The future of motorhome TV and Data

The future is already the present
The present is "Orange" or whoever provides the best deal (Speed/reliabiity/coverage/cost/roaming)
Even with roaming charges streaming to a decent sized tablet or laptop is (IMO) so much easier and cheaper than buying a satellite system !
Pre-recorded items can be used as well
Also easier to store use and power.
OK a firestick or the like may get you extra channels but that is still data
 
The future is already the present
The present is "Orange" or whoever provides the best deal (Speed/reliabiity/coverage/cost/roaming)
Even with roaming charges streaming to a decent sized tablet or laptop is (IMO) so much easier and cheaper than buying a satellite system !
Pre-recorded items can be used as well
Also easier to store use and power.
OK a firestick or the like may get you extra channels but that is still data

I carry a massive library of downloaded series on a laptop and external drive. Just watch them directly on one of the laptops. When we were on Arran I made a few trips to the little ferry terminal at Lochranza to download new stuff on their fast broadband. Would have preferred to do it in the van but of course Vodafone was dire and the EE sim I bought was only 40gb. One of the major frustrations that led to this thread.
 
I carry a massive library of downloaded series on a laptop and external drive. Just watch them directly on one of the laptops. When we were on Arran I made a few trips to the little ferry terminal at Lochranza to download new stuff on their fast broadband. Would have preferred to do it in the van but of course Vodafone was dire and the EE sim I bought was only 40gb. One of the major frustrations that led to this thread.

I have to admit.... I've a heap of stuff to catch up on.... (rainy miserable days/evenings)
BUT just seem to be drowning in it at the moment...
Some kwality stuff I need to see when the view has disappeared for the evening....
Though after a glass of wine etc.... Listening to music grabs me.... Though listening to the Curlews/oyster catchers wind in the reeds or the waves on the beach take some beating
 
Sometimes I can't quite see the attraction of watching TV in the van. We are currently sitting at Kinlochbervie Harbour with no lights on just watching the skies get darker...... When we're not on our phones!
We are currently away for a whole month, first time ever we've managed more than 10 days. We have watched all 3 episodes of Crossfire that were saved on the laptop. Previous to that we once watched a BakeOff final on a rainy Sunday afternoon in France, so long ago it was downloaded on iPlayer.

Anyway, I agree with Barry because I love my digital interactions, just not the TV that much.
 
Sometimes I can't quite see the attraction of watching TV in the van. We are currently sitting at Kinlochbervie Harbour with no lights on just watching the skies get darker...... When we're not on our phones!
We are currently away for a whole month, first time ever we've managed more than 10 days. We have watched all 3 episodes of Crossfire that were saved on the laptop. Previous to that we once watched a BakeOff final on a rainy Sunday afternoon in France, so long ago it was downloaded on iPlayer.

Anyway, I agree with Barry because I love my digital interactions, just not the TV that much.
ALL horses for courses.... Yup love the slide into darkness...
And clear skies and stars....
Love the birdsong or waves...
And sometimes a load of my eclectic musical tastes....
Love sharing pictures and the odd clip....
And chatting with my other half....
Sometimes JUST staring into space
Sometimes watching a film or strictly etc....
If others prefer sitting in the dark and flogging themselves with nettles... Cool as well.

Frankly I just love being away...
 
Sometimes I can't quite see the attraction of watching TV in the van. We are currently sitting at Kinlochbervie Harbour with no lights on just watching the skies get darker...... When we're not on our phones!
We are currently away for a whole month, first time ever we've managed more than 10 days. We have watched all 3 episodes of Crossfire that were saved on the laptop. Previous to that we once watched a BakeOff final on a rainy Sunday afternoon in France, so long ago it was downloaded on iPlayer.

Anyway, I agree with Barry because I love my digital interactions, just not the TV that much.

I would agree. Main thing for me is having internet access. It's just a complete pia without it. I've been retired for a while now but still look after a handful of cherry picked clients so occasionally I'll need to do bits for them and I need internet for that. Not to mention of course how valuable it is for trip research and the forums.


