I'm 11 mins into this video and I'm saying to myself "who needs another full time RVing channel. Chad knows his stuff and can break it down logically and explain in plain terms. Truly excellent prep on this video!!!
I am a faithful subscriber. My wife and I have just about set our business up to run remotely, but must have RELIABLE internet. Plus, it’ll be a write off!!😂 I watched this when it came out, but went back to watch again. THANK YOU for what you do for this community. It is truly priceless, keep up the good work!
Fantastic video guys.. and thank you so much for the humbling shoutouts! You did a great job breaking down the options and your setup. We're looking forward to going live with you in a couple weeks and helping your community even more on this confusing topic.
You have been a great resource for us as well. Thanks to your channel and Changing Lanes I found an inexpensive solution for this part time. And now getting ready to expand it this winter to a dual sim more robust setup. As a network engineer I love this stuff and look forward to leveraging it more as we camp.
I use T-Mobile home internet at my house. When I travel I take it with me and it has worked everywhere I have camped. Even places I used to not get T-Mobile.
@@chrismccarty3738 they recently updated their terms, as long as they have 5g coverage where you go it will not be a problem. And yes, there is always the possiblity of them cancelling if they feel your abusing their terms but as long as you're not full time rver i don't think it'll be a problem.
@@chrismccarty3738 I was told specifically the opposite when I got it, but the updated terms came out just a few weeks later. I actually bought it in Milwaukee Wisconsin and used my Texas address. No one cared.
Great video, awesome job breaking it down for less technical folks. One point of clarification, though, the Starlink map is _not_ a coverage map…it’s an availability map for new subscribers. Service is available across the country however those areas in the east are saturated for new subscribers (rv service excluded). You will still get service but the key thing to note is that in those areas you’re more likely to be deprioritized when using RV or Residential with Portability. Even deprioritized we’ve found that we typically are >50Mbps which has proven to be more than adequate for our needs. Definitely not a 100% solution but quickly taking the #1 spot for us.
I've had starlink for about 6 months and like you said, the key to getting the best internet is to get the dish totally away from trees and anything else that blocks the signal. I can say it's been pretty dependable lately as I use it exclusively now for remote work. With that said, I'm also working from my home and not an rv, so my dish location is fixed.
We use Starlink and two cellular connections through our max Transit Duo as you described in this video. So far our Starlink has been fabulous! We have been in the upper Midwest this summer (OH, IN, MI, WI, MN so far). We did have to change two of our reservations due to lack of sky visibility (i.e. too many trees). We don't use the SpeedFusion cloud normally as we typically run the Starlink by itself with the cellular connections on standby. That said we both work full time during the week and our Starlink has worked pretty flawlessly! We just get reservations at parks that are not completely tree covered. We also haven't been in the southeast at least not until this coming winter and next spring. Hopefully by then Starlink coverage will be better there.
Great video as always!! As a IT Pro who used your videos as a guide as a setup to go full time July 2021, I really appreciate the deep dives!! I have had Starlink since May 2021 and until March of 2022 I was unable to use it most places - actually only 3 times in that time period. Since March of 2022 I have been able to use Starlink almost exclusively while in AZ, , CO, UT & MT with the exception of Monument Valley due to tree cover. I have the Max Duo as well and like you have multiple plans, AT&T, T-Mobile, Visble & Verizon. Thanks again for your deep dives and other video's - you & Tara gave my wife & I the information to start this fantastic journey that has seen us sleep in 30 states so far!! BTW, we have a Toy hauler and I built my office based on your video!!
Wow! Truly impressive! Thanks for posting this. I'm a professional IT engineer, and I understand the inner details of networking etc. However, when in comes to internet for the RV Life, I'm just a noob. We're just in the information gathering/planning stages and this video, actually all of them, has really given me something to think about. I can figure out RV internet on my own, but now I don't have to! I've checked out the other resources you've mentioned and they are helpful as well. Keep up the great content!
Good job Chad! We are using Starlink and a MoFI 5500 with a 100 gig AT&T plan. We use Starlink when possible and the MoFI as needed. The cool thing about the MoFI is it has carrier aggregation and locks the top 3 bands from the cell tower for better speeds. We typically get 50 to 100 Mbps.
