A huge concern for people that are looking into the Full Time RV Lifestyle is keeping in touch with their family and friends, and also being able to run their business while they are traveling.
Well there are a number of ways that one can stay in contact while on the road. The first and most obvious would be the cell phone. If you have a cell phone with a nation wide package, calling friends, loved ones, or business contacts will not be a major expense.
But today it is almost a necessity to also have a full time Internet connection. With many family members staying in contact by email, websites and blogging, it is now almost imperative to be able to have regular access to the web. Especially if you are running a business out of your rig, you cannot afford to be without an Internet connection.
What many people do not realize is the fact that you can connect to the Internet through the cellular network. When this is first brought to most people's attention, they usually visualize a Blackberry or some similar devise to connect to the web and download email. But it is actually much more than that. A computer can be connected to the Internet via the cell phone network, and you can have high speed Internet almost anywhere that there is a cell phone signal. In many cases you can get an Internet connection even when the signal is too weak to make a cell phone voice call.
Now there are a couple of ways that you can do this. First if your provider allows what is called tethering, you can get a cable that connects from your cell phone to the computer, and with a bit of software, and an Internet package from your cellular provider, you are on line. You just have to make sure that you have a 3G or EVDO enabled phone, which most modern cell phones and smart phones are.
The other way is to buy a small unit that plugs into a USB port. This unit is basically a cell phone that connects your computer to the Internet. Many providers will give you these units for free if you sign up for a 2 or 3 year contract.
In most cases the speeds that you will get will match many cable and DSL speeds. In fact the upload speed is almost always faster than cable, since cable upload speeds are usually pretty slow.
A quick scan of pricing for this service shows it to be in the neighborhood of to per month for most providers. This price will give you about 3 to 5 gigabytes of data depending on the provider also. 3 to 5 gigabytes is usually enough for most people as long as you are not into downloading music and movies. Depending on the provider there could also be a monthly maximum. That is you would never be charged more than a certain amount, usually 0 even if you do go way over you gigabyte allowance. A bit of research on the Internet would soon tell you which provider would give you the best coverage area, and the best data deal.
To get Internet in very remote areas, there is an option that can be used with some cell phones and USB Internet sticks, and that is an external antenna. Many very new phones do not have a place to plug in an antenna, but a lot of slightly older phones do. Also some of the USB data sticks also have a place where you can connect an external antenna. There is a website called cellantenna dot com that has information on cell phone antenna adapters and cell phone antennas. Just look at the bottom right hand corner of their home page.
With an external antenna mounted on top of your rig, you may be able to get another 15 or 20 miles away from the nearest cell phone tower before you lose your signal.
On the cell antenna site you can also find cell amplifiers that help your signal even more.
So with a cellular Internet connection you never again have to worry about staying in touch with your friends and relatives. You can also run your business out of your RV from beside that fly fishing lake in Canada, or that beach on the gulf of Mexico, your customers will never know the difference.
In future articles I will go into satellite Internet and WiFi Internet connections. Needless to say you need never be without an Internet connection if you are Full Time RV'ing. When you give up your house to go full time on the road, you will also give up a lot of bills. So if you have to pay a bit more for Internet it will be more than offset by the amount of money you are saving on your other bills.
