Online gaming as a truck driver

IdleAire isn't bad but there is no telling how long they will be around. You can get a reloadable card from them and just use their wifi which is basically the same signal.

You'll find in trucking you don't want to get on a shared network because many drivers are hogging the bandwidth with movie downloads and gaming. You are better off having your own setup. It cost a little more but it's worth it. You probably want one of them $80 plans.

Back in the prehistoric days I could get lost playing Doom and Links!

 

Your best bet is to go ahead and spend the money on the highest data plan you can afford from Verizon or AT&T and get an aircard or use your phone as a WiFi Hotspot or tethered modem. These are the largest and fastest WWAN networks.
The truckstop WiFi from Flying J/Pilot and TA/Petro won't cut it for gaming.

 

IdleAir's wifi sucks. generally, yes, because it's shared, but that doesn't hurt a wired connection. I always had trouble with their wifi but never wired.

 

Before i started truck driving, i had plans for WoW as well. I wanted to play World of Warcraft any minute i wasnt driving. I did install WoW when i was new. It took about 3 days for me to realize that WoW + truck driving do not mix. WoW takes too much time to get anywhere. You will be too busy or too tired to play WoW for hours at a time. Most nights youll be lucky to get an hour in, depending on how much driving you do of course.

Some people think truck driving is simple and relaxing. But in reality, sitting in the same position for 10 hours strains certain muscles. Sitting down gaming does the same. Sleep is the answer to being rested and awake. I beg you not to become one of those truck drivers that weaves as he drives down the road because hes too tired. This looks bad on the entire industry.

I personally play Counter Strike: Source. Its fast to get in a game, and you dont need to worry about progressing, since its not an RPG. Sometimes ill play a strategy game like C&C Red Alert 3, or Age of Empires 3. I use a smartphone with WiFi hotspot tethering on Verizon. Most nights i have 4G with a good enough connection to play FPS games (CS:S). A good 4G connection is faster than my home DSL. Some nights i have a very slow connection, and rarely no connection. Then i play a single player game (Call of Duty, Red Alert, etc).

 

In my case, an hour a day is about all I play. A half dozen daily quests for the latest and greatest faction rep, and maybe a profession cooldown or two. 50/50 chance that I'll do any of the LFR raids that week, and those can be done on the 34.

I can understand the difficulty of a driver trying to be a progression raider...

 

I'm playing Allods (WoW clone) over a rooted Sprint phone with unlimited data. I haven't looked at my actual ping, but it gets me by without any issues so long as I can get a good data connection wherever I happen to be parked.

 

I play WoW at home. I cant find the time for it on the road. I went from 10 85's all with max professions and geared to the hilt at the end of Cata to one 90 out of 11 toons. A couple of the easier professions maxed. By the time I get to the end of my day only want to call home and talk to the Missus and the kids, maybe veg to a movie or a book for a few dinner and sleep. I find that using the mobile armory on my smart phone lets me stay in contact with the people that I want to in the game and when I get home I get my playing fix in. I dont progress like I used to but it makes the playing time much better cause I have to wait for it. I also find that I enjoy the content more because I am not sitting in front of it every day. Just my .02¢.

 

Most complicated games like WoW will indeed take a while while trucking. I used to play EVE Online (I keep telling my self I'll renew my sub and play again), but it takes too long to get anywhere. Now, if you like Star Trek, STO is farely easy and I've gotten my self at their capped rank of 50 while on the road with most top gear. If you're a fan of Star Wars, STWOR is easy too. Of course, now that I'm flatbed I only have time for my PS3 on the weekends or when I'm down longer than 10 hours.

 

All this talk about World of Warcraft has got me wanting to play again. I know i shouldnt, but all ive been thinking about for the last 2 days is WoW. Maybe ill get a 1 month subscription so i can show myself that i dont actually want to play... I do need something to do on my 34 hour restarts though.

I miss my Druid and Warlock so much...