This article, Location, location, location - and broadband, discusses people making a decision on where people live based on broadband internet availability, but also has information for full-timers and those thinking about full-timing. If you are used to high speed DSL (includes fiber) then satellite and cell phone internet will be a let down. If you depend on having both high speed and high download limits, including unlimited, then you might not be a good candidate for full-timing. Plus campgrounds have the same issue, they are often in places without good broadband availability so their wi-fi is limited.
If you are willing to pay $12,000 to $15,000 for a larger automatic Datastorm dish and about $300 a month you can get unlimited downloads,better latency (delays), and higher speeds through iDirect. This level of service is not in the article, but does exist. If having such internet access is all that is keeping you off the road, the cost should be worth it since the rest of the lifestyle should be cheaper than staying put and a lot more fun.
I know many who care if the places they are going to camp give them access for their internet satellite dish.  I know others who won't stay anywhere more than a day if their aircard doesn't work or only works at slow speed.  I know others who only stay at places with wi-fi, and often complain about how bad the wi-fi is.  RVers are making the same decisions as those in the article, only going where they have internet access.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 11:28, 2008-11-08

Fortunate for us that we aren't that dependent on the internet even though we do use it several times a month mostly at public locations.  This is sufficient to keep in contact and take care of business.  We do enjoy the forums, blogs, and free information but it is not a necessity for us.  After all independence is once of the things we sought in the RV lifestyle.  It would be nice to have full time high speed coverage but then again we probably wouldn't get out as much and we love to get out.

Larry and Jacki

Yes, I am addicted to the Internet. Just started traveling and need 24/7 access to the internet. My free lance work requires reliable service. Some of my traveling friends tell me that air cards don't work everywhere. Since I spend most of my time in those beautiful out of the way places, what is my best bet for access?

DreamComeTrue, Sounds like you enjoy the places we do. Satellite internet is the ticket for us. We have the automatic rooftop dish (smallest Datastorm - up front investment $5,000 plus $70 per month). We have to be careful how and where we park so we don't block it with trees, but we get reliable service everywhere we can see the southern sky. Many have internet satellite dishes on tripods. The up front cost is lower and you can set them up to avoid trees, so parking isn't as much of any issue. There are trade-offs either way, but if you like off-the-beaten path like we do, satellite is currently the way to go. But before we get too far off topic, there are some older threads that cover RV internet options in depth. Feel free to check them out via the search feature.

We remember back in the 1990's that when in Mexico just to get email, we would load up the laptop, go to the local phone company to get a good line, and half the staff would watch us get our emails.  Of course Peg would distract them when I did our bank transfers etc.  In the early 2000 you could find areas with highspeed, but I still remember in 2001 at Quartzite going to the gas station and standing in line to plug into a phone line.

We've come a long way baby!!

If you are going for a tripod based satellite internet system now I would seriously look at getting Starband service instead of Hughes.net service and I have a Hughes.net tripod system. There are two reasons for this: 1) Starband has no problem with tripod users and will provide technical support. Hughes.net wants to act like we don't exist and your dealer has to help you by acting like you are a stationary user. Luckily there are good dealers and support groups to help here. 2) Hughes.net has put up its own satellite using spot beam technology and is strongly encouraging its dealers to use that satellite and the 9000 series modems instead of the 7000 series modems those of us who travel need to use. This is causing Hughes.net dealers who primarily sell to mobile users to rethink their business. Hughes.net is supporting Motosat for automatic roof mount dishes with the 7000 series modems.

We are kind of in between the travel style of Howard and LInda, and just staying in developed areas. We like off-the-track camping, and boondocking. But do not do state parks as much as H&L. Our experience with the aircard is that we almost always have service  - even in out of the way areas. But NOT ALWAYS. I think if you want to have service no matter what, then you have to stay with the sat system. If you can live without service for a few days then the aircard is pretty good in our experience, and getting better all the time.

Speaking of aircards... I have a new ATT mercury aircard and the first time connecting was a 3G network and pretty fast. Now it seems everytime I connect it is a 2G network and not as fast. Is there supposed to be a "setting" that controls which network I am connecting to??

The aircard will automatically connect at the fastest available speed on that tower. Not all of the network (from any of the cell companies) has high speed data. In which case it will fall back to the lower speed.

Unfortunately, ATT has a pretty poor data network, compared to Verizon and Sprint, who are both upgrading towers at a frenzied pace.

It may help to have an amp and external antenna in some locations. That may allow you to connect to a tower that has the faster data available, whereas with just the aircard it connects to a closer tower that does not have broadband.

Landyachty,

I remember driving from Quartzite to just before Blythe to get a cell signal so we could make a phone call and do our credit card receipt batches each night after closing up our booth.   That was only 7 years ago.

I also remember when the TV program Dallas was on, we drove to the end of a mountain to get a tv signal, so we could find out who shot JR.   The campground didn't have cable and the mountain blocked signals from the nearest major city.   And we hadn't setup the VCR at home to record the program. 

Now we could get online and have our DVR beam the program to us over our iphone if we wanted to. 

Wonder what the next 10 years will bring ?