Satelite Internet...

[Ross]

Ross...If you buy a tripod Sat system they are very well priced.

I just bought a brand new one for under 500. I bought a Survey Tripod off ebay for 60 and the monthly fees have come down to 69.00 a month for unlimited access.

If you go with the auto system it's around 4500 installed...monthly fees are the same.

I tried the WiFi thing and maybe it's great out east but it's very spottly out west. With the Sat Sys you can get online anywhere you may be, why limit yourself to camp where there's WiFi... . besides its a business expence

Datastorm users forum /tripods & auto systems

http://www.datastormusers.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/index.html

Ron

PS way cooooool toys on your site

Can you pinit me toward a good source to purchase the equipment and service for a tripod system?  I'm guessing you buy the service from the same outfit you buy the equipment from.  When you say you bought the tripod on eBay, that's just the dish on a tripod, right?  I'll also dig into the datastorm forum a bit deeper.  I kind of agree with you.  I thin having WIFI is worth while since it is cheap, but If I'm parked on the beach for a week I still like to have internet.  Automatic would be nice, but for the cost difference, I don't mind pointing a dish.  $69 per month?  I pay $60/month for cable internet (internet only, no TV)  I'll buy the tripod system and set the dish in the front yard and use it in the house.

RE:  The toys.  This is another reason for going on the road.  I'm a factory rep for some of the product lines I sell.  They will pay me to travel around and play with thier toys.  One of them even wanted to wrap my bus until they found out what a wrap costs.  I'd probably make a few winter trips north to go kiteskiing, but the majority of my time would be spent in warmer weather kitesurfing, downhill gravity games, buggy racing out west....that sort of thing.   

[rv_safetyman]

Ross, I strongly recommend Scott Whitney at:  http://dustyfoot.com/.

Scott is a bus nut and manufacturers the tripod system.  He has at least one distributor, but he will sell direct.

As for the house, you can use the tripod, or you can buy the dish and feed horn and mount it on the roof.  I think they are going for about $100 on Ebay.

I suspect you already know, but on satellite, the down load is about the speed of cable or DSL, but the upload is only a bit faster than dialup. 

The upload speed has not been a problem for us, we just plan to do something else when we are updating the website or sending a large file.

Email is a bit slow as well if you use pop3 since each message has to have a "handshake" and the 22K mile one way trip delays the handshake a bit.  Email attachments are fast, though.

[Ross]

Ross, I strongly recommend Scott Whitney at:  http://dustyfoot.com/.

Scott is a bus nut and manufacturers the tripod system.  He has at least one distributor, but he will sell direct.

As for the house, you can use the tripod, or you can buy the dish and feed horn and mount it on the roof.  I think they are going for about $100 on Ebay.

I suspect you already know, but on satellite, the down load is about the speed of cable or DSL, but the upload is only a bit faster than dialup. 

The upload speed has not been a problem for us, we just plan to do something else when we are updating the website or sending a large file.

Email is a bit slow as well if you use pop3 since each message has to have a "handshake" and the 22K mile one way trip delays the handshake a bit.  Email attachments are fast, though.

I found dustyfoot, but $1620....I hate to sound cheap, but I have to watch my spending.  Looks like the whole thing can be got on eBay pretty cheap used, or a new dish and modem for $499 and a tripod from eBay.  Granted, Dustyfoot has a real nice tripod and I understand he has top notch customer service, but on my budget, I may need to go the "DIY" route. 

[Don/TX]

Acquiring cost for the tripod sat system is low, I have two I am not using now from Direcway days, anybody that wants them can have them both for $100.  No tripod, gotta get your own, everything else is there.  They are all over EBay for around $50.

[prevost82]

Ross ...1600 is way to pricey. as Don sez you can find them way cheeper on eBay or on the datastorm site. Make sure the one you buy has a D7000 modem. If you find a sat dish and modem, but it doesn't come with a tripod, email me off line and I will send you the data to make a mount for the dish using a surveyor's tripod.

Here's the link to ebay surveyor tripods

http://business.listings.ebay.com/Levels-Surveying-Equipment_Tripods-Grade-Rods_W0QQsacatZ42299QQsocmdZListingItemList

Ron

[Ross]

I thought about used, but then you have the pin#/San# issues.  Those have to be provided by a certified installer.  This means that buying used gear on eBay could be more money that buying new unless you find an installer who will work with you, but I'd imagine most of them won't do it for free.  They want to sell you gear.

There is a guy on eBay selling new DW7000 systems for a good price.  He is a dealer and provides the PIN and SAN.  There are also some used DW7000's but I'm afraid of buying used unless the seller is an certified insatller and can provide the PIN and SAN.

The Dustyfoot system seems good for the guy who wants the entire system to show up in one box.  It comes with the fancy meter for pointing the dish, a nice tripod and basically everything you need to get going.  Some of that I can find alot cheaper.  The support is also good, but there seems to be plenty of help through the datastorm forum.  I mean, if it is such that you absolutely can not own one of these without an intimate relationship with your dealer, maybe I don't really want one.  Do you guys really need tech/dealer support all that often?