I’ve been using Starlink for almost 1.5 years. I’m in NE Washington State with virtually no high speed internet and terrible cellular, it’s been a game changer for me!
Ok, I’ve got to tell you that I’m a 62 year old woman who is NOT up on all the internet stuff. I mean, I JUST got a VPN about 6 months ago. 🤣😂 You did a great job explaining all this and I completely understood EVERYTHING!! This was a great video. I learned more in 45 minutes than I’ve known during my whole life, about internet. Thank you!!
We have worked remote for last 2.5 years. I’m starting a new job that will enable us to travel / work remote using our 5th wheel. We have the typical hotspots (T-mobile & Verizon); Verizon cell phones (need to upgrade to 5G phones); and the external WiFi antenna. Reviewing the modems & routers and external antennas. Scary part for us is drilling into the roof and connecting the right antenna to the right modem & router. We have a 2019 Momentum 399TH with the loft (perfect area I guess to house all this “stuff”. Just trying to do it right first time so we don’t loose connectivity as we travel west from Tennessee. IOW’s, we’re just scared of messing the camper up and buying the wrong stuff. Looking forward to your “live” show tonight!!!!
Solved my mobile internet connectivity - In a park with a cell tower across the street. Used the two major carriers. Throttling was an issue for quite a while. When the carriers migrated to FTTC (C=Cabinet / Curb), data became more dependable. Have not heard of Multiple-In and Out radio connections, for use outside of Wireless-LAN’s. Have not heard of MIMO connections to / from cell tower connections. Interesting. Thanks for showing how you have / or still connect. Best wishes in your future endeavors.
Dang! Great job breaking this all down in lamens terms and with the smooth edits. I learned more in an hour than my motormouth IT guy gave me in 13 years! I will definitely watch this video again and again! Thanks Chad and Tara!! xoxo
Thank you for keeping us updated. Truly appreciate you two. Chad, I’ve been in IT for over 27 years and your techie segments are really appreciated as I know you have to do quite a bit to understand the various products and then put together a RU-vid video.
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Holy moly four providers service, no way! Wow! I can't afford high gasoline for my truck at the same time within it. Try to cut your cost down and go out on an adventure more than billing! Smile
Great video, Thanks for the invite. Lots of info there, explained very well. Noticed Tara n Daisy missing...they were missed. Hope both are doing well.
Man I’m a Sys Admin and all my work is done via VPN and RDP and have had Starlink for almost two years and it has been flawless. Teams and WebEx have been incredible over the past year. Also I’m in the South East if it’s relevant.
Another great video. I just upgraded to the BR1. I had the same Max Duo you hand and figured I could still get value from it by connecting the two. Your video confirmed that. But instead of buying the new version, I will just use my old one. My new main service is t-mobile after their blue plan disabled. So I needed channel 71. So with your video, I’ll reconnect my old Max Dual and get some different plans so I can have failover when t-mobile is weak. Thanks!!!
Super vid Chad! Great info. Yes, Starlink hates trees! But, after 2 weeks and a rigged pole up in the air, I have the breaks down to 2 to 30 seconds each every 2 minutes or so. Works for me so far. "Fair winds and following seas". Enjoy the new house, I'm looking in Tennessee.
I love the deep dive / in-depth knowledge. In reading the comments I see some people using Starlink and some say how good it is. I am not a full timer. I would rather make an initial investment in equipment, like a rooftop antenna and a good router and get a cheap reliable service, than pay $135 monthly for internet. That's why I like your videos on this topic. you discus the 5g / LTE connections which tend to be a than Starlink.
I used to use a Ubiquiti Nanostation Loco M2, coupled with a Ubiquiti airgateway. Worked well as far as the capability of the given RV park we were in at the time but now, we are just using my Verizon hotspot on my phone. Not the best route but, my wife, can still stream The Walking Dead. Happy wife, happy life! :)
Chad, i have watched all of your videos and i think you are a very knowledgeable guy. I love the fact that you have basically gone off the grid with your lifestyle, i have a cabin in a very remote location and i need wifi service to monitor things like thermostats and temperatures inside my cabin so that i dont have frozen water pipes etc. How do i do this.
Great job explaining how latency impacts TCP transmissions around the 7 minute mark. As a Network Engineer, if I had a dollar for every time I had to explain how latency affects TCP window sizes and how that impacts overall throughput over TCP transmissions I could retire.
