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Wi-Fi router for coach


Scampers

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As we have moved from a small closet [Escape 19' trailer] to a small apartment [Holiday Rambler 36'] as one of our friends suggested we now have TVs.

Well it has about 2 more than we need. 😉

After 25+ years of living in the jungle w/o TV we have not been too excited by cable etc. and even at home only stream what we watch or PBS over the air.

We have used a Verizon Hot Spot for years traveling with our trailer to escape Mich. winters 4+ months on the road below the freeze line.

My wife recently  discovered she can stream some things from her phone at home to the TV.  Apparently that as well as Chromecast still use bandwidth and WI-FI.  If we only used the Hot Spot it will quickly run thought the monthly allocation as using the Hot Spot as a router has huge band width costs.  We were surprised, more like bit in the butt when we were sharing some text documents back and forth between our computers like we do at home when working on research papers.  It all counted as Verizon BW!!

So now we use USB memory stick to transfer between our computers.

There is  WI-FI Ranger on the new coach, but seems not yet matched to Verizon.

What I am looking of in info on a portable router for WI-FI that I can use like our larger one at home.  The router will share files stream to the TV  etc w/o using BW from the Hot Spot.

Any suggestions?

 

Cheers,

Bat Dude

 

 

 

 

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I can also recommend Mobile Internet Resource Center and their guides.  For plans check out this guide - https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/top-cellular-data-plans-for-rvers-cruisers-verizon-att-t-mobile-and-sprint/  or this 12 minute video from another source -

.https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/tv-movie-entertainment-on-the-road/ is their guide on streaming.

For routers you can use a Wifi Ranger or something else like the Pepwave Surf SOHO we use.  If you are looking for something small and low powered, look at USB powered travel routers, which are $25+ and up.   We have a GL.iNet one and a Hootoo one and TP-Link and Ravpower also have them.  There are many comparison reviews on the internet, just search for "travel router reviews".  

Edited by Bill Joyce

2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Fulltimer July 2003 to October 2018, Parttimer now.
Travels through much of 2013 - http://www.sacnoth.com - Bill, Diane and Evita (the cat)
 

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12 hours ago, Scampers said:

My wife recently  discovered she can stream some things from her phone at home to the TV.  Apparently that as well as Chromecast still use bandwidth and WI-FI.  If we only used the Hot Spot it will quickly run thought the monthly allocation as using the Hot Spot as a router has huge band width costs.  We were surprised, more like bit in the butt when we were sharing some text documents back and forth between our computers like we do at home when working on research papers.  It all counted as Verizon BW!!

So now we use USB memory stick to transfer between our computers.

There is  WI-FI Ranger on the new coach, but seems not yet matched to Verizon.

What I am looking of in info on a portable router for WI-FI that I can use like our larger one at home.  The router will share files stream to the TV  etc w/o using BW from the Hot Spot.

To answer your specific WiFiRanger question--our routers/modems are currently certified for use on AT&T and T-Mobile.  Verizon certification is expected "imminently" but we don't control the process. 

However, just because you have Verizon phones doesn't mean that you necessarily need or want to have a Verizon plan for your Ranger's modem.  There are relatively low cost, high data limit plans available for both AT&T and T-Mobile from resellers such as Millenicom, OTRMobile, and others.  As has already been suggested, take a look at the Mobile Internet Resource Center for more info on that topic.

I usually connect my hotspots to my Ranger and keep all my laptops, phones, etc, connected to it.  That way it's easy to change the entire network to a new source whether that is an RV park WiFi, another hotspot, or whatever.

With all due respect, I think you were wrong with regard to your concerns about the data consumption when a hotspot is used as a router.  You're only using network data when you are connecting to the internet.  The files you shared between yourselves would not have resulted in network data usage.  Furthermore, unless the files were truly enormous ones, even if you had been charged for the data, the amount would have been trivial.  More likely, your computers were "catching up" on updates and other housekeeping things.  If you had multiple tabs open on your browsers while connected there can be substantial data usage without you knowing it.

 

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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12 hours ago, Scampers said:

There is  WI-FI Ranger on the new coach, but seems not yet matched to Verizon.

i don't believe WiFi Ranger will ever match to Verizon.  Ours will connect to other WiFi sources.  Those can be wireless internet such as the RV park in which we are staying, Hotspots such as our Verizon MiFi, hardwired networks or USB connections to hotspots, or conbinations of the above.  Any hotspot connection will use bandwidth.  If it is connected to your hotspot that will be your bandwidth.

I find two advantages to Ranger.  One is that everything I have logs into Ranger and I just have to set up my connection to Ranger.  The second is that Ranger provides security for otherwise public networks.  A third thing that I use much less frequently is that I can allow guest access without  compromising security.

