Going back on the road

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by mparker, Sep 27, 2023.

  1. mparker

    mparker Bobtail Member

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    Greetings Ladies and gentlemen,
    I have been off the road for far too long and have that itch to see the Midwest and West Coast.
    The company I will be driving for doesn't provide internet but is OK with me mounting an antenna and whatnot.
    I like to game on the road during downtime or when stuck at a Walmart distro(I'm sure that hasn't changed..)
    I found a website that offers the big three for cheaper than I can get with my current cell package so I'm excited about that. (still digging to make sure it's my best option)
    To my fellow OTR geeks who like spending an evening running and gunning in various FPS, my question to you all is.
    Gaming on the road, how has your experience been?
    Any install suggestions, I would like to be able to pull
    I have seen the RV community mention things like NAT issues and blah blah,(Pretty sure T-mobile has a static IP)
    Maybe you have some suggestions and so on.
    I am so not spending 2500 on a device with all these features I will never use, I have heard good stuff about Nighthawk and Inseego devices
     
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  3. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    There's a search engine in upper right corner of this page.
    Insert "Gaming on the road" there and you'll see a few threads from fellow gamers that might help you.
     
  4. mparker

    mparker Bobtail Member

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    Sep 27, 2023
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    Yea most of what I found was a year plus old and plans, and tech changes so rapidly that I was hoping someone with up-to-date knowledge might chime in
     
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  5. Thrasher28

    Thrasher28 Medium Load Member

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    Not the cheapest option, but Verizon's 150GB high speed hot spot on a dedicated Hotspot device has always worked well for me. Good enough for online gaming (FPS, sports, etc.) in 99% of locations. Download games at home and save your data for updates and the gaming itself and I never had a problem with the data cap. Average performance was probably 80ms latency and usually no or very little packet loss. Sometimes as low as 30-50ms depending on area. Not as good as playing at home, but wasn't noticeable. Going into device settings and opting for 4G LTE instead of 5G seems to perform more consistently. I also have 50GB Hotspot on my ATT plan that has helped a couple times with large updates if I want to save my dedicated hot spot.

    The worst places for it seemed to be WA, OR, and NV. The best places were IN, IL, and surprisingly, WY. All in all, about a 98% shot it will work fine anywhere I stop.

    I never had any problems running a console, laptop, or monitor off APU outlets. An Inverter probably has some more fail safes.

    Gaming on the road has been a life saver for me. It allows me to 'get away' while still being in the truck. Also allows me to keep in touch with buddies back home. It adds a bit of clutter to the truck, but well worth it.
     
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  6. Thrasher28

    Thrasher28 Medium Load Member

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    Bowling Green, KY
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    Here's the Inseego MiFi M2100 device I use. Ignore the screen glitch lol. Accidentally stepped on it one time. Probably better options available now. I'm at a truck stop in Shepherd, TX where many reviews said 'cell service is terrible'. Not sure if it's the chipset in the device or what, but I still have 2 bars LTE and was gaming fine a couple hours ago while waiting for my Houston delivery later.

    It's technically unlimited, but only 150GB high speed that's worth using.
    20230927_130449.jpg
     
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  7. Magoo1968

    Magoo1968 Road Train Member

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    X2 on using lte over 5g .. 5g is overrated sometimes it won’t even load google map location without waiting . I switch to lte and it loads instantly even though both have max signal..
     
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  8. mparker

    mparker Bobtail Member

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    Sep 27, 2023
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    I just picked up two plans, an unlimited Verizon(160 a month) with a Nighthawk I can put a mimo antenna that is supposed to have zero throttling, and a T-mobile (800 GB month 120) data plan just in case I do run into NAT issues.
    That is about the same as I used to pay at home for Xfinity service and after the tax deduction, it's a savings.
     
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  9. mparker

    mparker Bobtail Member

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    Sep 27, 2023
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    for sure! the plans I have I can switch between them, 5G right now seems to be congested
     
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  10. Ex-Trucker Alex

    Ex-Trucker Alex Medium Load Member

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    So.......$300/month for fast internet just to play games? Wow.....
     
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  11. Big Road Skateboard

    Big Road Skateboard Road Train Member

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    But it's not your 300$. Everybody is different. I've got no inverter, no TV, no APU, no laptop, nothing.

    3 12v plugs and a cord to charge my GPS and phone.

    But I might get a hankerin and spend 100$ on dinner, so who am I to judge
     
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