I am anxious to see how your starlink will connect to your next router. Currently I can't get my ethernet starlink to talk to my high end netgear router. I have that ethernet direct to my desktop computer and the rest over wifi ATM. Retirement is coming, looking forward with what is to come!
We don't watch every video you guys put out, but we watch more of yours than other channels. Your knowledge videos are some of the best videos on products we watch. The adventure videos are great entertainment. It seems that when Chad says "Let me know if you want a video on that" you are looking for confirmation on what you want to do anyway, LoL. From the DTNLivingLife household, we appreciate your time, and the amount of energy it takes to put one of these videos together. Next Internet video, what you are doing for the "House Internet?" Thanks again and be safe.
One thing about Starlink is that they are launching more and more satellites every month. As the sky fills up with the satellites the need to have perfectly clear view will diminish! To give an idea of how fast this is happening, they have launched just shy of 3000 satellites as of Jul 22...on 1 Jan 22, 6 months ago, there was just over 2000!
I use Tmobile Home internet and never once have I had issues. I Game, stream and stream TV as I game.. My speeds are steady at 150mb I will never go back to a cable company. And Yes 150mb is more then enough to game, stream and watch TV all at the same time. NEVER any lag.
Great video and info, we are out of the RV life now, but have to say that my interest is still fast and reliable equipment. Currently have fiber optic at the house, but everything is streaming and working online is fast, but leaving home creates having that luxury go away and most all RV parks do not have Wi-Fi service to handle today’s demand Thanks again for a great info video!!
Absolutely LOVE your videos (over 2 years now )and finally on the road myself. Quick comment. When talking about the Mobil Internet Resource Center. I know YOU didn't name them but there were literally 4 different names for these guys and got a bit confuse as to exactly w The website, the added they did. The Mobil internet resource Center; then the aficionados was added; then the MIA, then I heard Techomadia ?????
Chad I owned an ISP back in the day so this is not completely foreign to me, but I was the accountant not one of the tech guys. But WOW what a lot of information. As for me personally all I really have to be connected for your stuff on Sunday and a few more youtube channels and of course email but that's about it. I can't recommend the Mobile Internet Resource Center highly enough, Chis and Cherie are awesome and a great resource. I used them to research what plan I wanted. I wound up going with the AT&T 100 Gig post paid plan for about $100 a month. Funny thing is it's only been about $75 for the last couple of months so something must have changed. Keep the good stuff coming guys.
When I have a clear sky overhead, Starlink seems pretty solid to me. Looking back at the last 12hrs no disconnects. Now if a tree is close by then I will see it drop for a few seconds periodically. Now I just look for the site with fewer trees so I can get a good connection. I travel mostly in the west though.
That was a fantastic video. This is such a complicated subject but by watching your video I feel like I understand a bit more. You're a great teacher! Thank you!
As always Chad you do such a great job of walking us through all the technical pieces in easy to understand terms. My only follow up question would be what should we expect to spend on internet gear (for full timing) and how much a month should we expect to pay for "reliable" internet?
Another great tech video, love it! Yeah, another video with more Starlink info would be great. Especially with having it paired with your cell data plans and the failover feature of the pepwave. Also, I've seen people mount the Starlink on top of poles like you do for parsec antenna... Again, great stuff!
Chad I'd love to hear your opinion of Starlink! We won't need to have robust internet as you have. We will only be streaming tv while on the road most of the time. Thanks for the info!
Dude! So awesome! Very informative 👏 👌 👍 😀 🙌 You literally answered every question that has been running through my brain. I need a superlative solution because my wife works remote 100% (has been for 15 years), but we are now into our 4th month of being full-time RVERS. We have not traveled just yet. But in the spring we hit the road hard and heavy. She needs consistent uptime. Occasionally, I do software development, mostly retired now. In any case, super awesome video. Thank you so much!!!
We use the Ultimate Road Warrior from MMH with AT&T - pretty solid so far. New to us is Starlink and we get great speeds to work fulltime as long as we have sky view.
