I Love my Satellite Internet
June 19, 2008 by Chris Guld · 8 Comments
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I write a lot about the 3 different ways to get high-speed Internet as you travel: Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Satellite. We use all three. Satellite is by far the most expensive. In the past year, we have heard from so many people who love their cellular Internet that I’ve considered getting rid of our satellite dish and going all cellular. Read more
Internet on the Road, Bandwidth Limits
June 5, 2008 by Chris Guld · 9 Comments
We’ve come a long way since dial-up. Just five years ago, if you wanted to get Internet while RVing, you had to schlep your laptop up to the office and plug into the one phone cable. It was very slow, and you needed to limit your time so other guests could use it.
Now you have 3 choices for high-speed, wireless Internet access:
- Wi-Fi
- Satellite
- Cellular
We depend on our Datastorm Satellite Dish to give us Internet wherever we are. But we also use Wi-Fi when available, and we tether our cell phone to the computer when the other two methods are not available.
All three of these, when working well, will get you high-speed. Almost as good as the DSL or Cable you can get at home. What they won’t get you is unlimited high-speed like you can get at home. The satellite option has the most clearly regulated limit. It’s called ‘FAP’ and it stands for Fair Access Policy. You see, everyone with a satellite dish for Internet is sharing the satellites. The satellites I’m familiar with are owned by Hughes and Hughes takes care of managing everyone’s usage so no one customer takes more than their fair share of the bandwidth. Read more
Best Alaska Trip Journals
June 3, 2008 by Dan Parlow · Leave a Comment
I love living travel vicariously through others’ footsteps. Definitely the next best thing to being there.
Alaska rivals any place on earth for its sheer beauty. Here are my favourites of the best Alaska Trip Journals over the past 12 months. A huge thank-you to these incredible authors/photographers:
Most beautiful sunset, from ‘Wiseman9′:
Most territory covered, from ‘AlaskaExpedition2007′:
Cutest bird, from ‘Tschumper’s Alaskan Journey 2007′:
Most colourful photo, from ‘Holladays in Alaska’:
Trip farthest afield, from ‘BinkleyAlaska2007′:
Best glacier shot, from ‘Holladays in Alaska’:
Dan Parlow
Personal Travel Websites by RV.Net ; Online Travel Journals by MyTripJournal.com ; Explore Good Sam Club Trip Journals ; Woodalls Trip Journals ; Travel Journals by Trailer Life Directory ; Traveling USA Travel Blogs
Windows Vista and Wi-Fi
May 22, 2008 by Chris Guld · 2 Comments
Does it ever seem like you and your computer are locked in a battle of wits?
And the computer is winning.
As computers, and operating systems, get more and more sophisticated; they do more things automatically. In trying to make it easy for us, the computer programmers make assumptions about what we want. And, you know what happens when you *ASSUME* right? (you make an ASS of U and ME.)
One of the things that happens automatically these days is that your computer will automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network to which it has connected in the past. I say, “Just because I may have connected to a similarly-named network in the past does *not* necessarily mean I want to automatically connect to it now.” The video below shows you how to prevent your computer from connecting to an unwanted network. The video shows Windows Vista. If you have Windows XP, the same principal applies but the menus are a little different. Right-click on the wireless network icon and choose ‘View Available Wireless Networks.’ On that screen click on the menu at left that reads ‘Change the order of preferred networks.’ Now you can select a network and remove it just like in the Vista video below.
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Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com
RV.Net Goes High Tech
Blog.rv.net Now on the iPhone
For those of you who like to read while traveling we added an new iPhone brower interface this week for our blog. This is in addition to the mobile phone (text) interface the site started using several months ago. Hope you enjoy!
We also added a Gravatar feature to the site. What this does is add a little picture or icon that represents you to the site when you make comments. Go get your own and test your comments out to this post.
You can go set up your own at http://en.gravatar.com/
Be safe and have fun.
Blog vs Trip Journal: Part 3 - Guests and Messaging
May 7, 2008 by Dan Parlow · 1 Comment
Blogs commonly allow guests to post comments related to a single posting. Most commonly, the comment is posted, an email is dispatched to the blogger, and the blogger can then decide to delete. In this way, RV.net authors - myself included - have received quality info from the public on the subject of our informative blogs. Different blogging platforms allow for different levels of control over these comments.
Since Trip Journals are primarily a personal record of your own trip, guest comments are treated differently. Rather than including factual comments on each posting, visitors to your Trip Journal can elect to leave you a personal message through a ‘Leave a Message’ link. Often these messages have nothing whatsoever to do with your individual postings:
 |
Messaging the Trip Journaler |
This is like sending a personal email to someone, but with the added advantages that: (a) other visitors may see it; and (b) the message retains the connection to your trip.
Sharing A BroadBand Cellular Connection
April 26, 2008 by Alex Sian · 4 Comments
As discussed in prior blogposts, broadband cellular service is typically received through a modem that attaches to one computer through a card slot or a USB port, and provides that single computer with access to the internet for a monthly fee. Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T are the most popular carriers that RVers use for their broadband cellular access.
As you might imagine, the cellular carriers really want to collect a monthly service fee for each computer connected to their network, and if you ask them how you can use one card or USB modem to provide access to more than one computer, they are likely to tell you it cannot be done and that you need to get another card or USB modem and pay another monthly fee for each computer that needs internet access.
Some people have actually been told that if they try to “cheat the system in any way”, they are breaking the law and will go to jail. Probably not true, but the carrier could certainly cancel your account. (I am not a lawyer and you should ask your lawyer for advice if you want to know more about that.)
In this article, I will discuss two popular ways to share one broadband cellular connection:
- the hard way — using your computers built-in “internet sharing” software, or
- the easy way — using a cellular router actually designed for the task. Read more
Online Banking
April 10, 2008 by Chris Guld · 14 Comments
I haven’t walked into a bank in over 10 years. I do everything either online or thru the mail. Checks get deposited thru the mail, bills get paid online, and I monitor all account activity online. I was doing this long before we went RVing, but it’s essential for the RV lifestyle. No need to hunt for a local branch of your bank, just set up a username and password on your bank’s website. No need to wait for the paper bill from your cell phone company, just access their website and pay with your credit card online.Importing contacts to Gmail
April 3, 2008 by Chris Guld · 4 Comments
I received a question this week from one of my newsletter subscribers, “Can I copy my outlook contact list to my gmail contacts?” Since I recently wrote about Gmail on this blog, I figured I would answer this question here. My favorite way to answer questions is to show you. So, just click on the play button and sit back and watch.
Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.comTax Preparation on the Road
March 27, 2008 by Chris Guld · 3 Comments
This is the 6th year in a row that I’ve used TurboTax for the web to prepare my personal tax return. You gotta understand me and paperwork … we just don’t get along. I can ignore it for months, even years. Add to that the fact that we live in a motorhome where there’s no place to spread papers out, and you get the picture. I avoid filling out forms until I have no other choice. Web-based systems are *made* for me. Read more