Jinx and Wayne

2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

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docj: The Chromecast he mentioned does not send the video from the hotspot to the TV, it pulls it down from the internet using more data. 

2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Fulltimer July 2003 to October 2018, Parttimer now.
Travels through much of 2013 - http://www.sacnoth.com - Bill, Diane and Evita (the cat)
 

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I and many others use the Gli-inet 450S "Slate" router from Amazon($67).  Combined with a Visible(Verizon) plan for $25 a month.  This provides me with internet in the Rig for 5 devices with unlimited data.  Last month I used 250gig, I watch a lot of Netflix.  This service can be sketchy in certain locations, but for the most part its good enough for normal activities.

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On 11/1/2020 at 7:45 AM, Jinx & Wayne said:

i don't believe WiFi Ranger will ever match to Verizon.  Ours will connect to other WiFi sources.  Those can be wireless internet such as the RV park in which we are staying, Hotspots such as our Verizon MiFi, hardwired networks or USB connections to hotspots, or conbinations of the above.  Any hotspot connection will use bandwidth.  If it is connected to your hotspot that will be your bandwidth.

I find two advantages to Ranger.  One is that everything I have logs into Ranger and I just have to set up my connection to Ranger.  The second is that Ranger provides security for otherwise public networks.  A third thing that I use much less frequently is that I can allow guest access without  compromising security.

It will if you have no Verizon cell signal.

2015 Ram 3500 RC DRW CTD AISIN 410 rear

2016 Mobile Suites 38RSB3

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On 11/1/2020 at 8:48 AM, Bill Joyce said:

docj: The Chromecast he mentioned does not send the video from the hotspot to the TV, it pulls it down from the internet using more data. 

I don't think I ever said it did.  The Chromecast (or a Roku or Firestick) "facilitate" a connection between the internet source and the TV.  Essentially, they pass along the URL so an internet connection can be made to the TV.  No one ever said that the Chromecast "sends" the video from the hotspot to the TV.

It occurred to me that you might be arguing that somehow the Chromecast uses twice as much data because there is an internet connection to your phone AND to the Chromecast, but that I think is an incorrect assumption.  Once you have "cast" the video to the Chromecast there is no reason for it to continue to be displayed on your phone (or other device).  Yes, you can control it from the device but in my experience you don't have to have it displayed.  Therefore, I see no reason why it would use any more data than is required to display it on the TV.

 

Edited by docj

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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On 11/1/2020 at 8:45 AM, Jinx & Wayne said:

i don't believe WiFi Ranger will ever match to Verizon.  Ours will connect to other WiFi sources.  Those can be wireless internet such as the RV park in which we are staying, Hotspots such as our Verizon MiFi, hardwired networks or USB connections to hotspots, or conbinations of the above.  Any hotspot connection will use bandwidth.  If it is connected to your hotspot that will be your bandwidth.

I find two advantages to Ranger.  One is that everything I have logs into Ranger and I just have to set up my connection to Ranger.  The second is that Ranger provides security for otherwise public networks.  A third thing that I use much less frequently is that I can allow guest access without  compromising security.

I think you may be unaware that most of the current WiFi Ranger routers can accommodate integrated modems so they, in fact, can connect to the cellular networks.  As I previously stated, WiFiRanger router/modems are currently certified to connect to the AT&T and T-Mobile networks.  We are in the final stages of obtaining Verizon certification.

WiFiRangers were originally exclusively wifi devices but we've been adding modems to them for a number of years.

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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Tnx all,

Certainly will look at additional options for Internet service, but so far Verizon has had the only coast-to-coast coverage... well we found holes in the coverage like Flamingo Campground in the Everglades and when Death Valley.  Perhaps Mobile Internet Resource Center will have some suggestions.

Since I am still working with students I occasionally need to transfer zipped data files that can be 30-50 GB.

Seems the Netflix, PBS etc that we stream to our ROKU stick will still work when Verizon throttles back the bandwidth and we have exhausted the current monthly allocation of 15 GB on the unlimited plan.

Clearly I will not have my office capability when on the road with external storage for research data ranging from 2-10TB in size.  I will bring  a USB port expander so 5 of the external HD can be linked directly w/o worrying about networking.

I have not given this sufficient thought in the past as we traveled in a 19' fiberglass Escape TT .

So off to learn what may work with the new coach and since the WI-FI ranger is already included I just need to see how best to use it.

Cheers,

 

Bat Dude

 

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42 minutes ago, Scampers said:

Seems the Netflix, PBS etc that we stream to our ROKU stick will still work when Verizon throttles back the bandwidth and we have exhausted the current monthly allocation of 15 GB on the unlimited plan.

When you blow past your hotspot data limit on Verizon you are limited to <600kpbs.  Good luck watching much Netflix on that data stream.

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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