We just finished our trip to the northeast and I thought we had “unlimited “ data on our plan with AT&T until I started getting warning text messages saying that we had gone over our plan, several calls to AT&T we where finally told that our data line was not included and we got our bill to the tune of $1700! After several more calls and letting them know that we where originally told not to worry about the text messages. They readjusted our bill to 575 and I canceled the data line at that time, now we are looking for another option for mobile data line
What a well done and informative video. Thank you so much for what you do. I honestly did understand everything, because you broke it down into byte sized chunks !!
we have used that same netgear nighthawk and antenna for a long time. works pretty well and meets 80% of our needs. we are adding a external mast antenna off our RV that is directional. Great Stuff Chad! We have a two different SIM cards for the netgear (ATT and T-Mobile) and the netgear fails over to my Verizon phone if those dont work.
Thank you. As a engineer your content is in depth enough to get a grasp of what is needed. It is surely over the head of the average person, but you gave enough detail for those with knowledge to understand!
Do you have any issues with the Wi-Fi bridging crashing the Pepwave? When we got Starlink we used the Wi-Fi to bridge to our Max Transit but it would crash the DNS on the Pepwave after about 12 hours of use. Changed to wired and no issues. Also the Pepwave has a great ability for outbound firewall rules so that you force (Apple TV) traffic over Starlink only (no Speedfusion) and your other traffic (devices) can flow over a Speedfusion connection. You know how some of the streaming services do not like the Speedfusion (VPN), this fixes that issue. It will also fail through the outbound firewall rules so if Starlink is not active it will go down to the Speedfusion connection.
We've not had any issues with wifi as wan to the starlink.. Using 5GHz... On the routing, we have individual access points tied to VLANS tied to outbound policies.. so we can pick an AP for Starlink or ATT , etc...
Have you or anyone you know tried the Winegard CONNECT 2.0 4G2+ out? I have seen that some newer campers are coming standard with this or a version of this. I'm considering getting one since I just burned up a battery in my Verizon MiFI 8800 because I left it plugged in too long. I am currently using it along with a King WifiMax in my 5th wheel. We are not full-timers but darn close as I work at Nuclear Power Plants all over the country. Currently working about 8 hrs away from our home in Texas. I have a Blink camera system in the RV so we can keep tabs on things when away. I've been very satisfied the the King WifiMax and my hotspot until now that I have a very weak signal with Verizon as the campground is in AT&T prominent area. Thanks for all the great content.
I always give you thumbs up before I even start the video. Your content is always informative, interesting, funny and easy to understand and follow. Keep up the good work.
Good video. We use insty connect. It's a cellular solution including modem with dual sim slots, router and antenna. I have a T mobile business plan that cost $140 a month for 4 lines, one of which is installed in the modem. Unlimited premium data. Never throttled and has yet to leave us without internet.
Excellent job!!! I have a tech background but at time some of the new stuff can become confusing. This video did a great job bringing it down to a novice level.
We’re not full-time RVers, but we do try to take longer trips throughout the season. We also want to boondock more often. My husband is an attorney and we would like to be able to tell courts that, while we may be out of the state for a particular hearing, he could still appear via Zoom. Do you have a suggestion of a setup that we could do to facilitate such a plan? We have T-Mobile and have the home internet, however, we aren’t actually using it for our home internet (though we’re still paying for it) because T-Mobile would not allow us to use HULU Live TV.
Like the content. Just some help with the technical radio stuff.. mimo is not about different frequency, its about reducing the impact of multipath. That is the effect of high frequency radio that bounces off buildings etc, and essentially causes fading of signal and messes it all up. Using mimo allows you to benefit if one path is poor the slightly different path from other antenna can help out. Mimo is primary for urban suburban areas, as these environments cause it, so helps benefit the signal. Rural it won't benefit as much, simply as there are less of these multiple paths. In addition rural multiple tends to be more slower fading than fast fading and so less impact. As for 4x4 mimo (4 antennas) again that goes that one step further, and is best for LTE-A but obviously 5G in the main. You are right boosters are pointless, but that's because of the way 3G+ technologies work. It is not about signal strength, but about how much better the signal is to the local noise. SNR. A booster amplifying the frequency increases the signal and noises,the snr stays same, hence no point. In,addition cable types are always ignored. Having long cheap flexible poor cable reduces signal and speed massively. In many cases, a basic external antenna with poor cable will actually reduce your performance not improve it.
