that you can carry with you.

This is not a new idea, of course. I've tried and written about these kinds of systems over the last 5 years or so. What sets the MiFi apart is mainly its size, which also makes it convenient. The other thing that sets it apart is that it's linked to a Verizon account, just like a cell phone.

Using the MiFi was dead simple. I turned it on and gave it a minute or so to find a signal. When it's lights turned the proper colors, indicating an active connection, I let my laptop discover local networks. It found the MiFi, and let me connect just as with any other WiFi connection.

The connection quality was decent, but not great. My opinion and experience with Verizon Wireless is that in most locations it's possible to get some kind of connection. In my little town, Verizon piggybacks over a local carrier's towers, and does not offer 3G speeds. That means that the connection works, but is excruciatingly slow. Still, I'll take slow over no. And as we left the area, and traveled the Interstate, the signal got significantly better.

Size is a big deal for this device - actually it's a 'small' deal because I was able to slip the MiFi into a pocket and stil use it. Very convenient.

The MiFI is available from Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T, and probably a few other carriers. The price is right at (usually) about $100, but you'll need to sign up for a 2 year contract at about $70/month to get that pricing. This is what irks me about all the carriers. I'd prefer to buy the device at retail - about $200 - and pay monthly for service as I need it. But even if I do that, all the carriers want exorbitant fees for part time use, or a 2 year contract anyhow. Argghhh. (end of rant)

It supports up to 5 connections, so you can connect all the family laptops (depending on the size of your family). Obviously, all connections share the same bandwidth, so streaming video and music, not to mention downloads will affect everyone using the connection.

I like a lot of things about the MiFi - most significantly its size and simplicity.

RV users of Starband satellite Internet in miff

Keeping a solid Internet connection will RVing can be a challenge, particularly for those who boondock in the less populated areas of the country. We know, we've been Quartzsite denizens for years, and getting onto the web can be a major challenge in this land of nebulous connectivity.

A few years ago we made the jump and signed up for satellite Internet service. In Quartzsite, your choices are most decidedly few: Dial up, or trusting in the local wifi purveyor, who makes many claims, but sad to say, the coverage is spotty at best. It wasn't the easy road to travel, but we eventually had a satellite connection. Faster than dial up, Starband seemed like the answer to our Internet problem. We upgraded our system a couple of years ago, meaning new equipment, but with the new system came the opportunity to set up a "home network," which allows both of us to work on the web at the same time.

A couple of months ago Starband announced it was moving its customers from one satellite to another. We complied, and after a day's worth of grumbling and sweating, we finally got connected up on the new bird. We thought the tough part was over: Silly us.

Our dealer said most customers were singing the Hosannas of faster downloads. Within 24 hours we were on the phone trying to get an explanation of why it took five minutes or longer to simply download the Yahoo home page--when it would download. Trying to reach technical support was a major laugher--can you say hanging around on hold while your cell phone time ticks away like the sand in the hourglass?

We finally got the dealer on the horn. His explanation was that since so many Starband customers were being switched to the new satellite, it was tying up system bandwidth. After we suggested we were considering going to a broadband card through Verizon, he pleaded that we'd stick it out through another week, and to sweeten the deal, he'd see to it we got paid for a month's worth of satellite service.

We write this post from the Quartzsite library. We can't even log in to update posts using the satellite system; e-mail downloads like a slug in wet cement. We know of other RVers with Starband service--one of them sold us on it to start with. But don't ask us how things are going for them--we simply can't reach them.

Entertainment on the RV road

Many campgrounds have cable TV, but particularly for those RVers depending on off-air TV signals, the advent of digital television with its shorter broadcast distance, means you may not be able to get as many (or any at all) channels in the same locations you had great reception in last year. Here are a few options.

On one of my last excursions I had spotty Internet connectivity. The problems were brought on by a combination of satellite Internet through DirectWay and enthusiastic Internet users who overloaded the bandwidth provided by DirectWay. Keep in mind that the services I'm recommending here depend on having good connectivity and generous limits on data transfer volumes. I have not measured the requirements of each of these, but they are all in the 'more than e-mail' load category, and lower than what it takes to download streams of MP3 files.

