The future of motorhome TV and Data

[barryd]

With nothing much better to do I was pondering the future of all things communication and TV in the van on long trips.

On ours we have a Camos Dome (and an old flying saucer old school aerial), an iBoost wifi antenna and of course several smart phones, laptops etc etc. None of them you can rely on 100%. Usually you can with the Dome but within two days in Europe you can be out of the footprint for UK Tv and although I try and avoid shady spots I find myself for three days on a site in the lakes surrounded by trees so the Camos is useless as is the Status flying saucer Aerial for TV. In the Scottish isles I found mobile signal unreliable and occasionally relied on spending half an hour latching onto BT wifi with the iBoost. So none of them are 100% reliable when you need them.

I bought a second sim (main one Vodafone) on EE on Arran and that made a big difference and it also sorted us out for a week in Rusland in the Lakes when Vodafone had nothing.

Now, for the three days we are in the bloody trees the only thing that works is my Vodafone sim so its getting used for everything. Internet, live TV, iPlayer, browsing. We are currently tanking about 15gb per day!

Whats the point of this rambling post I hear you ask? Well it would seem to me that if we had a catch all unlimited sim that latches onto any provider it can we could cover all bases for anything. I could finally lose that ridiculous white tit off the roof, would not have to search for or purchase other sims or spend half an hour hanging wifi antennas off ladders etc in the rain. We kind of had that in mainland Europe with Vodafone unlimited roaming across all providers but thats gone (dont get me started on that) but can we see a day where all our comms, tv, browsing and mobile needs are just reliant on one simple single sim card and no need for all the other stuff?

 

[r4dent]

I just load stuff onto DVDs at home and take the DVDs in the van.

Simple and reliable, just like me.

 

[Fisherman]

With nothing much better to do I was pondering the future of all things communication and TV in the van on long trips.

On ours we have a Camos Dome (and an old flying saucer old school aerial), an iBoost wifi antenna and of course several smart phones, laptops etc etc. None of them you can rely on 100%. Usually you can with the Dome but within two days in Europe you can be out of the footprint for UK Tv and although I try and avoid shady spots I find myself for three days on a site in the lakes surrounded by trees so the Camos is useless as is the Status flying saucer Aerial for TV. In the Scottish isles I found mobile signal unreliable and occasionally relied on spending half an hour latching onto BT wifi with the iBoost. So none of them are 100% reliable when you need them.

I bought a second sim (main one Vodafone) on EE on Arran and that made a big difference and it also sorted us out for a week in Rusland in the Lakes when Vodafone had nothing.

Now, for the three days we are in the bloody trees the only thing that works is my Vodafone sim so its getting used for everything. Internet, live TV, iPlayer, browsing. We are currently tanking about 15gb per day!

Whats the point of this rambling post I hear you ask? Well it would seem to me that if we had a catch all unlimited sim that latches onto any provider it can we could cover all bases for anything. I could finally lose that ridiculous white tit off the roof, would not have to search for or purchase other sims or spend half an hour hanging wifi antennas off ladders etc in the rain. We kind of had that in mainland Europe with Vodafone unlimited roaming across all providers but thats gone (dont get me started on that) but can we see a day where all our comms, tv, browsing and mobile needs are just reliant on one simple single sim card and no need for all the other stuff?

I brought this up on another thread Barry. I reckon in the next few years Tv aerials will be redundant. Also if I was buying a new van and considering an expensive satellite dish, I would do some serious research. I won’t be fitting an external aerial to our new van, I have been using the avtex aerial, and it’s been excellent, although a bit of a faff setting it up. I will be fitting a 5G Wi-Fi aerial on the roof with the appropriate router. There are reports that in the future you will be able to watch U.K. tv online in most parts of the world including the EU. In the U.K. there are moves for the mobile network to be fully integrated, meaning any sim will work on any network. Things are moving fast. Off course some folk don’t want tv in their vans, and I get that, but the boss would never tolerate no tv.

 

[barryd]

I brought this up on another thread Barry. I reckon in the next few years Tv aerials will be redundant. Also if I was buying a new van and considering an expensive satellite dish, I would do some serious research. I won’t be fitting an external aerial to our new van, I have been using the avtex aerial, and it’s been excellent, although a bit of a faff setting it up. I will be fitting a 5G Wi-Fi aerial on the roof with the appropriate router. There are reports that in the future you will be able to watch U.K. tv online in most parts of the world including the EU. In the U.K. there are moves for the mobile network to be fully integrated, meaning any sim will work on any network. Things are moving fast. Off course some folk don’t want tv in their vans, and I get that, but the boss would never tolerate no tv.

Interesting Bill. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. It wont be perfect as there will still be some places you wont get a signal on anything but they must be few and far between. I remember our last trip into Europe in 2017 (cant believe its that long ago) and by then the roaming was superb. Unlimited and across various providers. When the satellite ran out of footprint we could watch Live TV via Filmon (Which i think is defunct now) but my thinking is everything I do now as regards electronic entertainment either at home or the van is done via the internet. I hardly ever watch live TV but Michelle likes to now and again but whether your in the "I dont use TV or internet on the van" camp or not its invaluable on a long trip to have constant access to the net. At least I think so and its frustrating as the technology is in place to just do all of this through one sim card anywhere in Europe really but in practice right now its not so easy.

