Satellite Internet and Television


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CaMPingFooL

New Member
Does anyone have satellite internet connection? If so, do you also have television with it? Also, if you do have it, is it any good? Does the tv come in clear? How fast is the internet connection? Also, is it very expensive? Sorry so many questions but I currently have to rely on campgrounds having cable (because I can't pick up very much with just a plain antenna) and we have a computer in the camper but have to go to the nearest local library to get connected. Help! Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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jkill2001

New Member
Satellite Internet and Television

well if u have cable at the campsite just get a cable modem and put a splitter and run one to your camper for cable tv and one to your cable modem for internet. why won't that work?
 
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CaMPingFooL

New Member
Satellite Internet and Television

That works when we're camped for awhile and if they have that capability at the CG but for one night stands, it isn't going to work.
 
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hertig

Senior Member
Satellite Internet and Television

Not all cable installations will offer internet, and if they do, you will probably need to use their ISP. Not something you can find reliably, and may not be optimally usable.

Unfortunately, there is no one solution to both uses. For TV, your choices are: Built in antenna (directional or omnidirectional), cable from the park (great if they have it but not all do) and satellite (Dish or DirecTV). For internet, your choices are: Telephone line (not all places have it and those that do tend to charge extra), wi-fi (great if they have it and it is set up right), cable (somewhat rare), wireless (cell phone or other), or satellite (Starband and Directway, I think are the names).

As far as the built in antenna is concerned, I had the crank up, rotatable (directional) antenna on my old trailer, and it always did an adequate job. A couple of things to check: make sure that it has a working amplifier and that it is turned on. Makes a big difference in the signal. Also, check your TV; many have a cable setting and an antenna setting, and if it is set to cable, the antenna won't work very well if at all. Finally, make sure you have it pointing in the correct direction; these are highly directional.

The motorhome has the static, round, omnidirectional antennal. I'm not thrilled with its performance so far, but again, turning on the amplifier moves it from unusable to possibly bearable. Since chopping a hole in the roof to put in a better antenna is not desirable, I'm looking into activating the already installed satellite dish.

Satellite seems the optimal way to go. If you have this service at your house, you can usually add the RV 'for free' if the antenna is already installed. Otherwise, make sure the company has a 'suspend service' option so you don't have to pay for it while the RV is not being used. Satellite service tends not to provide 'local stations' except at your house in some areas, so you might want to spend the extra to get either the east coast or the west coast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, UPN and WB). Or you could just try to use the antenna for local stations.

Built in dishes can be had in manual, auto seek, and in motion, in accending order of cost and ease of use. Note that trees or most anything else will block the satallite signal, so if your RV does not have a built in dish (or even if it does), you may want to have a manually set up dish on a tripod, and a roll of antenna wire.

If you use your cell phone for internet, be advised that they charge by the minute, so make sure you only compute during your 'free nights and weekends' time and within your 'no roaming fee or long distance' area. There is also at least one wireless service out there which charges by 'data transferred' rather than by minutes used.

Mobile satellite internet is still growing. One company does not seem to support mobile use (although many people do it) and the other will certify you as an installer so you can legally set up your dish anywhere you happen to be. Also, one of the companies offers the option to add a satellite TV LNB to their dish, but the service still needs to be contracted with the TV company (one dish, but 2 bills and 2 companies to deal with).
 
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CaMPingFooL

New Member
Satellite Internet and Television

hertig Wow, you've given me a lot to think about. Does the Starband and Directway only do the internet? It would be great if I could get internet and tv on one dish.

Anyway, thanks for all the info!
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
Satellite Internet and Television

There are only two companies that currently serve the dish TV market and the same is true for internet, although there are two more companies that have announced that they plan to enter that market. The two TV companies are completely seperate from the two internet, even though Direct TV is owned by the same parent company as Direc Way for internet. There is no one dish that will do both.

The Direc Way internet is not intended for use on a movable instalation except with one of the automatic dish systems such as the one from Data Storm. Both Direc and Starband do have that service and it costs pretty much the same. I think that I would lean to Direc Way if I were to go that way because they have been in the business the longer and they use a satellite that is higher in the sky. The equipment for that service will cost about $5000, installed and the service is about $100 per month. Neither company can supply TV from one of those dishes so you would need a seperate dish for TV.

Both Direc Way and Starband have portable mounts available for their dish that the user moves and sets up himself. The one from Direc Way does not come from the company, but is made up by each dealer that sells it so there is no standard for it. The dealer then sets it up and logs you in so that Direc Way thinks that your dish is sitting at the dealer's address where it was commissioned. He then takes it down and packages it up and ships it to you with written directions on how to use it and how to set it up. Different dealers give different levels of support and service and DirecWay will not support this because it is aginst the FCC rules, so you are dependant upon the dealer that you choose, so that if vital. Price ranges from about $500 to $1500 depending on quality of equipment and level of support. The monthly fee is $60-$80 depending on speed of service.

Starband does have an FCC approved program for a self moved, tripod mounted dish internet. With it there is a standard of equipment that all selling dealers must supply so the range in what you get is much narrower and the price does not vary as much, but is higher than DirecWAy. With Starband's Manual Flyer program, the dealer trains each customer to install his own dish and the customer is then cerified as an installer for his own dish. For that reason the Starband customers are given a password for use of the tech. support computer and their technicians. Each customer is authorized to move the dish and can get help from Starband if they have any problems. The Manual Flyer does cost more because of the added training and the test equipment that is part of the package. The price ranges from about $1200 - $2000 depending upon what satelliet fincer meter you get and what level of service you get. The monthly cost is $55/75 for this program.

There is a kit for the Starband dish that has a bracket to mount the LNB that is needed for Dish Net TV from the dish. We use one on ours and it works very well. Just aim the internet dish and the TV works. It isn't the same satelliet, but the bracket angels it like a billard shot to the right satellite, since they always have the same relationship of position. I believe that there is the same type of kit for Direc Way and Direct TV, but do not know for sure.

We have used Starband Manual Flyer since Jan. and are very happy with it. We also have the "Bird on a Wire" kit for the TV as well. To date, we have only once been parked where we could not find a hole in the trees to get our satellite internet. We could probably have moved the RV to a different site, but were not there long enough to be worth the effort.
 
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CaMPingFooL

New Member
Satellite Internet and Television

So if I got the Starband dish for instance, I would still have to get a dish for the tv? Plus, do you have to pay the $2,000 all at one time?
 
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hertig

Senior Member
Satellite Internet and Television

You can get an add-on piece for the internet dish to get the TV signal, but you would have to get the TV service to use that signal from another company. Thus 1 dish, but 2 companies to deal with and 2 bills.

I suspect you could get some kind of financing either from the supplying company or elsewhere, but it would almost certainly cost you more in the long run. I don't know about the internet companies, but the TV companies offer 'free' equipment if you sign a contract for a term of service (18 months, as I recall). Also, the company I compared the TV services from had some internet services available as well. Seems they had one for $50 per month and as I recall very reasonable startup cost. Probably not mobile though...
 
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bajadudes

New Member
Satellite Internet and Television

Camping fool....no you don't need 2 dishes. With the starband dish you simply attach the optional DBS TV kit (about $100 - $125). Just aim the one dish for both TV and Internet. The starband dish and kit will support the Dishnetwork service.

Direcway dish and kit supports the direc TV service.

Some dealers will finance and you should be able to get everything for around $1700 or considerably less if you shop around.

Good luck!
 
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