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| [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61332] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 16:10  |
Marcus McGee
Messages: 112
Registered: March 2004
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Well, I am trying to ressurect my GMC and get back on the road for
spring. I want to have internet satellite access fro some products we
sell. I know of the Datastorm units, and may try to find a used one on
EBay or CL. Are there any others that are better or less money to buy?
Marcus McGee
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61354 is a reply to message #61347] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 17:53  |
Tin Gerbil
Messages: 236
Registered: October 2006
Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
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Dan;
I did an installation with a dual LNB this week. 110W, 119W. It was
very simple, after I put my glasses on and figured out I was locked onto
91W by mistake. I just put a piece of aluminum foil over the 119, get a
lock on the 110W, take off the foil and skew until the signal strength
balances for each LNB. There are 2,3,4,5,6 LNB heads now. I have a 1
meter motorized dish but have never put it up. You lock them on to any
bird and tell the box what it is. The motor will then swing to the next
one whenever you change channels. Very slick, just needs a stronger
place than I have to mount it. I was going to put it on the chimney but
did not want to get in Santa's way.
I will carry an 18" on my GMC.
Gordon
Dan Gregg wrote:
>
> Marcus, I have a single lnb dish on my roof for Directv. I do not
> subscribe to digital so only need the one lnb. There may be a system
> now that will get two satellites at same time, I am not up on that.
> Dan
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Gordon
'74 Canyon Lands "Tin Gerbil"
Vancouver Island, B.C.
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61358 is a reply to message #61342] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 18:05 |
Gary Berry
Messages: 1002
Registered: May 2005
Karma: -1
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Hey Marcus;
I have the MotoSat system on the Stretch and have had it for about
3 years. I got it after seeing Kerry Tandy's unit. I found my unit on
eBay (half price of a new one), and the fellow that was selling it was
also an installer which he did for free. At the time I also had the
DirecTV lnb installed and then had DirecTV setup at my house. All in
all, it has worked out great. I use the internet from the MotoSat at
my house, and when I travel I take the DirecTV-DVR from the house and
plug it into the lnb in the coach. The technical support has been
fantastic. As long as I have a view of the Southern sky, I have tv and
internet. Up front costs are significant, but I needed to have the
capabilities at all times and not have to depend on cell sites.
On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 2:38 PM, M. McGee <crsalert@frontiernet.net> wrote:
> Dan,
>
> Well that is something I will have to look into. I will have to have
> DirecTV access via satellite in any case, and I need to make sure I can
> get the HD version of that so I have a great deal of catching up to do
> on what is the best approach is cost and technology wise to get all the
> data I need to display our internet delivered weather products.
>
> I am open to any and all suggestions on the subject.
>
> Marcsu
--
Gary and Diana Berry
73 CL Stretch in Wa.
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61376 is a reply to message #61364] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 18:49 |
Tin Gerbil
Messages: 236
Registered: October 2006
Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
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Dan;
Use aluminum foil and cover two to start. Get the correct LNB locked on
the correct bird and the rest are along for he ride.
I bet you've got one of those Super Severe Duty Fan Clutches to drown
her out anyway.
Gordon
Dan Gregg wrote:
>
> Gordon, it has been so long since I set up a three lnb system I could
> not get one going at Eastern States last week. I hate those things. I
> have three of them here at the house but use a modified 3 ft dish for
> single satellite operation now. Gary, one thing I really like about
> the air card is mobile use. Teri stays on the internet as we travel
> and no longer pays such close attention to my driving skills. :d Dan
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Gordon
'74 Canyon Lands "Tin Gerbil"
Vancouver Island, B.C.
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61380 is a reply to message #61336] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 19:05 |
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USAussie
Messages: 15912
Registered: July 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Karma: 6
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Dan,
As you know Helen and I only come to the USA for the summers and since we
travel with a laptop we wanted to be able to connect with the internet.
