Satelite or Not

Topic: Satelite or Not (Read 1976 times) previous topic - next topic

Satelite or Not

April 18, 2018, 10:30:53 pm

We leave soon for 6 months and think we have the FT mechanically "ready". AT&T Mobley and Unite Explore internet and internet ready TV & Apple TV. Verizon for cell.

Winegard Traveler dish on top and Direct TV non-DVR receiver ( 👍 J & C) ready to activate.

Should I activate? What will we gain over OTA and internet? 2-3 months out west mostly boondocking.

Thanks

Randy

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #1 – April 18, 2018, 10:40:30 pm

Quote from: floridarandy – April 18, 2018, 10:30:53 pm

We leave soon for 6 months and think we have the FT mechanically "ready". AT&T Mobley and Unite Explore internet and internet ready TV & Apple TV. Verizon for cell.

Winegard Traveler dish on top and Direct TV non-DVR receiver ( 👍 J & C) ready to activate.

Should I activate? What will we gain over OTA and internet? 2-3 months out west mostly boondocking.

Thanks

Randy

NASCAR, don't leave home without it!

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #2 – April 18, 2018, 11:01:05 pm

Quote from: floridarandy – April 18, 2018, 10:30:53 pm

Should I activate? What will we gain over OTA and internet?

You gain more channels to choose from...some of them where they actually speak English.

We have only our OTA antenna, but often find too few good stations. Our solution is to carry a big box of DVDs (movies and multiple seasons of our favorite TV series). If you already have the satellite hardware, activation seems (to me) a no-brainer. It's only money.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #3 – April 18, 2018, 11:08:36 pm

Um, enjoy the great outdoors possibly, it's not like a Florida or Houston steam bath every day. Have fun!

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #4 – April 18, 2018, 11:21:51 pm

So far I'm been getting by with the AT&T Mobley and the OTA antenna. With the Mobley we watch Hulu and Netflix with not much issues.
Steve

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #5 – April 18, 2018, 11:24:04 pm

Randy, if you plan on boondocking you will be out of OTA tv most of the time, internet and phone can be shakey as well, with respect to streaming video.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #6 – April 19, 2018, 07:44:39 am

Bruce, that's what we're wondering. Our camping over the years in the southeast has almost always had lots of OTA and internet in most places.

Certainly enjoy reading and excited to be in a "new to us" outdoors...even looking forward to fewer hours a day of TV.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #7 – April 19, 2018, 09:40:31 am

OTA TV is good up to 50 miles without obstructions. Nirmally less. Somehow PBS is usually the easiest to get. Cell service is much better than it was 7 years ago and getting better. But if you are pretty far from a cell tower or that tower is servicing many users your speeds will get pretty slow. Keep your expectations low.

We have streamed all of our TV for the last 2+ months. This just wouldn't have been practical/possible even 2 years ago. DirecTV sat is great, just remember to bring your receiver. 📺

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #8 – April 19, 2018, 10:44:50 am

If you turn on the Directv receiver, do it before you leave. You can register the receiver to your Mo Ho, by sending in a form (DTV will email it to you) with a copy of the rego. That way you can pay a extra $15.00 and have the distant networks (either east coast or west coast) they are on the same satellite as all the other programming . Otherwise once you are couple of hundred miles from home, you'll loose your locals.
Have fun
Chris

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #9 – April 19, 2018, 11:44:20 am

Randy,

How important is TV to your daily routine? If it's a crucial part of the day/night routine then activate it. If not, then try it first without it and see if you notice it not being present.

Regarding internet/cell...

Cell service out in the mountain states is not like on the east coast. It can get very spotty and the level of service (3G, 4G) is not uniform.

Here's how I have come to view it from our time trying to work on the road.

Internet with a 4G cell signal is nice and like being in our home offices. You can stream video at a good resolution if the cell tower isn't overloaded. As the space/bandwidth on the tower gets filled the resolution will drop.

