Eight years ago when we handed over our business and home to a new owner, we didn’t know exactly what we wanted to do when we grew up. Little did we know that the Internet would soon become our #1 tool for allowing us to enjoy an untethered life.
Instead of chaining us to a desk, the Internet has enabled us to earn a living from wherever we want, on our own terms. And because we invested in mobile RV satellite Internet, we have more location options than other full-timing entrepreneurs whose connectivity is tied to cell towers.
How RV Satellite Internet Broadens Our Horizons
In a recent Facebook post that Jim made about bandwidth pricing for our new RV DataSat 840 system, some full-timers instantly assumed that we have more money than sense. They couldn’t see the point of paying more for bandwidth we could get from the likes of Verizon or AT&T.
Apparently these guys just didn’t see the point. Of course it’s not fun to pay more for anything, especially when you’re as frugal as we are. But when you can camp for free in remote, gorgeous places far from the tentacles of cell towers, price is a moot point. It’s also like trying to compare a Porsche to a Honda.
Our RV DataSat 840 lets us live in God’s Country, without concrete parking pads, stupid pet leash rules or grumpy workampers – just a few reasons why we don’t enjoy staying in RV parks. You can’t put a price on the ability to choose locations, in my opinion.
Just last weekend, our RVDataSat 840 once again proved why it was such a great investment.
On the Trail with Internet and No Cell Phone
Some friends invited us to the Colorado Mountain Mushers‘ annual campout in Leadville, Colorado. With over 100 sled dogs attending, it was an event not to be missed. Since our Internet-based income requires us to be online at least once a day, we also knew we couldn’t go dark the entire weekend.
We accepted the invite, yet had no idea if there would be cell service in the area. Our guess was not. But did we care? Nope. Because we have our dish.
Last Friday we drove to the campout without hesitation and the jaunt was well worth the effort. One morning after a glorious ride with the mushers, we got online to make sure everything was OK with our business stuff. A few clicks, and we were online, in the middle of nowhere. How reassuring to know that all was well and for the next 24 hours we could go have real-life fun with sled dogs!
Later as I looked up toward our dish pointed into the bright blue sky, I considered the real benefit of our RV DataSat 840: the overall cost is a small price to pay for getting to enjoy something rare and beautiful like musher dogs in their element!
Every day Jim and I work our butts off. We make many sacrifices to cover our full-time RVing costs on a bare-bones income, but the options to choose where and how we get online is well worth the effort.
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If cost isn’t a problem the only caveats I can think of when it comes to satellite broadband are technical ones. It takes about 1 second for a signal to travel to the satellite and down to a receiving station. That can make things like conference/video calls over your data line, administering/controlling remote systems, and anything else that requires reasonable latency (online game development/testing for example) not-so-fun and sometimes impossible. It’s a serious consideration depending on the type of work you’re doing. Glad it works out for you guys!
Louie, with the new iDirect connectivity on the RV DataSat 840, latency is no longer an issue. I know that’s hard to believe, we didn’t either until we saw it. But we can now do video chats, stream movies, upload huge files, etc., just as if we were on any other kind of high speed broadband. It’s really incredible. We’d be happy to show you anytime, just meet up with us some day!
If my latency is over 400ms (which you can measure with a ping), I can’t complete multi-connection VoIP calls or perform remote systems management that my work depends upon. I’ve never seen satellite with sub-500ms latency though, and would be very interested in seeing what your ping numbers look like if they’re less than that.
Streaming and large uploads are applications which work fine in high-latency environments. All they need is bandwidth. Personally I wouldn’t use those as examples of low latency since they aren’t.
Sorry for the late reply Louie. A quick test with our dish showed average ping times at 550-575± ms.
I have spoken with MobilSat about their optional VoIP solution, which they assure me can handle voice/video calls and VPN applications. It includes an additional piece of hardware for plugging in a phone, or can be used with smart phone apps that provide SIP service. We have not yet added that to our InstaSat plan, but look forward to testing it out.
So glad you blogged about this service! My husband and I are planning to live in an RV within the next couple of years, and eventually probably live in the country on some land, but we hadn’t yet come across a good Internet solution. His job is online, and together we use a LOT of bandwidth! We are willing to pay what it costs; good to know about a service that will meet our needs!
Thanks Ashley. We are really happy with it so if you or your hubby have any questions don’t hesitate. Good luck with the move to full-timing! Keep us posted.
I totally got that and I’m a techie idiot! LOL I’d bet that said people either are out east or hang where there is always cell signals OR they don’t have to be online a substantial amount of time (allowing them to work when they can and have signals). I know living in the ‘twigs’ as I do and camping/traveling the remote back roads – cell is usually NOT an option. Hey, what works for one doesn’t for others and I for one am glad you have talked about an option I’ve not seen anyone else really discuss! 🙂
Sherry, if you can comment on a blog and get online you are most definitely not a techie idiot 🙂 Yes, we tend to find that those who instantly assume a RV satellite Internet system is “too expensive” are the ones that are either retired and don’t need to be online every day, or they don’t go out to the twigs like you and we do. I’ll take the backroads and hinterlands over more populated areas any day. And as I write this, we are camped in the Carson National Forest in Northern New Mexico, for free, with nobody else around. Love it! -Thanks for reading!