Chad and Tara! Long time fan of you two and your content! Do you happen to have a network diagram of your entire setup? I am about to order and having to listen multiple times to piece it together really well. Thanks!
Min 13:00 "Integrated Cellular Router" ^^ Have to get that one under my belt and invest some homework time. This looks like 'the center of activity' going forward.
Hi Chad, thanks for always keeping us in the loop and sharing such detailed info on your setup. We have the Max Transit Duo and the Pointing 7-1 antenna as well. We use an AT&T and Verizon sim (1 in each router) both unlimited. I've been suspicious ever since we bought this set-up that our antenna doesn't actually work as I have never seen much of a difference from being plugged into the roof antenna vs just using the router antenna paddles. I've also seen that our hotspots that we used prior to getting the Road Warrior package was often faster. To get to the point, what kind of speeds did you average when just running AT&T and Verizon with just your Max Transit Duo and Pointing antenna? We use Speedfusion and sometimes we do not so either configuration would be helpful to know. I know there are so many factors that go into the speeds BUT I can tell you with all the different factors, we get pretty consistent speeds in most locations so just wondering what kind of speeds you average. I'm asking because I"m just trying to figure out if my suspicion is correct as I don't think our antenna actually works. Thanks!!
Thanks for a great informative video I am looking for internet solution and I found you video very useful. The prices are a bit difficult . Thanks again and keep them videos coming.
You may benefit from a SIM injector and virtual sim technology. That way you move different carriers between 5g and 4g modems without having to physically move them.
Great job explaining very well again definitely like what you’ve done and your honesty. I’m curious if you’ve ever thought about our use ham radios or even CB for local as if we have a national disaster or you’re somewhere you can still reach out on your ham radio. Hope some of this made sense as I’ve already taken my nighttime meds probably shouldn’t be texting.
I hope you make a video on the speed fusion bonding. I have some peplink equipment now and could really make some use of this. Thanks for the great video. Very informative!! I also have a Airgain ATT modem and Sierra wireless MG90. Love playing with it all but I’ve felt alone in how to best set it up and manage it. Nice to see I’m not alone
Excellent video as always. Thanks for breaking this down. Could you create a diagram showing how each of these hardware boxes are connected, both hardwired and over wifi?
Hi Chad! Thanks for another informative video! I would definitely be interested in a more in-depth look at a video on Starlink, if you choose to do it. Thanks!
Awesome explanation of the evolution of mobile connectivity for your needs. That is one heck of an investment and Peplink is the cadillac level of equipment. I like the simplicity of this prosumer grade gear, it would really work for many. Thanks for the great content and explaining how you leverage this technology. What prompted you to run 2 APs for wifi? Right now I find just the router built in wifi covers my truck to the back f the RV with a strong signal.
Found this video very informative. We currently have Directv but it seems that is going to be phased out in a couple of years with streaming. So I’m trying to get an idea of a direction to go to stream and get internet also. Plus in the next 2-3 months will be going full time.
Chad, you do a great job of covering the options. I'm at the lower end of the "need" spectrum. I want a internet connection one step above using my phone as a hotspot. I'd like a Jetpack and a MIMO antenna in the window. Where I get lost is the data plans. Verizon does a lousy job (IMO) of explaining data. They mingle phones with Jetpacks. Most (all) of the tutorials go way beyond my needs to multiple carriers and full time RV's. I'd like a plan I can use for a month or so while on the road and then maybe shut it off or be reasonably priced enough to keep unused.
Nice info, we have a Pepwave with a T-Mobile and Att Sim, a Verizen Hotspot and ATT unlimited in the GMC and Starlink. No issues from LasVegas To Fairbanks, Alaska. Note, T-mobile partners with GCI in Alaska and they limit us to a worthless 500m a month, ATT is fine. Starlink is not operational in Alaska yet even though I had it sent to me here while on our bucket list trip.
Yea.. I think the issues much of the deployed LEO satellites need a downlink base station in sight to function. I think the newer deployments are going to have sat-to-sat laser communication so they can relay data across themselves to ground stations. Once it's fully deployed it will be a game changer!
@@ChangingLanes there are 3 base stations in Alaska but nothing is operational yet, sat to sat are sat version 2.0. The map shows some satellites but info on when it will be turned on is impossible to get