Optimal Internet Setup for Travel Trailer

[Abbadox]

I would like to know what is currently the best setup for high speed reliable internet access for a travel trailer.

[agesilaus]

I have ATT and the wife has Verizon. And surprisingly in WY and ID she has been getting roaming warnings and no service while my ATT usually has a signal and no roaming.

[pianotuna]

In a quirk of connectivity, all three "major" USA companies have excellent and identical coverage in Canada--so long as the end user has a plan that covers use outside the country.

[wa8yxm]

I will second the two different providers (NOTE there are really only 3 providers AT&T. T-Mobile and Verizon, most of the others you see advertised are re-sellers of one of those 3)

I use T-mobile exclusively but NO company has 100% coverage. T-Mobile just happens to cover where I park.

[philh]

AT&T unlimited on a hotspot?

[pianotuna]

In Canada all the "players" have agreements in place to use any tower. For example, if I am in Ontario, my Sasktel phone will happily connect to a Bell tower. When I am in Saskatchewan, my Bell phone connects to Sasktel towers.

USA is quite different as there are few such agreements in place. However if you have an international package on the phone--then in Canada you would have that same feature (tested on Metro PCS and T-Mobile).

When I'm traveling south of the border, both my Bell and Sasktel phones will use various towers--but since I only have a roaming contract on the Bell phone I would only use the Sasktel if I were in an emergency situation, where the Bell phone refused to connect.

I think one reason there are these differences is that cell towers are not independently owned in Canada. They belong to the various networks.

I did have a Verzion device and found that on the trip south to Florida there were places where I had no service.

But in North Dakota a T-Motile won't connect to a Verizon tower.

Currently Verizon still has the best coverage.

Costs for cell phone service in Canada are pretty much always higher than those in USA.

[MrWizard]

i have an old grandfathered verizon unlimited data plan on my phone
and an ATT unlimited mobley data plan hotspot

neither are available any longer, but Technomadia mentioned above
as the most complete data on what is available NOW

[Bill_Satellite]

The type of RV makes no difference. Adding an external antenna will help a lot as well. You will need service from some cellular provider but that assumes where you like to travel that ANY cellular internet service is going to be available. If you travel out into the boonies frequently you might want to give satellite internet service a look.

[jcpainter]

Second Chance wrote:
These people are the experts - read what they have to say:

Technomadia

Rob

They absolutely are! Check out their Guides on their mobile internet site. Some require membership . . . but many are free.

[Second_Chance]

System posted twice - deleted.

[Second_Chance]

These people are the experts - read what they have to say:

Technomadia

Rob

[jcpainter]

Abbadox wrote:
I would like to know what is currently the best setup for high speed reliable internet access for a travel trailer.

There is no one "best" setup. If you want the best odds of having reliable internet access, you need service with multiple cell providers. Verizon and AT&T are CURRENTLY the most likely to provide the broadest coverage nationwide. If you can only choose one, it's a toss-up. There are areas where Verizon will offer the strongest signal and other areas where AT&T is a better choice.

On May 21st Verizon retired their "truly unlimited" hotspot plan. If you read the fine print on their other existing plans, they offer high speed internet for about 22GB and then throttle your speeds after that for any hotspot usage. If you are only concerned with using data on your phone, there are unlimited options still available.

Assuming that you want unlimited, "never slowed down" internet access for your computer(s) or other devices, the best plan available now is a hotspot with OTR Mobile. They offer full speed AT&T "truly unlimited" hotspot service that is available on all AT&T towers.

Don't skimp on the chosen hotspot. Technology is changing very rapidly and buying anything but the carrier's latest hotspot is short-sighted. Verizon's current flagship hotspot is the 8800L. AT&T's is their Nighthawk. There are many areas of the country where the hotspot you use will make a HUGE difference in performance.

[pianotuna]

The answer depends on where you wish to use it. If it is in Canada then the answer is quite simple. If USA there are several possible solutions. If Mexico--then things may be quite difficult.

[Dutch_12078]

The setup that's been working well for us consists of an AT&T hotspot and a Verizon hotspot, both with unlimited 4G/LTE data plans with no throttling. We have dual rooftop antennas that connect to the dual antenna ports on either hotspot. For extreme fringe areas, we also have a Maximum Signal Max Amp RV cell booster amplifier/repeater. So far, we've found a good usable signal with one or the other hotspot, and often both, everywhere we've been. We stream a lot of video, so using 100-150 GB/mo is not unusual.

[rk911]

unlimited data plan from verizon wireless.