I am going to interupt getting caught up to tell you all about the last mobile hotspot service I picked up. AT&T through their Connected Car service offers unlimited data for $20 a month via a Mobley. You get a Mobley from the AT&T site, it is free with a two year contract and a $45 activation fee. It is intended to plug into the OBD II port on vehicles 1996 and newer however a adapter can be bought from ebay or Amazon that will allow you to run it outside of the car.
This is the site to buy from
AT&T ZTE Mobley
these are adapters for using it outside of the car.
Amazon page of Mobley adapters
Now I have Cricket with calling, texting and 12 gigs of data that can be accessed via a hotspot for $65 a month. It is throttled to 8 Mbps, does not roam and is low on the priority list when things get congested. I am dropping it to bare minimum in favor of the Mobley which is unthrottled, roams and is only prioritized IF I go over 22 Gigs and then only IF I am on a congested tower. It was a hassle to get but certainly worth it. I now have unlimited data on Verizon. AT&T and Sprint, as well as unlimited streaming on T-Mobile, it all cost me $56 a month.
So if you are hitting the road and want unlimited data over a major carrier, get a AT&T Mobley.
Our trailer
Monday, July 24, 2017
Wow Half a year has flown by
I have been out on the road for nearly 7 months now. I keep meaning to update this and something always comes up. This will be a brief overview with post following with more detail.
First let me say that there is a big difference between boondocking out in the wild for a week or two and doing it full-time. When we use to go for short periods we would load up, fill the water and take off. On the way home the trash went into our trash can at home. The waste tanks were dumped into the RV dump in the storage lot. The dirty laundry went into our washing machine and the next trip was just a trip to the grocery store away which was just down the street. We could decide to go and be on the road in a hour and within the same time frame you would not have known we had been gone once we were home.
Now even though I have added capacity to some area of the rig, it is still the same one we used in the Rockies for 6 years. The difference is it is just me and I have rarely been in my beloved Rockies. Every new place I go I have to find out where to get food, water, propane, mail. Where to dump the tanks and do laundry. Even where to get my puppy taken care of. I will move in two weeks and start the whole process over again. It will get easier as I return to some of the areas next year following a path of good weather, I know this. Right now it is part of not only the learning process but comfort level adjustment as well. Dealing with mail was a biggy and still is.
I spent New years eve not as planned, all packed up and resting with one last nice dinner with the other half. Instead I was running around the house sorting, packing and looking things up when the back said no more. I think I would have been doing the same if I had stayed another month, it just never ended. I pushed back the grocery until the morning of the New years and focused on getting everything into the trailer sitting out front. A few last minute things the next morning, a run to the grocery ad I finally hit the road at 1 pm. I knew I needed to make Raton pass on the Colorado/New Mexico boarder by nightfall as there was a winter storm moving in. I was a beautiful sunny day except the wind was lane changing at times. As a head wind it slowed me to 50 Mph and cut my gas millage to the point that I nearly ran out on the way to Trinidad. The one station I tried to stop at was closed, luckily I had the 2 gallon gas can filled for the generator and added that to the tank at the rest stop before Trinidad. Since then the policy is to start looking as soon as the tank hits half full. This has benefited me over and over in my travels as there is not always a gas station where you would think there is one.
I made the rest stop after Raton pass around sunset. It is on the high plain with some historic markers among the usual bathrooms and such. It was pretty cold so I fired up the furnace, then had a hamburger patty and ravioli for my first dinner on the road. I checked all of the hotspots to find T-Mobile was wicked fast, Verizon had a weak signal, AT&T was good and Sprint showed no signal at all. I was pretty happy getting a signal I could stream on without the booster and directional antenna. I went to sleep my first night by the hum of a big truck motor. I woke the next morning alone ready to hit the road again.
From there my next stop was Albuquerque, N.M. for a quick stop to pick up a 435w solar panel to mount on the truc and then on to San Antonio, N.M that same day. It didn't work out very quick as the building the panels were stored in was locked for the holiday and I spent the night in its locked store yard. I had a key to get out if I wanted but instead I made dinner, tested the hotspots and played on the internet or streamed the rest of the night. I had all of the services being in a big city, Sprint was wicked fast so I used it. The next morning I cleaned up, ate, bought the panel and headed out. I kind of wish I had bought more of those panels because I have never seen them for sale again. Next stop is San Antonio, N.M.
First let me say that there is a big difference between boondocking out in the wild for a week or two and doing it full-time. When we use to go for short periods we would load up, fill the water and take off. On the way home the trash went into our trash can at home. The waste tanks were dumped into the RV dump in the storage lot. The dirty laundry went into our washing machine and the next trip was just a trip to the grocery store away which was just down the street. We could decide to go and be on the road in a hour and within the same time frame you would not have known we had been gone once we were home.
Now even though I have added capacity to some area of the rig, it is still the same one we used in the Rockies for 6 years. The difference is it is just me and I have rarely been in my beloved Rockies. Every new place I go I have to find out where to get food, water, propane, mail. Where to dump the tanks and do laundry. Even where to get my puppy taken care of. I will move in two weeks and start the whole process over again. It will get easier as I return to some of the areas next year following a path of good weather, I know this. Right now it is part of not only the learning process but comfort level adjustment as well. Dealing with mail was a biggy and still is.
I spent New years eve not as planned, all packed up and resting with one last nice dinner with the other half. Instead I was running around the house sorting, packing and looking things up when the back said no more. I think I would have been doing the same if I had stayed another month, it just never ended. I pushed back the grocery until the morning of the New years and focused on getting everything into the trailer sitting out front. A few last minute things the next morning, a run to the grocery ad I finally hit the road at 1 pm. I knew I needed to make Raton pass on the Colorado/New Mexico boarder by nightfall as there was a winter storm moving in. I was a beautiful sunny day except the wind was lane changing at times. As a head wind it slowed me to 50 Mph and cut my gas millage to the point that I nearly ran out on the way to Trinidad. The one station I tried to stop at was closed, luckily I had the 2 gallon gas can filled for the generator and added that to the tank at the rest stop before Trinidad. Since then the policy is to start looking as soon as the tank hits half full. This has benefited me over and over in my travels as there is not always a gas station where you would think there is one.
I made the rest stop after Raton pass around sunset. It is on the high plain with some historic markers among the usual bathrooms and such. It was pretty cold so I fired up the furnace, then had a hamburger patty and ravioli for my first dinner on the road. I checked all of the hotspots to find T-Mobile was wicked fast, Verizon had a weak signal, AT&T was good and Sprint showed no signal at all. I was pretty happy getting a signal I could stream on without the booster and directional antenna. I went to sleep my first night by the hum of a big truck motor. I woke the next morning alone ready to hit the road again.
From there my next stop was Albuquerque, N.M. for a quick stop to pick up a 435w solar panel to mount on the truc and then on to San Antonio, N.M that same day. It didn't work out very quick as the building the panels were stored in was locked for the holiday and I spent the night in its locked store yard. I had a key to get out if I wanted but instead I made dinner, tested the hotspots and played on the internet or streamed the rest of the night. I had all of the services being in a big city, Sprint was wicked fast so I used it. The next morning I cleaned up, ate, bought the panel and headed out. I kind of wish I had bought more of those panels because I have never seen them for sale again. Next stop is San Antonio, N.M.
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