# Full timing and internet access?



## foggyparrot (Aug 28, 2006)

Hello peeps,

We are going to have a crack at 'full timing' for three months sarting in January. I know that that's a bit of a contentous statement as full timing really means living in the vehicle full time!

Well, we are, but just for 3 months for now. We chose the worst three months to trial it because we figure that if we can handle it in the snow, sleet, rain and ice; we should be able to handle it through the summer months (tee hee).

We do intend to carry on working so won't be too far away from the house (listen to that for a mind-set establishment, house is no longer home; home is where the RV is!). But we still won't have viable internet access (wifi don't do 10 miles too well!).

Our question is; how do you full timers get access to the net at sensible prices and download speeds.

I really don't think I can justify £6.5k for installation with a further £90 per month for broadband access using the DataStorm.

I know that you can use Bluetooth for connection to the net but haven't looked at it seriously enough to make a qualified decision about whether or not it will deliver in terms of speed. Before I start attacking this with some degree of passion, are there any 'net users that have any experience with connection, if so, what and what were the results.

I don't mind throwing a bit of money at it but was put off 4 years ago with the Vodaphone GPS system which ate money like it was going out of fashion just to get your mail while on holiday.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike


----------



## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

There's a number of different options, Mike. What do you use the internet for? Purely domestic surfing, emails etc? Or is there any work element?

Stew (artona) is a whizz with his mobile phone-based internet, and will be happy to post details. Meanwhile, try a search through old threads, especially in the Internet Access forum *** here ***

Gerald


----------



## klubnomad (Mar 6, 2006)

Hi it.

I am lucky, I use my friends wireless connection here at the farm but, on the road I use what ever is avaiable. Naughty I know but if someone leaves a connection open then they cant be bothered who uses it. When I had my house I didnt care who used mine.

Dave

656

** Sits and waits for the high horse brigade to say its theft :lol: :lol:


----------



## 97932 (Mar 2, 2006)

Hi Mike 
We have been asking around about internet when we go full timing T Mobile have a system called Web and Walk at £29 a month. 3Gig upload and download. 

Joan and Peter


----------



## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

656 said:


> ** Sits and waits for the high horse brigade to say its theft :lol: :lol:


No thunder of hoofs yet, Dave :wink:

If you do go the route of phone internet, Mike, you will almost certainly benefit from using *** onspeed ***, which compresses data before transmission and saves on your download traffic.

Gerald


----------



## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi

Thanks for the compliment Gerald, not sure I am that whiz but as you say I have been using the internet in the van for some time now.

I did try one of the tmobile 3g cards six months ago but did not find it that good. It was £20 a month then so maybe it has improved since then what with there being a price increase

I used my mobile phone as a modem before Tmobile admitted it could be done. Using it in conjuction with Onspeed - www.onspeed.com i was getting speeds of aprox 230k via GPRS connection . Some dispute this as the actual connection speed but what ever speed I get it is fast enough.

Going into my internet tools I also disable photos. I have rarely not managed to get connected. Recently I have been experimenting with viewing on my phone rather than using the phone as a modem for the laptop. It takes about 30 seconds to get connected and onto the motorhomefacts/mo site. It then takes about five seconds to change pages, again very useable. I have been using a motorola v3i but I also have a tmobile vario with a much bigger screne so once I get the charger which is in the van I will be trying that.

I think mobile internet is about to take off at a great rate. Hang on in there. Early next year we have been promised an even faster service than 3g. We wait and see

stew


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Internet*

Hi

If you are UK based, then T mobile is the best value for money on a data card - but 12 month contract.

For Italy, I have a TIM Italia data card. Similar options available for France and Spain.

Russell


----------



## kijana (May 1, 2005)

OK, it's time to reaffirm my status as lifetime member of the technonumpty club. I know nothing about mobile phones and accessing the internet via them.

Stew, I guess my question is aimed at you, since you seem to have been doing it the longest  

We are orf on the Gert Adventure very soon now, and need to upgrade at least one of our mobile phones. I am very keen to have ready (or permanent) access to the 'net, at least to email level, and it seems from what you say a mobile phone would be the most convenient way to achieve this.

So my question is, which model phone would you recommend for this purpose?

Also, would value your comments on what sort of account to set up; whether to buy local SIM card (given we're fulltiming, mainly France, Spain, Portugal); and how we go about actually accessing the internet - do we need an ISP? Software? An IQ greater than that of a 10 year old?

Sorry, I did say I was stupid!!

Any help from those who understand these things would be most gratefully received.