 

[Fisherman]

Interesting Bill. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. It wont be perfect as there will still be some places you wont get a signal on anything but they must be few and far between. I remember our last trip into Europe in 2017 (cant believe its that long ago) and by then the roaming was superb. Unlimited and across various providers. When the satellite ran out of footprint we could watch Live TV via Filmon (Which i think is defunct now) but my thinking is everything I do now as regards electronic entertainment either at home or the van is done via the internet. I hardly ever watch live TV but Michelle likes to now and again but whether your in the "I dont use TV or internet on the van" camp or not its invaluable on a long trip to have constant access to the net. At least I think so and its frustrating as the technology is in place to just do all of this through one sim card anywhere in Europe really but in practice right now its not so easy.

Also Barry data is getting cheaper every year.
Do you remember when we first got unlimited texts as standard.
Then we got unlimited phone as standard.
Soon I reckon unlimited data will become standard.
Skye are working on a system without a dish, and I have bt tv most of the channels on there don’t require an aerial. Only the Freeview channels require an aerial. I had the engineer in last month he said their new system will be aerial free.

 

[colinm]

Skye are working on a system without a dish, and I have bt tv most of the channels on there don’t require an aerial. Only the Freeview channels require an aerial. I had the engineer in last month he said their new system will be aerial free.

Sky have been making a lot of their material available online for some time, soon all should be on Sky Puck which doesn't use any dish or aerial, but this will need some sort of internet connection.

 

[spigot]

I just load stuff onto DVDs at home and take the DVDs in the van.

Simple and reliable, just like me.

Exactly, I took 40 good & classic films on DVD on trips to Spain & Morocco.
Trouble is, there’s so much to see & do that there’s not much time to watch telly.
I only got round to watching 2 films & during one I went to sleep!

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I don't think there will ever be a single SIM for the simple reason for it to happen one company would have to buy all the others and the monopolies commission wouldn't allow that, as for the TV aerial I think it will be here for a long time as it is simple to make and can receive lots of different signals analogue and digital.

When we see a Flower Grader van it's a race to see who shouts out first, and we wave at them like loonies.

 

[Fisherman]

I don't think there will ever be a single SIM for the simple reason for it to happen one company would have to buy all the others and the monopolies commission wouldn't allow that, as for the TV aerial I think it will be here for a long time as it is simple to make and can receive lots of different signals analogue and digital.

When we see a Flower Grader van it's a race to see who shouts out first, and we wave at them like loonies.

View attachment 113689

Sorry Pudsey but I was not stating that there would be only one mobile phone operator, for obvious reasons that will never happen.
What is being proposed is that say you are with EE but don't get a good signal, you could switch to whomever is providing the best signal in that area. And of course vice versus would apply. This would end having the wrong provider for a certain area.
Yes I also think that TV aerials will be around for years to come, but their use is declining, and will continue to do so.
Eventually the cost of running all of the transmitters will not be viable and they will be removed.
Also the governments around the world including ours are pushing ahead with 5G.
In the next few years the whole of the UK will have 4G coverage, with all cities and towns on 5G.
To some extent this will mitigate poor coverage in certain areas for certain providers, as you will be able to make calls and send texts on 4&5G.
Take a look at the link below.
new-laws-to-end-mobile-coverage-no-bar-blues

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Sorry Pudsey but I was not stating that there would be only one mobile phone operator, for obvious reasons that will never happen.
What is being proposed is that say you are with EE but don't get a good signal, you could switch to whomever is providing the best signal in that area. And of course vice versus would apply. This would end having the wrong provider for a certain area.
Yes I also think that TV aerials will be around for years to come, but their use is declining, and will continue to do so.
Eventually the cost of running all of the transmitters will not be viable and they will be removed.
Also the governments around the world including ours are pushing ahead with 5G.
In the next few years the whole of the UK will have 4G coverage, with all cities and towns on 5G.
To some extent this will mitigate poor coverage in certain areas for certain providers, as you will be able to make calls and send texts on 4&5G.
Take a look at the link below.
new-laws-to-end-mobile-coverage-no-bar-blues

It's fine I was responding to Father O Hooligan, I haven't even read your thread yet, we just got visitors with more feet than ears.

 

[Fisherman]

It's fine I was responding to Father O Hooligan, I haven't even read your thread yet, we just got visitors with more feet than ears.

three our fathers, and five Hail Marys my son

 

[Sharon the Cat]

My example relates to where we live. Most of the village has satellite or sky dishes because the TV signal is so naff. Mobile signal the same.