Internet with 3G is like using an old school telephone modem. We haven't had much luck streaming with 3G. Web surfing is slow because web pages these days have so much stuff on them. Email works well, but slows down the weaker the signal.

In areas with 1x cell service - use a carrier pigeon. Typically voice calls won't go through.

One thing to remember is that with modern TVs OTA stations can take a while for the TV to "search" for and lock in. We had a TV that would scan for analog, then digital, then cable. It took a long time. It can get annoying to do this every time you turn on the TV if you are covering distances each day.

Chris

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #10 – April 19, 2018, 11:47:50 am

In the areas we boondock in Az, Nv, Mt,Id you ca get between lost and found quickly. We are currently in Caliente Nv nearest Wal-Mart or chain grocery store 175 mi to Vegas or 120mi to St George Ut. 10 miles out of town no phone or internet. The morel of the story is the west is a big place. We find a lot of great spots, but as we are fulltime phone and internet are a must. We go so far as to use 2 different phone providers ATT and Verizon.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #11 – April 19, 2018, 01:09:58 pm

We use OTA antenna when possible but we have 300 hours or so of favorite shows etc. that we never get a chance to watch recorded on the home DVR. I just unhook it from the house connection and put it in the coach. All high def and 1 HDMI cable to hook up. Easy and a good way to catch up on favorite shows. Have to say however when out on the road TV watching goes way down. Rather play cards, dominos, etc out on a picnic table if weather permits.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #12 – April 19, 2018, 01:25:13 pm

One more point. If you are in an area with no cell reception and are concerned about communication, ( who isn't ). Get your ham radio license. It is easy to do and I have 2 meter and 440 gear in the coach. You can buy a dual band handheld unit for less than $50 on Amazon. I have RARELY not been in an area not covered by repeaters on both bands.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #13 – April 19, 2018, 01:51:27 pm

Quote from: steve31 – April 19, 2018, 01:25:13 pm

One more point. If you are in an area with no cell reception and are concerned about communication, ( who isn't ). Get your ham radio license. It is easy to do and I have 2 meter and 440 gear in the coach. You can buy a dual band handheld unit for less than $50 on Amazon. I have RARELY not been in an area not covered by repeaters on both bands.

Steve good idea, We have the on board CB rado and a portable handheld CB to feel more secure when traveling, knowing we could possibly raise a trucker in an emergency. The ham radio would be more dependable.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #14 – April 19, 2018, 02:05:20 pm

Quote from: Jack Lewis – April 19, 2018, 01:51:27 pm

We have the on board CB rado and a portable handheld CB to feel more secure when traveling, knowing we could possibly raise a trucker in an emergency.

I have a CB, but hardly ever use it, keep it on the truck channel . Traveling a back road, up a steep hill and a 18-wheeler came up to pass. Another semi was coming the other way, balls out, looked like a bad collision (with us in the middle!). I grabbed the CB and yelled out "don't pass me in the motor home", hoping he had his CB on. He did, and we all avoided a nasty wreck! Phew!!!!!!

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #15 – April 19, 2018, 03:47:02 pm

We have the Winegard traveler mounted up top and and a non– DVR receiver that was gifted to us by another member. I stopped at AT&T today to investigate DirecTV service and found that regardless of the package you choose, it comes with New equipment. They indicated that it included both a dish and DVR receiver. I assume this is for standard home installation but I was told there is no savings if you use your own equipment.

Since this is primarily a cell phone store I was disappointed that the representatives were conversant with RV use. They're only RV related question was whether we would use in motion DirecTV service or not. But indicated that we would need to deal directly with DirecTV if we were interested in the in motion equipment. I was disappointed that the representatives werent conversant with RV use.

Other than this equipment related issue the packages and pricing seem pretty straightforward. Because we have AT&T unlimited plus service on our unite explore hotspot we can save $15 a month. The service also includes lifetime HBO at a $200 gift card. The pricing is a bit dodgy because it requires a two year contract with the first year of the least expensive package at $35 a month and the second you're at $78 a month.