In 2008 I went to Verizon and was told that I'd have to sign a contract for
two years at $70 per month, naturally there was no way I'd pay $1680 for a
total of four months internet service.
I then went to see T-Mobile and they had a deal where if I paid for the
wireless modem ($250) they would hook it up through a Flex-Pay account for
$60 per month that I could activate while we were in the USA and deactivate
when we left! I went that route. The downsides were that T-Mobile coverage
is not as good as Verizon and the connection was not 3G it was only
Edge/GPRS. It's fine for getting emails but surfing the net was tedious.
Whenever I needed to do that I'd find a Starbucks, Burger King or some other
mob that had free wi-fi. I also discovered you could park next to a hotel
and if they had open access you could pickup their network.
This year I stopped in a T-Mobile store in Chicago and found out that I
could upgrade to 3G with the same deal; I'd have to pay for the wireless 3G
modem (also about $250) and the monthly payments would be the same. Armed
with that info I visited a Verizon store and low and behold they could offer
me the same kind of deal! I decided to wait until we got back next summer as
the deals might be even better!
Bottom line: go visit your local Verizon store and see what they can do!
Regards,
Rob Mueller
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion-The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion-Double Trouble TZE365V100426
-----Original Message-----
From: gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org
[mailto:gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of Dan Gregg
Sent: Saturday, 24 October 2009 8:30 AM
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options
Marcus, is there a reason that you feel a need for satellite over an air
card? Most air cards are free with 2 year sign up. I paid about 135 for a
wireless router. that allows 12-16 computers to hook up via wifi. We do a
lot of remote camping out west and have never been anywhere that we could
not use it. I do have an outside antenna on the GMC and a 3 watt amplifier.
I too wanted satellite but found this much simpler and a lot less up front
investment. We use our's at home and on the road. Some places it is very
fast and some places it is less fast. After two years I have no complaints
about it.
Now, I do have unlimited feature that stopped March 1st 07. they allowed all
"old" clients to continue as unlimited. Now the most bandwith is 5 gb per
month for 60 bux. That might kill you for a business but I have never used
over 3 in a month and our computers are on 24-7.
Just a thought.
Dan
--
Dan & Teri Gregg
danandteri.blogspot.com
///Halon Automatic Fire Extinguishers
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Regards,
Rob M. (USAussie)
The Pedantic Mechanic
Sydney, Australia
'75 Avion - AUS - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
'75 Avion - USA - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61385 is a reply to message #61332] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 19:41 |
idrob
Messages: 645
Registered: January 2005
Location: Central Idaho
Karma: 0
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| Marcus McGee wrote on Fri, 23 October 2009 14:10 |
Well, I am trying to ressurect my GMC and get back on the road for
spring. I want to have internet satellite access fro some products we
sell. I know of the Datastorm units, and may try to find a used one on
EBay or CL. Are there any others that are better or less money to buy?
Marcus McGee
_______________________________________________
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I love my Verizon Air Card which works most everywhere but here at home (no cell service here at all, from anyone). At $60 a month is it not inexpensive, but not much more than the Wild Blue Satellite service I have here at the house. WB is much slower than the Air Card too.
Get the Air Card, and I would recommend Verizon as having the best coverage, nationwide. Forget the Satellite service, to complex, too slow, to hard to set up each time you stop. Plug the air card into your USB port and go. Or into a Cradlepoint router and have service via wi fi hookup. Verizon is also making a mobile router that is essentially an air card and a router combined, the monthly cost is the same $60. Just turn it on and you have your own wi fi hotspot wherever you go. The only reason I don't have that is because it has no provision for an external antenna, which I need in some remote locations.
Rob Allen
former owner of '76 x-PB
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61390 is a reply to message #61387] |
Fri, 23 October 2009 20:10 |
idrob
Messages: 645
Registered: January 2005
Location: Central Idaho
Karma: 0
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| WD0AFQ wrote on Fri, 23 October 2009 17:49 |
I too like the external antenna holes Rob. I use the outside antenna on the GMC all the time and run a 3 watt amp. Has worked everywhere we go but have not taken to your house yet.