We rely on our broadband for everything, TV on smart TVs or stupid ones with Google Chrome cast over the web. Phone - mobile calls over WiFi.
Because our area hasn't got blistering fast fibre, though it's fine for us, we have been offered some fancy scheme with broadband over the mobile system.
I binned the letter knowing that it would be a waste of time at the moment but I presume they are planning to actually get a decent mobile signal to us some time.
Mobiles only ring in the pub if you've got the landlady's WiFi password.

 

[toasty]

Is this the sort of thing you had in mind? https://broadbandgo.com/#/
No, I haven't tried it myself.
They will be at the NEC next week on the maxview stand, hall 12, stand 93.

 

[Fisherman]

My example relates to where we live. Most of the village has satellite or sky dishes because the TV signal is so naff. Mobile signal the same.

We rely on our broadband for everything, TV on smart TVs or stupid ones with Google Chrome cast over the web. Phone - mobile calls over WiFi.
Because our area hasn't got blistering fast fibre, though it's fine for us, we have been offered some fancy scheme with broadband over the mobile system.
I binned the letter knowing that it would be a waste of time at the moment but I presume they are planning to actually get a decent mobile signal to us some time.
Mobiles only ring in the pub if you've got the landlady's WiFi password.

I posted this government link already worth a look.
But yes plans are afoot to get 4G everywhere soon and 5G in every city and town soon also. Eventually aerials and satellite dishes will become redundant.

new-laws-to-end-mobile-coverage-no-bar-blues

 

[Fisherman]

Is this the sort of thing you had in mind? https://broadbandgo.com/#/
No, I haven't tried it myself.

Yes Toasty this type of thing will become standard soon.
Eventually no matter where you are or who your provider is the signal will be the same for all. Governments are determined to bring forward legislation to force this through in order to improve service throughout their country. When deciding who you go with will be based on price only.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

I posted this government link already worth a look.
But yes plans are afoot to get 4G everywhere soon and 5G in every city and town soon also. Eventually aerials and satellite dishes will become redundant.

Here's hoping. We've been 4 years without a TV aerial.
All we need now is the TV companies to stop spouting technical issues when it comes to subtitles over some streaming devices. BBC have had it sorted for ages, ITV only got their act together this year, still waiting for Ch 4.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

I think there's a push to get 'standardised charger' fittings for smart phones, tablets etc. across all makes to save 'waste'?

Yeah, right. It'll have been a long time coming, if it ever happens.

Computer manufacturers have always had a vested interest to manufacture slightly different gear to each other, Apple being an excellent example. Same is true in other areas of manufacturing.

When you think about the number of different cables, plugs, adapters and fittings we usually have to fiddle about with moving between one device and another.

But then again USB plugs themselves are standard and 3 pin mains electric plugs (in the UK) have been standard for decades (purely as examples of standardisation). Guess if they do legislate to make manufacturers conform to a standard fitting it can only be a good thing.

TBH I'll be amazed if 'standardised charger fittings' arrive, but stranger things happen at sea, so maybe they will come?

 

[Fisherman]

I think there's a push to get 'standardised charger' fittings for smart phones, tablets etc. across all makes to save 'waste'?

Yeah, right. It'll have been a long time coming, if it ever happens.

Computer manufacturers have always had a vested interest to manufacture slightly different gear to each other, Apple being an excellent example. Same is true in other areas of manufacturing.

When you think about the number of different cables, plugs, adapters and fittings we usually have to fiddle about with moving between one device and another.

But then again USB plugs themselves are standard and 3 pin mains electric plugs (in the UK) have been standard for decades (purely as examples of standardisation). Guess if they do legislate to make manufacturers conform to a standard fitting it can only be a good thing.

TBH I'll be amazed if 'standardised charger fittings' arrive, but stranger things happen at sea, so maybe they will come?

It’s happening by 2024 in the EU, and I would think here also Marie. It would unthinkable for it not to.

EU votes to force all phones to use same charger by 2024

Apple will be forced to change charger after EU votes to use USB-C connectors

www.theguardian.com

 

[trevskoda]

I think there's a push to get 'standardised charger' fittings for smart phones, tablets etc. across all makes to save 'waste'?

Yeah, right. It'll have been a long time coming, if it ever happens.

Computer manufacturers have always had a vested interest to manufacture slightly different gear to each other, Apple being an excellent example. Same is true in other areas of manufacturing.

When you think about the number of different cables, plugs, adapters and fittings we usually have to fiddle about with moving between one device and another.

But then again USB plugs themselves are standard and 3 pin mains electric plugs (in the UK) have been standard for decades (purely as examples of standardisation). Guess if they do legislate to make manufacturers conform to a standard fitting it can only be a good thing.

TBH I'll be amazed if 'standardised charger fittings' arrive, but stranger things happen at sea, so maybe they will come?

3 types of usb plugs I hate to inform you off.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

It’s happening by 2024 in the EU, and I would think here also Marie. It would unthinkable for it not to.

EU votes to force all phones to use same charger by 2024

Apple will be forced to change charger after EU votes to use USB-C connectors

www.theguardian.com

Considering our recent-ish 'state of independence' (Jon and Vangelis! ) anything might be possible with our Lord of the Flies kiddiwinkles running the show!