Connectivity on the Road

Even before we left home, my biggest concern about this trip was Internet connectivity. I work as a product manager at Google, so I spend a lot of time in meetings. As such, reliable connectivity is critical. Bandwidth is less of a concern–Google Meet actually works really well with low bandwidth connections (as I found out using my parents’ DSL connection in Jackson Hole).

How I Prepped

There are two basic ways to connect: Wi-Fi and cellular. Most RV parks have Wi-Fi networks, but they’re known to be unreliable. As such, my plan was to rely on cellular, with Wi-Fi as a nice bonus when it actually worked.

Cellular

For cellular, I already had an iPhone XR on AT&T (through Google’s corporate account), which includes 22GB/month of tethered data. If I use more than that, my data speed is reduced dramatically (it is throttled and gets lower priority on the network).

Kelly has an iPhone 8 on Visible, which uses Verizon’s network. It includes unlimited tethering, but it’s limited to one tethered device at a time, speed is limited to 5Mb/s, and traffic has a low priority on the network.

Because we wanted coverage from multiple networks and didn’t want to rely on Visible’s restrictive tethering, we also got a Verizon “MiFi” hotspot. It’s a device purpose-built for tethering, but it’s not cheap: $200 for the device and $80/mo for 15 GB of data (again, after which traffic gets a lower priority on the network). They actually call it “unlimited,” which I’m sure made for some interesting conversations between Verizon’s marketing and legal teams.

Of course, cellular only works when there’s coverage. Most of the campground review sites allow users to report the cellular coverage for each carrier. Also, Cellmapper is useful for seeing coverage on a map (though it’s really cumbersome to use).

Lastly, we wanted to maximize the cellular coverage, so we purchased a WeBoost Drive X RV cellular amplifier.

Wi-Fi

As mentioned above, our philosophy on Wi-Fi was to not rely on it. Still, when a campground had it, we’d like to be able to use it. Sometimes coverage is spotty, so we purchased an amplifier, specifically the CC Vector Extended Long Range WiFi Receiver System 2.4 GHz. See below for what I think about this.

How it Actually Worked

Wi-Fi

Let’s get this one out of the way first: it sucks. Most campground Wi-Fi networks sit somewhere between bad and unusable, depending on the campground and time of day. Most have really good coverage (lots of antennas) but not enough bandwidth. I suspect most of these networks weren’t designed for the proliferation of connected devices, streaming entertainment, and tons of people working and schooling on the road. The connection tends to be better in the mornings and overnight. Evenings are the worst.

We actually got some false hope to start the trip. Our first campground, West Glacier Campground at Glacier National Park, was only a couple years old and had excellent Wi-Fi. By far the best of the trip.

Regarding the Wi-Fi amplifier, after using it, I’m not sure I’d recommend this particular model. The software is somewhat poorly designed (e.g. it’ll automatically connect to an open network, even if it has no network connectivity), and it only operates on the 2.4 GHz band (whereas more networks are using 5 GHz). Lastly, the antenna isn’t very robust, likely because it’s intended for permanent installation, rather than being packed and unpacked from a storage compartment every few days. I would, however, recommend some sort of directional amplifier. There have been a few times, especially at state parks, when we were out of range of the antennas.

So what is Wi-Fi good for? Syncing photos to cloud services, updating software on devices, sometimes some light internet browsing, and writing the blog mostly.

Cellular

In general, cellular has actually worked pretty well. Rarely have we been out of range, especially with the booster. In fact, the booster has been critical at times, so I definitely recommend that.

When working, I usually tether my laptop to my cellphone, which works great. I have noticed that Google Meet on my iPhone has a better connection more consistently than Google Meet on my laptop when tethered to my phone. I do need to be aware of my data usage, however, when using Meet.

The Verizon hotspot’s connectivity is somewhat disappointing. There were times where both of our cellphones worked and the hotspot didn’t (or at least not consistently). Not sure why.

The big surprise is Kelly’s iPhone on Visible’s service. Though it claims only one device can be tethered at a time, she frequently has both kids on video calls at the same time, and it works pretty well. It’s an incredible value for only $40 per month.

There are other minor annoyances. For instance, my laptop (a Google Pixelbook) drops the tethered connection frequently for a few seconds and doesn’t automatically reconnect. I’m guessing a Macbook would tether more reliably to an iPhone.

One useful thing I realized later is that Google Meet will let you connect to a meeting using a phone call while using data for video. This is great when the data is unreliable. It even syncs the audio and video surprisingly well.