Hey, when are you heading to Az?
Dan
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It won't work here even with your biggest antenna and amp...lol. I find that the antenna can help in some situations, but the Wilson 3 watt amp I have has never added anything to the service range anyplace I have been.
Will be going to AZ around the first of the month. Hope to see you and Teri there sometime this season.
Rob Allen
former owner of '76 x-PB
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61415 is a reply to message #61342] |
Sat, 24 October 2009 01:53 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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M. McGee writes...
> Well that is something I will have to look into. I will have to have
> DirecTV access via satellite in any case, and I need to make sure I can
> get the HD version of that so I have a great deal of catching up to do
> on what is the best approach is cost and technology wise to get all the
> data I need to display our internet delivered weather products.
I'm surprised to discover a satellite-based TV and internet
solution--I thought when DirecTV separated from Hughes that was no
longer possible without a very expensive alternative.
Here at our house, DirecTV satellite reception (with a 5-lnb antennata
for HD reception) is spotty. Thick clouds? It goes away. Pine trees
around our how in the right mood? It goes away. And I find I have to
reboot the satellite receiver when I don't want to (like right in the
middle of a show). First chance I get to abandone DirecTV, I'm taking
it.
We have no wired Internet service option here at the house. I have an
iPhonoe and when I first got it, the AT&T reception was acceptable so
I got an AT&T air card. No go. The radio in the iPhone has about 10dB
better reception than the air card, and AT&T only offers an air card
from one manufacturer, a fact I was able to confirm with internet
research on my iPhone while sitting in front of the non-functioning
air card. I gave it back (paying some hidden charges to do so) during
their trial period. T-Moble doesn't even pretend to offer service here
(or in a lot of places). So, I checked out Verizon. The radio
reception is probably no better than with the iPhone, but whatever
protocol Verizon uses is significantly better than AT&T. We have not
yet had even an interruption, with a consistent 2.5 Mb/s connection
speed. I have not yet had it out on the road to test it out.
The iPhone would be a more viable option for this if AT&T allowed it
to be tethered to a computer, which it does not. The phone is capable
of it, but AT&T's network is not. Since having the iPhone, I've
realized just how spotty their service really is.
Make sure you have considred: 1.) how far north you will be routinely,
2.) how many trees are likely to be around you at campsites, and 3.)
what sort of weather you might face regularly when evaluating
satellite-based services. I find all of these affect DirecTV
reception.
Rick "in the UAE, where the iPhone is being kept off" Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61428 is a reply to message #61387] |
Sat, 24 October 2009 08:23 |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
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Dan,
I had intended to talk to you about this at Eastern States, but somehow three days slipped past.
Your experiences with the Verizon card are much better than I had last year with a tethered Mot V3m. They told me then the coverage would be the same as with the broadband card.
I am running a 3watt Wilson repeater to a trucker like yours. Things got spotty in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma until we rejoined the I-40 corridor. But between OKcity and Santa Fe we got nothing. Westbound out of OKC, it finally died at about 99*W (half way to Texas) at that point I had to go back to DUN.
There was no coverage in Amarillo last year (but the rest stop had Wifi). When I finally made contact with Verizon they told me that the coverage would only reliable in the blue areas. (I tried to cancel right then as we would not be back in blue (see the map) for most of another week. They billed me for the entire month.
If one has a need for or a deductible use for the card, it would be vastly more convenient than the tether, but when I found that there was no way without a two year contract, that kicked that.
My impression is that if one is actually traveling, the Verizon card will beat satellite because if it works, it works underway (as you said) and has zero setup time. Even with the monthly access, it would still be a vast amount less expensive than any satellite service - all things considered.
So when people ask me, I tell them to look over that coverage map carefully and if they will be in the blue areas, it works.
