A lot of people ask about how to get internet on the road. In a sticks and bricks it’s so easy to do. Simply choose your internet service provider, hook up a modem, and you’re ready to go! On the road, it gets a little harder. One doesn’t have the luxury of “hard-line” connections like cable or DSL, so you have to enter the realm of mobile internet!
Lucky for people just entering the world of nomadic living, this is a road that’s been well-worn by those who came before us. There are basically three kinds of mobile internet right now: Cellular, Satellite, and Campground Wifi. Let’s break down the pros, cons, and equipment needs of each!
Cellular Internet
Equipment
At the most basic level, all one needs is a cell phone. More advanced setups can also include cellular modems with external or internal antennas and multiple SIM cards.
Pros
- Many companies are supporting mobile internet, and many people already have a phone.
- Many phones can be used as hot spots for laptops, tablets, or even televisions to log onto the ‘net.
- Costs are pretty low, and the bugs are worked out of the tech.
Cons
- Different providers have different networks that may not be available in your area.
- Service can get spotty when far away from cities.
- Service may get interrupted if used against the provider’s TOS.
- Can get really slow if there are a lot of users.
Cellular is by and large the most popular option available and it’s the technology that’s been available the longest. This means that there are a lot of options, and information ranging from the entry-level “plug A into B and you’ll have the internet” to the expert level “This 40′ Dingus 5000 will get signal strength of 30 to 4000 nets per minute in a range of 2.45 hectares.” It can be a little overwhelming. I’ll break down 2 internet setups in the “beginner area.”
Bare Bones
Equipment needed: Just a smartphone! Just go to the settings on the device and enable “wifi hotspot.” You will need to be a little careful with this as some cellphone providers want you to pay a little extra for hot spot connectivity. After you’ve set up your hotspot, you can connect your devices to your phone’s Wi-Fi just like if you were connecting at home! Speeds tend to be slower than seen on the phone itself.
Moderately advanced
This is the system we went with on our rig, supplied and supported by mobilemusthave.com. The equipment needed for this setup is
- cellular modem
- roof-mounted antenna
Additionally, you’ll need to get (a) data plan(s) from a cell provider for the modem. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to install the antenna and SIM card(s). Configuring the modem is similar enough to setting up a home router that anyone who can setup a home modem can setup the mobile modem. Mobilemusthave.com also has a vast library of how-to videos and walkthroughs.
Mobile Must Haves is one of the best resources for getting mobile internet on your rig. They carry a variety of pre-made packages from very basic one-SIM card modems to extremely fast 4 SIM card modems that auto-magically parse your mobile internet needs over several networks to bring you the best speeds possible.
If you want to check out Mobile Must Haves, and help support Dadding on the Road, check out this 5% off Deal!
A Word of Warning About “Provider At Home Modems”
A few of the big cellular providers are offering “high speed at home” cellular modems that a lot of full-timers have been trying out. If you tell the provider it’s for an RV they won’t even sell it to you. The problem with using these on the road is the providers have a limited number of slots in the supported cities and no support for people moving around. If you move into a coverage area with no available slots you can find your device either de-prioritized, meaning you’ll get a smaller slice of the available internet or your device can be blocklisted in the network and won’t work at all. Read your Terms of Service, and it will tell you the same.
We did try a “provider at home” device for a while and it worked surprisingly well, as long as we were ina coverage area for that provider. We still used the Mobile Must Haves router as a backup, and for internet access while rolling. Recently mobile providers have been marketing their “At home” modems to RV travelers, but at a significant markup on the monthly rate, on par with some satellite providers.
Satellite Internet
Equipment
Satellite dish and satellite modem
Pros
- If you can see the sky* unhindered, you can get mobile internet.
- Can be faster than Cellular without the need for multiple SIMS
Cons
- Satellite dishes need to be aimed at the satellites.
- Can’t keep connected while moving*
- Tech is still new and expensive.
- Some providers de-prioritize mobile internet.
- Many providers only offer mobile internet as an add-on for home internet.
- Customer service and user interfaces can be buggy with new companies
One of the fastest-growing technologies is satellite based mobile internet. Though many are TV providers with a data add-on to support Internet usage, there are a few that are Internet only. Still, some of these providers still prioritize stationery users vs mobile internet users, meaning that mobile users will get a smaller slice of the available internet. It should also be noted that prices have been going up lately as more and more users enter the service. Launching new satellites to increase the capacity of the system costs a lot more than upgrading cellular infrastructure, and that cost is passed on to the consumers.
- Starlink is one of the newest Satellite internet providers and is a little different from the rest. While other satellite internet providers rely on a few “stationary” satellites that orbit at Earth’s equator, high enough to stay in the same place relative to the ground. Starlink uses thousands of satellites, in low earth orbit, to form a large interconnected ‘constellation’. Because of this, unlike other providers where one has to make sure they are aimed at the southern sky for the equatorial satellites (at least in the northern hemisphere) Starlink satellites are easier to pick up in the northern sky and even has some dish packages able to actively track satellites while one’s rig is moving. For a price…
Recently we’ve started using a Starlink Gen 3 dish and router and have some notes for others considering getting one for their rig.
- Not all Starlink plans seem to be available for all hardware.
- The Gen 3 dish, often available in stores like Home Depot has a mobile plan, but it’s expensive
- The setup was really easy
- The dish and router are power-hungry and draw about 2 amps an hour, which really cuts into our overnight reserve.
- Trying to use a “Home Plan” while mobile will get the account restricted till one updates the address on the account or switches to the mobile plan.
Campground Wi-Fi
Equipment
As simple as individual devices, to routing through an internal router and antenna.
Pros
- Typically free/included with site fees
Cons
- Typically low bandwidth
- Coverage can be spotty
- Not every campground supplies it
- Not available when boondocking
- Unsecured
Campground wifi should probably be your last resort as it’s going to be your worst option. Since it’s freely available to everyone at the campground, it’s typically very crowded, further limiting the slice of the internet available to your rig. Additionally, campgrounds don’t always have the best signal infrastructure with signal repeaters and such, and just beam out the signal from their central office, meaning that the rigs closer in have better signal, and the rigs further out may not get any at all. Security-wise, this is also the worst option as there is nothing preventing malicious individuals from intercepting your internet activity.
Mobile Internet Safety
Most of the options that we’ve talked about involve setting up a WI-FI network for your rig, either through a cellular or satellite router or even distributing the camp wifi through your own internal network. I would like to leave you with a few tips to help keep your mobile internet safe, and most importantly YOU.
- If you can, turn off your SSID. It’s how your network broadcasts its ID for other devices to find. As long as you know your network ID, you can connect all your devices to it with no problem. This can also help prevent other folks from knocking on your door and asking for the password.
- USE A PASSWORD! While having no password makes adding devices to your network a breeze, it also makes it easy for others to get on, use up your data limits, and snoop on your usage.
- Make your password a phrase that you can easily remember, but will be hard to hack. A password like @4tQfg7n_! may be “secure,” but it’s pretty easy for a cracking program to hack. However, DaddingontheRoadismynumber1ChoiceforLearningaboutsecurity is easy for a person to remember but would take years for a cracking program to hack.
Hopefully, these tips and information can help you get online and safe in no time at all! Happy streaming!