That said, if your campground provides decent WiFi to your site, you should be able to take advantage of at least some of these services. If you have your own wireless broadband connection via one of the cellular services, with a 5gb/month limit, you are likely to be able to get decent performance, but need to check your usage as you go. Overusing the allotted capacity can be expensive.

TV
The easiest and least taxing on your bandwidth is simply finding the local television station's Internet channel. These are usually pretty good for keeping up with local news and weather. You'll also find coverage of wider interest, but for national and international news, CNN, Fox News, or other news sources work well.

If your television interests are more focused on entertainment, HULU is a great source. HULU streams movie trailers, TV episodes, and lots of other content. You're likely to find the full series of your favorite shows there. But as a word of caution, this kind of streaming video is one of those that eats into your available bandwidth and your download allotment. The quality of your viewing depends on how good your Internet connection is at the time you're watching.

Movies
You may have brought a few DVDs with you, that you got from Netflix before you left the driveway. Depending on your Netflix account level, you can watch a certain number of hours of Netflix movies through your online connection. While you have over 100,000 DVD movies available through the traditional Netflix delivery service, there are "only" about 12,000 available for online viewing.

There are lots of other services offering television and movie viewing online. Some of them are legitimate, and some of them just want you to install their viewer on your computer, which can be a security risk depending on the company. If you've found any providers that offer good selections and service, without any burdensome requirements, post them here for us.

Music
Of course, there's always AM and FM radio, and for many of us, there's satellite radio as well. One other option is the plethora of Internet radio available. One of the most interesting is Pandora. Pandora lets you find exactly the song or artist you want to listen to, then builds a listening series based on your preferences. It's a free service, and in terms of bandwidth requirements, is significantly less a hog than any of the video services.

Equipment
It may seem obvious, but it's worth mentioning that all these services are available through your computer (not your television). I dusted off an old laptop computer and mounted it under my television set, then connected the VGA port on the laptop to the VGA adapter on my flat panel TV. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse to control the TV/computer combination from the sitting area. If your TV doesn't have the proper connection, you can simply watch the videos on your laptop screen - maybe not as large as you'd like, but probably much better resolution.

I also ran a wire from the laptop to the 'aux' input on my camper's sound system. This makes for a nice distribution of the sound through much better speakers than those installed in either my laptop or my TV.

Above all, be sure to watch out for bandwidth and download limitations. You'll know immediately if you are overstretching the bandwidth available because you'll get pauses and hesitation in your video. It's not so easy to know about download volumes, so find out from your Internet provider where to check, and do so often.

Follow Scott Koegler on Twitter.

Connecting - or Not

This is not one of my usual product eval/reviews. Rather, I thought I'd describe my trials during our current camping trip with regard to being able to be connected to the internet.

For better or for worse, when I travel / camp, I'm never away from my work. Of course the good part of that is that I can travel pretty much whenever and wherever I like. The converse is that I'm pretty much always working - at least for some part of the day. But I'm fortunate in that I love what I do, and as long as I have a decent internet connection, I'm able to accomplish most of what I need to get done. And that's where this post begins... getting and staying connected in less than optimum conditions.

I've stayed in plenty of great campgrounds that offer well managed and speedy WiFi service - often for free. And I've stayed in places that don't offer WiFi, which is why I carry both AT&T and Sprint wireless broadband cards with me. During all my travels last year, I was able to connect using one of the setups.

This week's trip is a 10 day stay at a beautiful, well managed campground New River Junction in SW VA. Our site is directly on the New River, and we've taken advantage of tubing and canoing the river during our stay. The campground advertises free WiFi, and even has a directional antenna with a decent booster attached. I was expecting good things and easy connectivity during the week.

After setting up and getting comfortable, I decided to check my email. I was able to connect to the camp's network using the access code provided at the office, and my email began to appear - slowly. No problem; I'm connected and getting what I needed for the time being.

The next day, connectivity was a different story. I was able to connect to the network, but could not get to any web sites. The camp office doesn't open till 11:00 am, but unconcerned, I switched on my camper's own router using my AT&T card. After waiting a few minutes, I was able to connect to the network, but it seemed that AT&T service was unavailable in this large, remote valley. On to the next option...