So, my question is less about packages and more about equipment. If they're going to give me a DirecTV home dish and installation, I may will drop cable at the house and simply move the DirecTV DVR to the coach when we travel. It's just hard to believe that the recent song discount for service on way and the leading of the equipment.

Thanks for the insight.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #16 – April 19, 2018, 04:05:52 pm

We sold our Tailgater (Dish) as there was not much programming we liked. We use an internet connection for our communication and streaming (unlimited grandfathered MiFi), antenna for OTA or have a FTA (free to air) satellite to take along if we are out of the country or staying at a campground without OAT or WiFi.

Pierce

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #17 – April 19, 2018, 04:43:02 pm

I think Directv [AT&T] is feeling the pain of streaming. Every year they try to increase my rates, every year I call the "retention manager " and threaten to cancel my subscription, and every time they find a new plan that will lower my rate for another year. Right now am paying about $60 a month for 3 receivers with equipment and wiring warranty, and HD service. They will upgrade for free the non recording receivers when a new one comes out. Includes HBO.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #18 – April 19, 2018, 05:20:53 pm

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #19 – April 19, 2018, 08:00:57 pm

Quote from: floridarandy – April 18, 2018, 10:30:53 pm

We leave soon for 6 months and think we have the FT mechanically "ready".

Randy

Hello Randy, I hope you are able to take some short 100 mile or 2 day camping trips before you take off in 6 months, nothing like use to give experiece.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #20 – April 20, 2018, 04:04:38 am

Something I considered was music. Which Directv can help with. I'm not nor have I ever been conventional in my musical tastes. So I don't do top 40, rap, new country. I'm into jazz, Classical, Prog Rock, Jam bands. Which pretty much rules out commercial radio. So D-tv can certainly help with that. The 5,500 songs on my I-pod helps as well.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #21 – April 20, 2018, 08:05:29 am

Quote from: bigdog – April 20, 2018, 04:04:38 am

I'm into jazz, Classical, Prog Rock, Jam bands. Which pretty much rules out commercial radio.

Have you tried Sirius XM? We get our choice of 50 stations (A La Carte) for $11.30 per month. Seems like they would cover at least some of your eclectic musical tastes. Our Stratus 7 receiver is simple to add on to any existing in-dash AM-FM-CD receiver, and gets excellent reception every place we have visited. When we are at home, we move the little receiver inside and plug it into our speaker dock for in-home use. Very versatile!

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/siriusxm-stratus-7-satellite-radio-with-powerconnect-vehicle-kit-black/1489733.p?skuId=1489733&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=CPH0yvflyNoCFV6VxQId92kIzA&gclsrc=ds

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Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #22 – April 20, 2018, 09:01:45 am

Quote from: gracerace – April 19, 2018, 10:44:50 am

If you turn on the Directv receiver, do it before you leave. You can register the receiver to your Mo Ho, by sending in a form (DTV will email it to you) with a copy of the rego. That way you can pay a extra $15.00 and have the distant networks (either east coast or west coast) they are on the same satellite as all the other programming . Otherwise once you are couple of hundred miles from home, you'll loose your locals.
Have fun
Chris

Just tell DirecTV that your "SERVICE ADDRESS" is New York City. Be prepared to give them the county of the address you use.
You will then get the NYC locals (the network stations) wherever you are without registering as an RV and save the extra $15.

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #23 – April 20, 2018, 09:54:46 am

I didn't see anything on dish network pay as you go no contract-- has anyone tried dish network and how is the reception
Also, what is best satellite, Mounted or tailgater, personally I would prefer mounted to conserve storage space but I can adapt
Thanks
Chris

Re: Satelite or Not

Reply #24 – April 20, 2018, 10:01:33 am

http://www.slingbox.com/en/DiscoverSling.aspx
Another way to get your home channels when travelling, must have wifi, [I use my mobley] to get it.

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