If I book a CL now or consider a wild spot the first thing I do is check coverage 😁

For me it's just having constant access for all of that. TV or as I prefer streaming etc is just a small part of it.
 
I would agree. Main thing for me is having internet access. It's just a complete pia without it. I've been retired for a while now but still look after a handful of cherry picked clients so occasionally I'll need to do bits for them and I need internet for that. Not to mention of course how valuable it is for trip research and the forums.


If I book a CL now or consider a wild spot the first thing I do is check coverage 😁

For me it's just having constant access for all of that. TV or as I prefer streaming etc is just a small part of it.
Having written my little bit earlier I said why don't we watch series 2 of The Capture, already saved to the laptop.
Numpty here then promptly deletes the first 2 episodes before she realises it's not Crossfire (already watched). So in this case it's thank you for putting up oodles of 4g masts in the Highlands 'cos I was able to tether my phone & download them again.
Would have been impossible a few years ago.
 
I just bought a Chrome book as the Samsung Tab A seems to be slowing down, I'm not sure how good it'll be at streaming or if it is expandable but for forum use it might be handy in the van, should get it by Wednesday, I assume it'll have a decent Wi-Fi chip and I can tether it to my phone.
 
I had a nice helpful chap from Opus in London call me this morning. I emailed them as one of the providers of UK cross network SIMS. If you remember up thread there were links to a few companies that do provide them but the data allowances were pitiful. The reason for this (and this is crazy) is they use EU (In their case Dutch) SIM cards. So effectively you are roaming in the UK on a foreign SIM. If I wanted 100gb a month it would be £300 a month.

He reckoned it would be unlikely for the four providers in the UK To set up some cross provider collaboration anytime soon and he said all you can do is just hunt around for the best SIM deal and coverage for where you are at the time.

So if you want good coverage in the UK the only way to do it is with a foreign SIM. Jeeesaz! :(
 
I just bought a Chrome book as the Samsung Tab A seems to be slowing down, I'm not sure how good it'll be at streaming or if it is expandable but for forum use it might be handy in the van, should get it by Wednesday, I assume it'll have a decent Wi-Fi chip and I can tether it to my phone.
If its running windows or anything connected with it, then it will slow as win has no way of cleaning its cache or log files, linux can be cleaned and stays fast and secure.
linux a.png
linux b.png
 
So if you want good coverage in the UK the only way to do it is with a foreign SIM. Jeeesaz! :(
AFAIK this is basically what happens across the whole of europe, in your own country you are locked to one network, go to another country and (in most cases) you will be connected to different networks.
The only possible change I'm aware of is mast sharing, but there's not a lot of incentive for networks to mast share in remote areas with little income to be gained.
 
If its running windows or anything connected with it, then it will slow as win has no way of cleaning its cache or log files, linux can be cleaned and stays fast and secure.View attachment 113843View attachment 113844
Woo Woo :D:D

I think it runs Chrome OS Trev like me tellingbone does, we'll see anyway it has 12m warranty and 30 day returns so I can try it out, seems it uses a brick to charge sadly.
 
AFAIK this is basically what happens across the whole of europe, in your own country you are locked to one network, go to another country and (in most cases) you will be connected to different networks.
The only possible change I'm aware of is mast sharing, but there's not a lot of incentive for networks to mast share in remote areas with little income to be gained.

Yep is its. This was my point. In Europe Vodafone clearly has arrangements with various EU providers and its brilliant so why cant we have the same here? No need to mast share I would have thought. Its clearly doable as they have been doing it for years with roaming.
 
EE are pretty good across Europe as well, so it is a fair question I reckon....

Maybe its because over there they are not in direct competition with the companies they deal with, whereas in the UK they would be?
 
EE are pretty good across Europe as well, so it is a fair question I reckon....

Maybe its because over there they are not in direct competition with the companies they deal with, whereas in the UK they would be?
That is the reason, and as I mentioned above it applies to all countries, you buy a SIM in France and it will be locked to one network, it's not until you come to UK that it can use other networks.
 
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