We like to travel the little roads as there is more to see than the highways. I have gotten real good at finding Wifi to get to wire.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61450 is a reply to message #61428] |
Sat, 24 October 2009 11:52 |
idrob
Messages: 645
Registered: January 2005
Location: Central Idaho
Karma: 0
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| mcolie wrote on Sat, 24 October 2009 06:23 |
(some snips...)
Your experiences with the Verizon card are much better than I had last year with a tethered Mot V3m. They told me then the coverage would be the same as with the broadband card.
I am running a 3watt Wilson repeater to a trucker like yours. Things got spotty in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma until we rejoined the I-40 corridor. But between OKcity and Santa Fe we got nothing. Westbound out of OKC, it finally died at about 99*W (half way to Texas) at that point I had to go back to DUN.
There was no coverage in Amarillo last year (but the rest stop had Wifi). When I finally made contact with Verizon they told me that the coverage would only reliable in the blue areas.
If one has a need for or a deductible use for the card, it would be vastly more convenient than the tether, but when I found that there was no way without a two year contract, that kicked that.
My impression is that if one is actually traveling, the Verizon card will beat satellite because if it works, it works underway (as you said) and has zero setup time. Even with the monthly access, it would still be a vast amount less expensive than any satellite service - all things considered.
So when people ask me, I tell them to look over that coverage map carefully and if they will be in the blue areas, it works.
We like to travel the little roads as there is more to see than the highways. I have gotten real good at finding Wifi to get to wire.
Matt
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Matt: The Verizon Air card does have different service from the tethered phones. I know this for a fact as I have a friend in NM who could not get service on his tethered Verizon phone at his ranch, but when I got there with my Verizon Air card, I could get service just fine. When we went to ABQ a few days later, he got an Air Card and then had service at the ranch. He is a long haul trucker, and uses the Air Card along with a Cradlepoint router in the truck. He tells me that there is virtually no place he goes, nationwide, that he does not have service. But then, he has never been to my place here in Idaho...lol, there is no service here. Period. Sigh....
He has also told me that Verizon has not bought out some other company (and I cannot recall their name) recently, and now there in central NM his phone and Air Card connect to Verizon service, when in the past they were on "extended service", meaning a Verizon affiliate. So, like all things, stuff changes over time, in this case for the better.
I RV in Montana frequently, and it is rare that I am in even a Forest Service campground where I cannot get my Verizon Air Card to work if I put out my external magnetic antenna. I do have a Verizon USB 720 card, which has a higher power transmitter, and uses 2 USB ports to connect if I want that higher power built into the card.
I am always amazed how well it works, and how probably 90% of the time I can have a net connection anyplace I stop. I only wish it worked here at home or locally, but Verizon and Inland Cellular are still working out the stuff in this area. My Verizon cell will work in town (20 miles) but my Air Card will not. Inland Cellular will apparently not sell Verizon Data capability, they want anyone local to buy it from them exclusively. This too will change, I am sure. Getting a tower here in my remote valley is another thing, not sure if that will ever happen.
Rob Allen
former owner of '76 x-PB
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| Re: [GMCnet] Mobile Internet satellite options [message #61455 is a reply to message #61450] |
Sat, 24 October 2009 12:10 |
Tin Gerbil
Messages: 236
Registered: October 2006
Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
Karma: 0
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Rob Allen wrote:
> Idaho...lol, there is no service here. Period. Sigh....
Rob;
I put a Hughes Sat System in a logging camp and reduce their $10,000 a
month Sat phone bill to $149.00 by using Skype. The main purpose of the
system was data, so this was a huge improvement over lost floppy disks,
not making it to town. Everyone complained about the VOP delay being
like a "radiophone" and I had to do something else. I use the 3 Watt
amplifier with a directional Yagi and had solid cellphone from @40 miles
to the nearest site. This of coarse was over water with no obstruction.
If you are in a bowl or have a hill between you, you're cooked.
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Gordon
'74 Canyon Lands "Tin Gerbil"
Vancouver Island, B.C.
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