TV Viewing

[Roadman]

How do you all get your TV reception?
Through a satellite, Air, or streaming ?

New to all this RV stuff lots of questions.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Roadman

How do you all get your TV reception?
Through a satellite, Air, or streaming ?

New to all this RV stuff lots of questions.

All of the above except satellite, plus campground cable.

It depends on service you have available and what you want to watch.

[Roadman]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

All of the above except satellite, plus campground cable.

It depends on service you have available and what you want to watch.

Thanks.
Also what do you use for internet/cell service? out in the middle of no where or in camp grounds with no service. I have seen some use T-Mobile home and a cell signal boosters. I know i will need internet for streaming. Any good ides.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Roadman

Thanks.
Also what do you use for internet/cell service? out in the middle of no where or in camp grounds with no service. I have seen some use T-Mobile home and a cell signal boosters. I know i will need internet for streaming. Any good ides.

I use a PepWave Max Transit Duo with 800GB T-Mobile (Grandfathered) and Unlimited Verizon SIM cards.

Some folks swear by Starlink, which to me is way too expensive, while others use T-Mobile home. Other folks use their cell plan with their phone as a mobile hotspot.

There are probably a thousand threads with ten thousand opinion on what others should do. I use what works for me.

Wait a few and the self proclaimed experts will tell you what you should do.

[The Gritz Carlton]

OTA for general TV. I set up Dish Tailgater Pro for more options such as Nascar and other "cable only" shows and campground cable occasionally. I've found campground cable in general to be the worse option. Fuzzy pics and not working at least half the time. Internet is through the phones and Winegard for poor cell service areas.

[Mark54]

Originally Posted by Roadman

How do you all get your TV reception?
Through a satellite, Air, or streaming ?

New to all this RV stuff lots of questions.

We added a DVD player TV, and a Roku streambar- Wineguard "tumor" adds antenna reception, or we can use Wifi if available, then watch Roku, or play DVD's- so one way or the other we figure it out- and then there's card games, going for walks, etc... had to change the TV mount to make it level also.

I did not want to pay anything more for TV- just not worth it to us. Roku ties into Amazon Prime that we already have, and then has other stations to pick from, and adds much better sound to the pathetic TV speakers, as well as can play BT audio from our devices.

Some have done the satellite receivers, but is $$ and not that interested in TV while camping unless it's awful outside.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Roadman

How do you all get your TV reception?
Through a satellite, Air, or streaming ?

New to all this RV stuff lots of questions.

I think the answer to your question is someone will use all possible methods, so if you want really relevant information you will need to lay out your requirements. Everyone is different and have different needs, none are 100% right. It just depends.

i.e. Even though I may be at campground with cable, I never hookup. Why bother. I will not be there that long to care.

You ask about how do I get TV reception, well it is OTA. I have OEM King Antenna on the roof plus a Portable King Omni Directional that I may use once a year. It is only for when Roof Antenna may not get good signal.

Last two years I have additionally used T Mobile Home Internet, best investment for our needs for many many reasons. We stream You Tube TV and Netflix. I have never been anywhere with T Mobile Home where I did not have 5G. I know it is possible to be out of T Mobile's 5G range, but it is also possible for gas to overflow when filling RV if you don't pay attention.

Satellite is way over my pay grade. If you seriously consider Satellite, I say buy that because if money were not an option it would be your overall best bet ( maybe )

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Roadman

Thanks.
Also what do you use for internet/cell service? out in the middle of no where or in camp grounds with no service. I have seen some use T-Mobile home and a cell signal boosters. I know i will need internet for streaming. Any good ides.

You will find there are as many different answers to your question as there are campers. You can search and read here on the Forum; you can find many YouTube video channels that are aimed at answering the Internet/TV question, but it all comes down to what works for you and your technical abilities, the depth of your wallet, and how often (and how long) you use your RV.

Starlink is a great resource but I'm still waiting for the promised $100 equipment fee and $70 a month plan (not holding my breath).

Some can get a good deal on a hotspot or data SIM if tied to their cell phone accounts. Standalone data plans can get very expensive.

Some "home internet" options are available from the big 3 cell providers that may fit your budget (but technically violates their Terms Of Service in a mobile platform).

Internet based TV will require an additional subscription service like YouTube TV or Hulu - no additional expense if you already use that for home.

Over The Air (OTA AKA Broadcast TV) may be available if you are camping close enough to urban coverage areas.

It's a journey instead of a destination - the landscape is always changing. What works OK today may be improved upon next year by a change in plan or equipment.

