Hi all
We are changing from a caravan and I have on order a new Adria Matrix Supreme.
I understand they have no TV aerial at all fitted. I currently have a roof mounted Teleco Satellite dish fitted on my caravan which is being left on as it is included in the p/x.
Can anyone offer suggestions as to what I should have fitted to the motorhome?
I was told by the dealer that some are fitting 4G/5G routers and streaming TV instead of satellite dishes?
Are these any good for TV as surely the cost for data cards must be prohibitive for watching TV ?
As for wi fi , most sites i have been on have poor wi fi so not sure how good it would be for watching a TV?
We do go to mainland Europe 2-3 times a year normally as far as South France , Italy , Croatia etc.
If we were to change from a sat dish on the Motorhome, it would be helpful as I could have another solar panel fitted at a later date. However we tour in the winter months too, so would not want to give up the use of a television on those longer winter evenings ?
You can buy one hell of a lot of data cards for the price of roof mounted satellite dish!!! I have read that some people who use a UK based network find they don't need to use a separate VPN as you would if you were using site WiFi.
Can only speak from personal experience (and search the forum, I’m pretty sure the topic has cropped up before). We have a TV aerial on our MH that we can put up, rotate, faff about with, & remember to put back down before we head off next day. Did it twice, it’s not moved in 2 years. We use our mobile signal & tether the iPad (it has no SIM) to the iPhone if we particularly want to watch something. Not wide screen, but it does the golf. Not exceeded our data allowance yet but we’re not watching 4 hours a night. We use the site Wi-Fi if it’s available - many independent sites don’t charge for Wi-Fi but obviously expect reasonable use.
For years now we have used an Amazon fire stick in the caravan tethered to my mobile phone. This gets us all the catch up stuff such as iPlayer and allows us to watch our subscription services such as sky sports on Now TV. You can eat through a lot of data depending on what you are watching. For example, we have set the fire stick settings to the lowest data usage setting but that only applies to certain Apps on the fire stick, not all. So, we use very little data to watch something on Amazon Prime Video as that App is affected by the overall firestick settings but if we watch something on Britbox, it uses a massive amount of data as the Britbox App only has one streaming setting and it uses a lot of data. When we are just away for a weekend we use our normal monthly data allowance (I have 25gb and husband has 30gb)and between the two of us that would be sufficient for 2 or 3 long weekends away a month if we were watching about 2 hours of TV an evening or if I have to attend a few meetings on Microsoft Teams for work.
For our main 4 week holiday, we buy a 1 month unlimited data sim from whatever provider looks to have the best coverage in the areas we are going to and pop that into one of the phones when we want to tether. The disadvantage of that is that you are swapping sims over all the time as I need my phone to check messages and calls that have come to my sim and then have to swap to the unlimited sim to tether the TV and laptop. Last year we used an old phone for the unlimited sim so we didn’t have to keep switching it in and out and this worked okay but the old phone was really old and it didn’t give as strong a signal as our normal phones. We have recently purchased this in the Black Friday sales https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Wireless-technology-Configuration-MR500/dp/B09X3H........ and we are hoping that with an unlimited sim this will work well this year. This is the cheapest option for us as we only buy a 1 month unlimited sim when we need it, rather than have a contract. This router also has the option of attaching an external aerial if we are in an area with a weaker signal but we won’t bother with that until we have tried it out.
How many times have been in areas where the phone reception is poor or non existent ? It happens a lot
I went down the streaming route and found that it was unreliable and often it would buffer and pixelate even with moderate signal strength and that was using a roof mounted antennae
Inland Spain has lots blank or poor signal areas as does the more mountainous of the French Alps
We did 3 weeks along the Mosel valley in Germany and on several stelplatzs the phone reception was 1 bar or only 2G reception - absolutely hopeless
So no evening Television
We collect our new Motorhome in January and were going back to Satellite
Same problem with mobile signal in parts of UK too - 3 days without a signal on the North Coast 500. Someone might come on here to talk about Mi-Fi, which needs a satellite signal (I think).
We have a satellite dish mounted on our caravan and it allows us to watch Sky. In some areas i.e. on CLs 4G signal can be very poor, but we then have no issue as use the sat dish.
Terrestrial TV Freeview signal can be very good or hopeless depending which site you are on and often where on a site you are pitched. Trouble is sites are located in remote areas away from residential areas so poorly covered by freeview.
Freesat is excellent provided you can align the dish accurately. It only seems to fail in very heavy rain.
Sites are now beginning to string data cables around site on poles with WIFI heads covering a relatively small area. You will no doubt have to pay to log on and there are still only a few sites with it although that number will grow. 4G is non-existent out in the sticks where most sites are located.
I spent a small fortune on a 5G mi-fi package so that I could have a reliable internet connection for work related purposes.
I found there was not a lot anyone can do if there was no mobile signal coverage - the external antenna could not boost when there was not signal in the first place!
DK
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Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 02/12/2022
I spent a small fortune on a 5G mi-fi package so that I could have a reliable internet connection for work related purposes.
I found there was not a lot anyone can do if there was no mobile signal coverage - the external antenna could not boost when there was not signal in the first place!
DK
Many people forget about that if there is no signal you cannot boost it.
When on tour we carry a standard digital aerial and a portable satellite dish/system. if on site for a few days the dish goes on a small tripod which gets pegged down against wind and storm and is easy to unplug and drive away from when needed. For quick use we use the standard aerial. Both are easy to set up and get signals by using an app on a phone, but this also depends on getting a phone signal! without which its a bit of educated guess work to align the dish (map and compass) and aerial.
Not sure I see WiFi/Satellite/Aerial as a one excluding the others situation, or what's 'best'.
Plenty of campsites I've used where mobile signal is absent or close to non-existent for calls let alone data for streaming TV, site WiFi is often poor AND relatively expensive (CAMC please take note!).
Terrestrial Aerial coverage is highly variable, just back from Coniston where the transmitter tower (relay station) was easily in sight just across lake, great signal strength BUT only a relative handful of channels available due to being a public service transmitter (Freeview Light!) with limited channels!
Satellite dish needs good uninterrupted line of sight to the satellite, which can be impossible on some sites with trees or buildings in the way, don't forget on a house the dish is often near 20ft up a wall and can 'see' over local obstacles, but on a MH/caravan it may only be 8ft at most above the ground and obstructed!
Never yet been on a site where I didn't get Terrestrial Aerial (standard Vision Plus directional type) coverage of some kind. The other options have been no hopers on some sites. So my view is that more than one system is desirable if TV is important to you. I usually have a bunch of DVDs/recordings on memory stick (TV can accept both) to get me through the times when no broadcasts provide entertainment to my liking.
As part of my holiday planning I usually do a bit of research on mobile signal/site WiFi, Sat coverage/direction, TV aerial coverage/direction, so I can set it up quickly and easily, and take what is appropriate, like the mobile Sat dish/decoder. Getting info off the www when actually on site is all very well, but no signal equals no info!
We always research a site before making a decision and Google earth is our friend. We have a 85cm dish on our caravan for touring on the continent and trees do not seem to bother it much. We have it facing directly into a wall and in the opposite direction to the satellite and have been able to watch TV.
We always research sites too, have a satellite dish and tripod. OH is sport mad so it's essential. Usually no good asking site owners "oh, it's fine" usually means it's fine in their house. With our kit, it's essential that there are no trees or buildings to the south. The actual signal is just east of south.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Satellite or Wi Fi ?
via mobile 01/12/2022 at 9:24pm
