On 8/25/2011 8:15 PM, Hunter Hampton wrote:
> Anne Pearse Hocker wrote:
>> I talked to the folks at Wilson today and it seems you have to move a
>> lot of gear from the A/S to the truck every day unless you get two
>> sets and just move the phone. And the trailer version---do you use
>> the home accessory kit or the 12v version? Even two sets are cheaper
>> than their desktop office version. Do you mount the antenna on a
>> window or the metal side?
>>
I will weigh in here, as I know Anne likes to go to remote areas.
Verizon seems still to have the best coverage, so go to their website
and look at their map. You will find there are few places without
coverage, and those places are shrinking.
I use the Wilson Amp in the trailer(12v), especially now that I put
aluminum screens on the windows and I'm in a marginal area (Socorro,
NM). It out performs the provided WIFI. It is velcroed to the radio
antenna, not permanently mounted. As with Hunter's experience, there
have been very few places I didn't get a signal, at least enough to
email. Many of the apps and services that are advertised these days
depend on a very fat data pipe, not over the air speeds, you need to be
in civilization to get connections like that.
I will be heading for Big Bend NP mid Sept, where there is no Verizon
service. I'm told I can get a DSL phone hook up, but I may just take a
technology vacation. Read books, write letters......
I don't ever talk on the phone while driving, I don't even like putting
in CD's or using a GPS. I think you need 100% attention to the road and
the other drivers, so I wouldn't put an antenna on the truck. You can
always go into the trailer, while stopped.
If you want constant connection, you will have to get a satellite
internet connection, and a SAT phone, all very expensive, and IMHO
unnecessary. Leaving civilization is the whole point of hitting the
road, if you are fearful of not being constantly connected, you should
rethink this project. The providers of all these services and
equipment, like the insurance companies, would like you to believe you
MUST have it, but it just isn't true. If you must have a safety net,
look into Onstar, which is now available for retrofit.
There is a level of anxiety that we on the road have to learn to live
with. Our whole culture is based on the "house", as a symbol of safety,
and the comfort of familiarity is very real. We are explorers, even
though we are only finding Wal-Mart, or the cheapest gas, or the nicest
campground. Sometimes things don't go well, vehicles break down, bad
weather, nasty campgrounds, illness, this is part of the adventure. I
needed brake work in CO, and spend 4 days camped in a garage parking lot
with a hilarious couple who owned the garage, and had a chance to
explore Alamosa. I blew a drive belt in an Iowa cornfield, and Hunter
went for parts, then a local farmer installed it.
Daisy
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