Can someone help--need info about sat. internet for RV

[ford 5ver]

Hi - I'm new to this forum. I live in Upstate SC. My wife and I are close to going full-time in our RV. I've tried for some time to get clear, accurate info on where to buy the equipment and which internet provider to use. When I go to Directway or Hughesnet, I get Satellite TV info and no place to find moble internet info. Everything I know about this, I've read online in these forums but they leave me somewhat confused as well. Finding dealer info for the equipment pertaining to the various satellites everyone mentions isn't easy either. I'm looking for a manual tripod mount system in the $1200.00 to $1500.00 range plus the cost of installation. Can one of you point me to someone who can price this equipment in my area?
Thanks in advance,
Gary
E-mail me at g298w2@aol.com

[Motor31]

If you had asked this last year I could probably have helped you with an RV installer in your area. The company I worked for was a victim of the economy and shut it's doors on the end of December. If you do a google search using the term RV and hughesnet you will get several hits indicating sources of mobile satellite dealers. Maxwell satellite is one of them. They sell you the equipment and give you an instruction book to set it up. I have talked to folks who have had mixed success with that method. The company I worked with had the installer train you in person how to set up the dish and find the satellite so you could get online any time you moved.

In the mean time you could try the Maxwell method and if that doesn't work well for you look for another Hughesnet dish in a park where you are and see if that user can give you some help getting set up. Sometimes just having a few pointers is all you need.

[hitchup]

We used Maxwell to buy our system in 2005. But after download times were reduced because they were focusing on increasing their residential customers and setup was sometimes difficult in treed CG's, we opted for an AT&T USB stick. Then bought a Cradlepoint router from The 3G store online. Now we use the tripod for our DirecTV dish.

The USB card still isn't perfect, but is easier when moving frequently. Now we use the tripod for our DirecTV dish when we're in those heavily treed CG's...

[Hobo]

Directway is now Hughesnet. If you sign up for a new account with Hughes you will get a 9000 modem if your not careful and those are spot beamed = (not movable past a 50 to 100 mile radius)

That said, if you get a setup from a tripod dealer they will be sure you get the correct setup. Here is a sight that can help you locate some dealers along with lots of other good info and may answer lots of your questions.

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

This is the map page and the people marked with GREEN icons are installers and shows their locations.

http://map.datastormusers.com/

Anothe good helpfull group is-
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/RVInternetBySatellite/

If you can find a person near you that has a tripod setup he my be able to help teach you the ropes if you were to by a used system form one of those forum or E-Bay. You would still need a dealer to commission the modem in your name but that can be handles remote

If you will be in populated areas most of the time a Verizon or ATT phone card my be the easier way for you to go. Just depends on how remotely you want to camp.

I bought 40 acres in TN and have very poor Verizon signal and same when out in the desert of AZ and NV in the winter months so a card is not a option for me.

[LindaH]

If you will be in populated areas most of the time a Verizon or ATT phone card my be the easier way for you to go. Just depends on how remotely you want to camp.

I bought 40 acres in TN and have very poor Verizon signal and same when out in the desert of AZ and NV in the winter months so a card is not a option for me.
We had HughesNet for several years, but finally got rid of it when we started having a lot of problems with getting a signal. So we switched to a Sprint air card, and then a Verizon air card (for where we travel, Verizon has better coverage than Sprint).

Sure, there are still some places where we are remote enough that we can't get Internet access, but with our Wilson antenna and Wilson amplifier, we get access in places that I'm surprized there's any cell tower near!

Anyone looking for an installer for HughesNet, though, should go to the Datastorm Users Forum, to which the previous poster gave the URL. There are lots of installers who post over there, so take your pick.

You will not be able to get HughesNet tripod-mounted system directly from HughesNet because they don't support moving their dish (other than for the very expensive automatic roof-mounted Datastorm).