[prevost82]

The amount of support required = how computer savy you are. Everthing I needed answered has been done on the fourm
Ron

[Don/TX]

Unless things have changed a lot, you must be a certified installer in order to set up the transmitter/receiver at ANY location, wether it be a tripod or on a fixed building.  Now that is the unenforceable rules, but in the real world anybody can set it up and they do.  I had two of them at two locations so I could move the computer back and forth.!
In RVing around, I have seen several tripod setups in RV parks, and after some experience, they become pretty good setting them up.  It is a pain in the butt though, not what I would relish at the end of a hard days drive in order to surf.
In my personal opinion, it has become obsolete technology for most uses due to availability of WiFi, RV parks with hi speed internet, and the Verizon type access.

[DrDave]

Oh the other hand... Isn't part of the idea of the "Bus" to get away from stress and constant
need for being "connected"?

Admitedly I have entertained the idea myself, But in the end justifying all the expense and technical needs and expense
of Internet on the road I basically have decided that it's just not worth it.

Mind you that I do suffer some withdrawl when I have been at a rally I guess it's due to being spoiled with
a full time connection at home and at work. It is handy to look up stuff but I don't feel that my quality
of life will suffer without the internet access. Heck it probably improves because I am not sitting on my butt
in front of the computer, Getting up and moving around is healthier so I am told.....

On the other hand, If I was back living aboard the bus full time again and always moving or occasionally then
I might consider a rig. I originally had the Sprint Vision service and it worked for me just fine and was cheap if
you were one of the first to get on it but I think they changed that now.

I guess that If you have a business or family that needs to be in contact with you 24 hours a day then
a mobile satellite internet system might be the way to go.

The choice then would be whether to get one of the expensive
automatic systems or be cheap and get a manual system.
( The definition of Cheap may vary...)

[prevost82]

(Dr Dave Sez "Oh the other hand... Isn't part of the idea of the "Bus" to get away from stress and constant
need for being "connected"?)

I agree Dave but some of us can work where ever we are with a high speed internet connection. I also use it for VOIP (both ways in & out) and only use my cell phone for emerg. when in cell service... we find it way cheaper than useing the cell phone.

Ron

[DrDave]

(Dr Dave Sez "Oh the other hand... Isn't part of the idea of the "Bus" to get away from stress and constant
need for being "connected"?)

I agree Dave but some of us can work where ever we are with a high speed internet connection. I also use it for VOIP (both ways in & out) and only use my cell phone for emerg. when in cell service... we find it way cheaper than useing the cell phone.

Ron

I agree, However after several stints a week doing tech support using remote access to my office I get so tired of looking at the computer and hearing the "whine" noise that comes with trying to help people that sometimes seem too stupid to get out of bed.

The problem comes from spoiling people. Granted it would be nice to get some of the stuff fixed while on the road but if you relish the thought of trying to get away only to be trapped at the phone and computer wherever you go that's not getting away at all.

That 4 hours of fussing with the computer detracts from what little enjoyment you would have gotten from "getting away for 4 hours"...

I just burned 27 hours fighting a virus and trojan attack off of 2 computers. My brain hurts... If people follow what I tell or suggest to them they can usually avoid the lost time and computer problems and I would not have to work so hard to rescue their computers...
But as usual it doesn't work that way.

I would like to have a mobile satellite internet system, But I am not prepared to spend "MY" money just so others can abuse my availability and that's the bottom line. I pay $85 a month for my Nextel service and phone out of my pocket. Did I have to do that? Yes, My employer required it but they won't help me pay for it. Do they pay for my Broadband connection and Phone service at home, NO they don't. 99% of the online time and phone calls are either to them or from them. For me to spend another $3,000 and $100 a month just for the convenience just is not in my limited budget.

I cannot justify the expense just to receive a bunch of spam mail and be on the BBS systems when I travel (IF at this point!).

I have Dish Network with a great channel package and very reasonable rates. As long as I can get TV, I don't care about much else.

I will NEVER get into bed with any part of the bunch of liars,thieves and con artists called Direct Tv ever again. ( nothing else to be said! ).

I know the topic drifted but I am a bit frustrated with computers and the needs to always be connected....

Dave...

[Ross]

Just for one or two week trips I wouldn't bother with internet either.  That's what vacation is all about.  Getting away.  However, when I go for extended periods, as I'm thinking of doing soon, I need internet connectivity.  Broadband cell doesn't do it because there are so many areas that it is not available.  I did some traveling last winter, mostly north into remote areas in upstate NY and Canada and broadband cell was not available anywhere.  I was not traveling in the bus last winter so I was staying in small B&B's with nothing but a phone line and a long distance call to check email.  No big hotels up in gods country with such luxuries like cable and broadband.

As much as I hate paying the upfront costs for satelite internet, I like the idea of having access anywhere anytime.  Of course, I'll also have a WiFi card in the computer so if I happen to find a WiFi hotspot I won't need to set up the dish.  What I really want is in-motion TV and internet, but there is just no way I could ever justify that sort of expense.  Maybe when I can afford that million dollar Marathon I'll treat myself...