Cheers

Bruce


----------



## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

*Which Phone*

Hi.
With regards to the phone thing. If your just looking at emails etc have a look at the Nokia 9500 its a brick of a phone but has a full keyboard and internet access without the need for a laptop. I use mine all over the world for business and it has never let me down, You can set it up for emails just the same as outlook express. The screen and the keyboard are more than useable. The only downside to it is the size but if you have a small everyday mobile it wont be a problem. You can use your laptop in a wifi area for free but the phone will do the email job for you anywhere with no fuss.

Good luck.

Darren


----------



## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Bruce

*Nokia 9500*

The phone Darren refers to is in my opinion a superb phone. I think it is the same as the 9300/9300i. It is a real business mans tool. Marks and Spenser have just used one in its xmas advert, you have to look carefully because the person holding it is an absolutely stunning women dressed in very expensive looking underwear lounging on the bed (trust me when I say it is the M&S advert :lol: )

At present only O2 and Vodaphone supply these phones so as I am a fan of Tmobile and 3phones I cannot get one at the moment.

*What I use for internet access*

I currently use a motorola V3i on Tmobile and a nokia E61 on my 3 account. I use the V3i as a modem for internet connection. All you do is load the software onto your laptop and then plug the phone in. I had to talk to T mobile to ask them to turn on WAP access for me. This meant that they basically put a password onto my account. Since then Tmobile have added web and walk to a lot of their packages so it is probably there as standard now.

I plugged a usb cable into the phone and then into the laptop and asked the two to syncronise. A menu came up onto the laptop which said access internet so I pressed it and hey presto I was on. That is all you need to access the internet and view using internet explorer which comes with windows.

*Onspeed*

I then went onto subscribe to Onspeed - see www.onspeed.com. Onspeed cost £25.00 per year and basically compresses the data prior to transfer. This has the effect of speeding things up.

*Cost of Internet Access*

I like T mobile because they give you unlimited access subject to their fair policy rules. I pay £7.50 a month for this but with most of their packages it is now included FREE.

I like the Motorola V3i because as I often run my business from the car or motorhome and I make a lot of calls - between the tmobile and 3 accounts I ring out over 2000 minutes a month - thats approx 8 hours a week and I take more calls than I make so for approx two working days a week I am talking on the phone. The V3i is an easy phone to make and take calls on.

*Viewing the internet on a phone without a laptop*

For the past few days I have been testing viewing the internet actually on the phone rather than using the phone as a modem. Connection is no problem - took 15 seconds today and changing pages on the mobile version of MHF took about 5 seconds. However the V3i screen is only about 2" square. I have got a T mobile MDA phone as well which comes with a much bigger screen and a qwerty keyboard. I will be testing viewing the internet on this over the weekend.

*Email on the move*

As for email I have a 3phone Nokia E61 at the moment. For £5 a month they give you the ability to receive and send email. It is proving very reliable and instantanious. What I did not like about it was that I could not view my emails over the internet as well as on the phone. I should say that I am a belt and braces sort of bloke. If I jumped out of an aeroplane I would want a main parachute and three spares (thinking about it with my weight I would have to deploy them all anyway :lol: )

The answer was to open a gmail account. So when people send me an email now they send it to my gmail account which then forwards a copy to an account with 3phones. 3phones then send a text message to my phone to say an email has been received. I then press a button on the phone and another copy is forwarded to my phone. So the email is now in three places for me.

*Faxes*

I also need to send and receive Faxes. I subscribe to a third party company - try www.efax.co.uk. It costs me about £10 a month for this which is quite expensive but I have to have the fax facility. They supply me with a fax number. You can choose one from any of 2000 std codes from around the world. So you could be sitting in Spain and a fax sent to your UK std code number would then be forwarded as an attachment via email to you. O2 will actually do this for free. They supply you a second mobile number for your phone and people use this as a fax number

*EUROPE*

I have not tested all of this in Europe. T mobile is actually a German company. I am sure roaming charges will come into the equation. Europe is my next port of investigation.

*Summary*

Presently in the UK I have unlimited access to the internet, email and fax on either a laptop or phone. For me this means in essence I can run my business efficiently whether in the studio or in the motorhome/car wherever I am. All of this costs me under £25 a month )plus of course the cost of the actual phone calls)

stew


----------



## kijana (May 1, 2005)

Excellent, thanks for such a detailed response, Stew. I'll need to mull it over a few times, and find out more about the individual products.

Knowing what's available in UK, I can now get on to some mobile websites to see what they can offer in Europe. I suspect it will be cheaper to buy a local SIM card for long term residents, though this begs the question of acquiring the hardware, which I assume would normally come with the annual contract.

Anyway, thanks once again Stew, I'll go away and see what I can find out on continental usage. 

What about you, detourer - do you use a Spanish SIM? can you get 3G or similar? How much does it cost?

Cheers

Bruce


----------



## kijana (May 1, 2005)

Thanks also to Dazzer - sorry, meant to say that at the time  

Cheers

Bruce


----------

