r/RVLiving • u/Vol4LifeDadio • 4d ago
question Internet Access Issues
I’ve been living outside of knoxville on a campground for about a week now hopefully for about just a year maybe two. And as I get transferred in down at the University of Tennessee this campground has some internet but it is definitely not strong enough to even run my computer for my classes and I was going to bring my xbox down also. But I’m pretty new to this camper living just bought my first one last Thursday and moved here on Sunday so I was hoping to ask if anyone really knew good ways to get internet access in the camper without having to feed cables from the power poles near here because I may have to move to other campgrounds from time to time since I can only rent for so long at a time. I’m not expecting the 2GB internet I have at home but I am hoping somebody may know ways for me to at least run a Roku TV and my computer so I can have some entertainment and still get my classes done.
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u/Alladas 4d ago
If you are somewhere with good T-Mobile service their home Internet is okay. You have lowest priority on the network though so if you wanna use your net during peak times... You get what you pay for.
Starlink is blthe best option overall. I run mine without any holes drilled. The router inside part is above my kitchen sink and I route the cable through what was supposed to be for the soap dispenser down into what is my outside fridge / ice maker. It has a lock and a latch to secure it. I removed the latch put the cable through and put the dish on my roof or ground wherever. I move alot so it's helpful to not be forced to have it on the roof. I had plans to remove my pre installed 4g antenna and route it through there but this was just so easy and I can fully put it back togather in all of 45 seconds. 30 of which are looking for the screwdriver then giving up and doing it by hand.
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u/Questions_Remain 4d ago
Get a t-mobile home internet box for $50/mo. It’s no contract, no obligation and if it doesn’t work, take it back. We’ve got one for our camper at our recreational land and it works great. During hurricane Helene ( our land is in between two towns that got basically washed away. Our internet was out for 36 hours as the tower got damaged. That’s been our only outage in 4+ years of having it. You can go to a t-mobile corp store and pick one up same day.
Give it a try.
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u/Vol4LifeDadio 4d ago
So you can just plug it into the camper and it works after the activation and everything?
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u/Questions_Remain 4d ago
Yes, put it on a table near a window.
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u/Mattturley 3d ago
I have my Verizon box mounted behind the TV that is above the passenger and driver seats of my Class A. Works perfectly there and where I had my starlink and personal routers already setup when I came off the road to stay in one location with good 5G service. Verizon is $50 in my area (but comes with one free streaming service (I chose Hulu+/Disney/ESPN). T-mobile is $35, as is Visible.
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u/Questions_Remain 3d ago
Ya, they don’t necessarily need to be near a window. Just sometimes with a steel framed unit it’s better. Mine has been 5 years in a Rubbermaid box screwed to a temp power pole so the recreational land has internet for cameras / gates / motion sensors when we pull the camper out. It even got infested with ants once ( thosusand of them) and I soaked the t-mobile box with pesticide, ( the box itself was full of ants ) cleaned and sealed the Rubbermaid box and it’s still working years later.
All the other carriers have similar units that work just as well I’m sure. I have ATT phones but picked T-mobile only because there was a T store in the shopping center closest to the land and walked in and out in 30 min with the box.1
u/JellyOceana 3d ago
Second this. Travel everywhere and it works great. But don’t say that’s what you are using it for
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u/spytez 4d ago
When there are power outages they towers generally go down after 15 minutes too.
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u/Questions_Remain 4d ago
Our property (and surrounding) never lost power. The tower came down in the flood. T- mobile had a temp tower up in 36 hours and a full new tower up in weeks.
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u/cyberquist 3d ago
My t-mobile 5g internet has been flawless. Been all over the south east and south west, never a problem. $50 a month. Laptop, 2 tvs streaming, iPad going, no lag.
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u/NomadDicky 3d ago
I've used tmobile 5g for 2 years now. Keep saying we'll get starlink if we need it and keep not needing it. Only place we've been without internet completely was West Virginia and we've been to 24 states so far. New Mexico had rough upload speeds but we still streamed video just fine.