Good luck in your journey.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

Some "home internet" options are available from the big 3 cell providers that may fit your budget (but technically violates their Terms Of Service in a mobile platform).

This too depends on how used, because I actually asked T Mobile about it when I signed up. My Home Internet is at my registered Home Address and active 90% of the time. They state to locate the Home Internet box as close to a window as possible, or wherever you may get the most bars. My box is stored next to my RV window in my driveway where I get 5 bars. The fact that I may forget to unplugged it when making a temporary trip does not violate Terms of service, however if I were to have it permanently in a location that is foreign to my registered Home address that would be violation. Rules change, but last I inquired; Tech Support says that if they see the IP address in a fixed area not on the registered account longer than 4 - 6 weeks, they may take action.

IMO, I think T Mobile may allow customers to have 2 Mobile Home Internet devices before they start kicking off people with one that only use on a limited basis truly away from home. If I could get two black boxes, I would dump my Spectrum fiber and have one in the House & one in the RV both at the same address.

[Roadman]

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas.
That gives me something to think about.

[SteveCie]

We found that most RV campsites are not within over-the-air television transmission. Many campgrounds offer cable TV, but not usually decent. We opted for the DISH FOR RV You only pay for it while you need it, when not camping, simply don't pay the advance monthly fee and they suspend the service until you want it resumed. You can get all the usual DISH channels and an option for network broadcasts also. The only caveat is you need a clear view of sight to the southwest for the satellite signal. (no trees)

[ducksface]

Safest bet for video entertainment.

Download movies, series, clips to your phone from
Amazon
Netflix
Youtube
Etc

Infallible with an HDMI to phone cable.

Nothing else is as reliable.
Trees, line of sight, weather, bandwidth, scratches, Bluetooth interference, remote control lost...no bothers.

Do as you like but have a fail-proof back-up.
One is none.

[twovillagers]

Originally Posted by Roadman

How do you all get your TV reception?
Through a satellite, Air, or streaming ?

New to all this RV stuff lots of questions.

I have generally found over the air reception to be fairly poor with the Winegard antenna and booster. If I do get good reception, the programming is not worth watching.

I will always connect to the RV park cable and watch news, etc. For entertainment, we stream through a ROKU using either the park WIFI or tether to my phone as a hotspot. For phone service, I use Visible by Verizon.

The above suffices for our several times a year trips.

[MattMcEvoy]

We have Starlink and so we stream anything we want to watch.

[Luredale]

We use Verizon cube. Virtually works everywhere.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Luredale

We use Verizon cube. Virtually works everywhere.

But not IRL.

[Luredale]

Not sure what you're referring to. "In Real Life"?

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

You will find there are as many different answers to your question as there are campers. You can search and read here on the Forum; you can find many YouTube video channels that are aimed at answering the Internet/TV question, but it all comes down to what works for you and your technical abilities, the depth of your wallet, and how often (and how long) you use your RV.

Starlink is a great resource but I'm still waiting for the promised $100 equipment fee and $70 a month plan (not holding my breath).

Some can get a good deal on a hotspot or data SIM if tied to their cell phone accounts. Standalone data plans can get very expensive.

Some "home internet" options are available from the big 3 cell providers that may fit your budget (but technically violates their Terms Of Service in a mobile platform).

Internet based TV will require an additional subscription service like YouTube TV or Hulu - no additional expense if you already use that for home.

Over The Air (OTA AKA Broadcast TV) may be available if you are camping close enough to urban coverage areas.

It's a journey instead of a destination - the landscape is always changing. What works OK today may be improved upon next year by a change in plan or equipment.

Good luck in your journey.

Please let us know when you see this!

Starlink is a great resource but I'm still waiting for the promised $100 equipment fee and $70 a month plan (not holding my breath).

[JALEX]

We have dish at home and added service to the RV for $7.00/ month with a tailgater and a wally receiver on a small tripod stand, which is very easy to use. I also downloaded the winegard signal finder app to find the satellites in the sky on my cellphone and have always been able to find a signal even in heavily treed areas. We get local channels from our winegard antenna on the roof if available. For cell service we have unlimited service from a service that uses Verizon towers. Even in Yellowstone, which is known as a blackhole for technology, we had TV and were able to make phone calls, download emails and send pictures from our campsite. If you need more I saw a few starlink antennas in the park too.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Luredale

Not sure what you're referring to. "In Real Life"?

You said "virtually everywhere" Do you not understand what a virtual world is?

IRL your Verizon box will not work everywhere. Specifically - no Verizon cell service - box no worky.