I inserted my iPass card (Sprint service) and fired up a connection. Happily, I was able to get a slow, but usable connection, even though the connection reported itself as Roaming. I guessed that I should conclude my business and terminate the roaming connection ASAP, which I did.

I should say here that I was probably able to get the Sprint connection, only because I have a decent cellular booster that uses a trucker's antenna mounted atop the camper. Still, it was not a happy situation.

When the campground office opened, I asked about the connection, and found that the local cable company doesn't support this area, DSL service has just recently been announced here, but is not installed yet, and the current connection is a satellite connection through DirectWay. I've used satellite connections before, and they have been passable, but using one as a campground's main connection is fraught with issues, and one of them was showing itself.

Satellite providers have pretty restrictive 'fair use' policies that limit how much bandwidth can be consumed at any given time, and for how many megabytes of download. In a campground, it's likely that any number of campers might decide to
a) download some music
b) listen to internet radio
c) play a Netflix video
d) watch a Hulu tv episode
e) browse Youtube videos
f) have a video chat over Skype
g) ... well you get the idea

It seems this happens regularly here and has been a source of consistent outages, as DirectWay simply shuts off the service when it determines its bandwidth limits have been exceeded. In fact, it shuts down the service for 24 hours. The campground owner explained that he's contacted DirectWay about this, but they won't budge in restoring service ahead of time. His only recourse is to pay for more bandwidth, but I expect there is no capacity that is likely to be 'enough' for this situation.

So what was my solution? I waited for the campground to clear out on Monday when service was restored, and even then I decided that a trip to Barnes & Noble for coffee and free (fast) WiFi was the thing to do. I was able to get the majority of my work done in a couple of hours, then return to the campground and spend most of the rest of the day sitting in my chair - in the river.

After all, there's got to be at least some time for non-tech camping, right?

Are You On the Centerline?

Most RVs are wider than the typical passenger vehicle - or at least that's how it seems when you're pulling a rig, or driving a motor home. I'm always checking my passenger side mirror and center line to make sure I'm not hanging over the line, particularly when I'm in heavy traffic, or on a narrow road. But a couple weeks ago I discovered a little gem that, after installing it, seemed like one of those 'duh' moments.

The device is called LaneSeeker and is a nice solution to the problem of trying to stay within the lines on the road. In itself, LaneSeeker is a LED light mounted on a plastic strip that attaches via suction cups to your windshields. The LED runs on AA battery pack. Installation is simple, and consists of mounting the plastic strip on the inside of your windshield so that the LED lines up between your eyes and the center line.

What does this accomplish? Simple... it provides a point of reference for you and your position on the road. The first step in installation is to park your vehicle about 12 to 18 inches from a center line. The instructions recommend finding a parking lot or other non-busy location, and stopping your vehicle at an appropriate distance from the line. In other words, at about the distance you would normally want to drive in relation to the center line. Once you've parked, position the plastic strip and LED on the windshield, sit in your normal position, and adjust the LED from side to side on the strip, till it lines up with the center line.

It really is a simple approach. Once positioned, you can judge your position on the road by lining up the LED with the center line, and you know that you're about 12 to 18 inches from the center line.

I used the LaneSeeker on a recent trip, and it worked nicely. I found that I wasn't constantly checking the right side mirror for the position of the edge of the road. I was more constantly looking at the LED, and keeping it on track. During the day, I turned on the LED to make it a stand out a bit more from the bright sun. At night, I turned it on to make the reference point more visible.

I wondered if simply putting a strip of tape on the windshield, in place of the LED might serve the same purpose, and in some ways it does the job just as well. However, the tape only works well in daylight since I wasn't able to see the tape well at night. Also, the battery pack provides a simple power source for the LED, but I'm certain the first time I forget to turn it off, the batteries will be dead next time I try to turn it on. I think that an option to plug the LaneSeeker into a cigarette lighter socket would make for more reliable use.

At any rate, for $30 or less the LaneSeeker is a nice addition that reduces my driving stress, and keeps me from wandering into my neighbors' paths.