Internet options

[jbobst]

It's been awhile since I've looked at mobile internet options, but my parents are living full time on the road, mostly staying in a rural rv park in Colorado. The park has free wifi, but they've started restricting usage because they say that my parents are using the wifi for internet movie streaming and internet radio (which they do use). The park management has limited their internet connection and services so my parents no longer have the ability to stream movies/tv shows and radio.

Is there anything new to the market for internet service besides costly satellite service? Who is the best provider to look at mobile satellite internet and does anyone have a rough monthly cost associated with it? My parents are on a strict budget, so I am not sure a mobile satellite internet service will be feasible for them.

The 4G cellular service is spotty at this RV park, and even then, most 4G plans limit the download usage and wouldn't be good for large downloads of movies and such.

[Heisenberg]

Line of Sight wireless in some rural areas is available with good bandwidth.

[wintersun]

Cheapest in the long run will be for your parents to get a satellite dish and go with Dish or Directtv for their viewing entertainment and continue to use the campground Wifi for email and browsing on the internet.

[MrWizard]

louiskathy wrote:
Space X made an announcement a few hours ago... fast cheap global internet coming in the next three months is what I read. I guess Google it.

That's not the way I read it
I understood development to start in the next three months

To have them up.in three months they would have to already be built and the service supply side being Putin place too sell service and the launch Windows for the rockets already secured

[Bill_Satellite]

Forget cellular internet or satellite internet for streaming TV and radio. The only affordable option is Dish or DirecTV and a satellite antenna. Take a look at the 2 websites to see what programming costs and it will be substantially less than anything you could find using the internet to watch the same programming.

[LarryJM]

MrWizard wrote:
A dishTV or direct tv Sat system is going to be the most economical monthly access for movies and tv

I agree and with a decent DVR and a little planning they will have more movies and other programs recorded than they will have time to use. Add one of the premium pkgs like HBO and you have IMO a winning combo.

Larry

[magicbus]

louiskathy wrote:
Space X made an announcement a few hours ago... fast cheap global internet coming in the next three months is what I read. I guess Google it.

Actually the official announcement of the program will come in 2-3 months. The service if it ever happens is going to take a bit longer.

Dave

[louiskathy]

Space X made an announcement a few hours ago... fast cheap global internet coming in the next three months is what I read. I guess Google it.

[MrWizard]

A dishTV or direct tv Sat system is going to be the most economical monthly access for movies and tv
This is not going to give them internet
Satellite internet will give them access almost anywhere, but it is slow at consumer service levels it will not have the speed to stream movies
Data use is not much concern they can download a lot but not fast enough for good streaming

[1775]

Streaming video equates to 1gb of data per one hour of video. This is why campgrounds restrict streaming as they have just so much bandwidth to share with everyone staying and using it. If you want to purchase the data it is going to cost a great deal. There are all types of plans available - Verizon is currently doing deals but that still is hundreds per month - and if Verizon service is spotty this will not help.

Since they are streaming movies, TV shows and music they certainly could get this with a Dish TV or Direct TV connection and just watch the shows and movies as they are broadcast for a similar cost that it would be at home. Nothing is cheap anymore. You can rent DVDs from Redbox machines for $1.20 and they have locations all over. Then they can use the campground wifi for basic browsing and email.

[jcpainter]

While they are staying at one park, they might check to see if the phone company there has DSL and will provide service to an individual site. If the park has permanent residents, they probably already have that service available.

It's a great option if it's available.

[paulcardoza]

There is no inexpensive mobile option that will allow for lots of streaming video.