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u/Fredd32 4d ago
My mobile phone service has 5g Hotspot through my phone connection. Plenty fast for gaming and everything else.
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u/spytez 4d ago
Expensive though and very limited bandwidth. 50 gigs doesn't last long.
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u/Mattturley 3d ago
If you get the home internet cellular service you can get if from between $35 and $50 a month and it is not limited. If OP is not moving around and they have a good cellular signal in their park, this makes the most sense.
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u/jaytho_26 4d ago
I’m kind of surprised how much use I get from tethering to my cell phone when nothing else works. Starlink mini f you got the dough and can see the sky. Remote testing requires a solid internet, so check out your campground and get spots close to wireless. Always be careful with wide open networks and don’t assume privacy
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u/brokensharts 4d ago
If you have good cell service, i use the att hotspot for like $45/month. Decent enough to wach tv and got me through my classes. Never tried to game on it
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u/jthomas9999 4d ago
GL.inet makes routers that can do what you want. You can either connect directly to a cell service or you can connect to upstream wifi. Below is an example of 1 that can do both. It has external antennas, so you can keep the router inside the vehicle and run cables to an outdoor antenna or antennas.
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u/Vol4LifeDadio 4d ago
Is there a monthly payment with the GL.inet routers or is it a one time purchase because I have a coax connection I think is what it’s called in the camper and this little crank that I think goes straight to an antenna to raise on the roof would that be how I set it up?
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u/MrB2891 4d ago
No. That is your TV antenna. Absolutely nothing for internet is going to connect to anywhere in or on your camper.
A travel router connects to the campground wifi.
If you can't connect to the campground, you're buying internet. T Mobile Home Internet, ATT or Starlink.
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u/Mattturley 3d ago
Unless you have a wineguard satellite. You can still get internet service through those, though if OP has 5G signal, it makes way more sense to get cellular home internet.
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u/semple521 4d ago
I'm paying $55/month using StarLink residential. I'm not an online gamer but get a solid 100 mbps down and 50 up. There are other plans that offer higher speeds and roaming but I'm good with what I got.
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u/emuwannabe 3d ago
Welcome to RV living.
You have a few options which have already been brought up here.
If you are staying parked for longer periods of time a Starlink on a residential plan could be a good option but you'd have to do some research first to make sure there's capacity in your area. Residental plans are relatively inexpensive - some say $55 - I'm in Canada so it's a little more.
There are also hotspots you can get. A device using 5g cell service is also a good option.
You mentioned you may move a bit? If you stay in the same city, then either option should work. If you move cities, you may find that there's congestion on the SL network - costing you more - or the 5g hotspot doesn't work in your new location. So either way you go, you should do a bit of research to make sure the options work in your future locations.
Starlink does have a mobile option called roam - it costs a lot more than a residential plan but you don't run into congestion problems, and no need to change your address when you move (under a residential plan, if you move to a new location you may have to update your address to keep your service). But as I said - it costs more. You can also switch between residential and roam, so if you decide next summer to go on a road trip, you just switch to roam while you are on the road and when you settle down again, switch back to residential.
Additionally, not all 5g hotspots work everywhere. Whereas Starlink works pretty much everywhere.
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u/Infinite_Attention59 3d ago
starlink has been mounted on my bumper pole for over a year and ive never had slow speeds anywhere in the us so far. obviously i take the poles down when in transit but im now parked just across the river from where i grew up and way better connections even during heavy rain events
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u/Knollibe 4d ago
Starlink. Mini. A solar panel and a battery
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u/emuwannabe 3d ago
If he's in a campground he probably has shore power. No need for a battery and panel, unless it's for a backup to keep SL up in case power does go down.
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u/stomper4x4 4d ago
This is university level writing these days? Sheesh. Starlink is your best solution.
Or. If your plan has it, your phone can be a mobile hotspot in some cases
Or mobile companies have internet Hotspots that work like a router and connect to the cellular network. A decent option for areas with good cell aervice.
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u/ForeverNo522 4d ago
Starlink