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rugercpl
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 12:13am
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Looking into WildBlue or Excede but I wonder how much power the dish and receiver require as I will be running them from batteries and a pure sine wave inverter. The free data from midnight to 5 am is killer since I'm a night owl and like to stream Netflix and Amazon Prime. Does it defeat the purpose of being off-grid? Probably...but I'm not totally unplugged yet......yet
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Pookie129
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 09:07am
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Someone, anyone, please answer this man's question....I have been trying to piece something together but am not having much luck.
I am still chasing the elusive portable, bluetooth satellite radio/music/media system - it must be hanging out with a unicorn somewhere.
Being off grid doesn't have to mean not being connected to the world, music, news, even talk radio when you alone for long stretches is a great mood enhancer.
Of course anyone who gets a cabin or goes off grid likes nature, the silence and solitude but there are times when some form of "other" entertainment are needed or wanted and to each their own.
For emergency information, weather, being able to make some sort of contact with the gridded world in an emergency, etc.
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creeky
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 10:41am
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I'm using satellite off grid. The modem/dish is hooked up to a router broadcasting "n" wifi. The system uses 45w /hr. So it's pretty draining.
For myself, I turn it off at night. But, as I work from home, it runs all day when the sun is shining and a few hours morning and eve when it's not.
It is not that fast. I'm getting 2 megs down and as little as .35m up. So I can watch movies (netflix amazon) but not in HD.
Still, I couldn't live off grid without it. And I've been hooked by that new Amazon music service. yesterday afternoon I sat in the shade with the speakers facing out the screen doors and drank beverages and just had a wonderful day.
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rugercpl
Member
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 11:15am
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I'll be speaking with their technical support today and I'll post what they have to say about wattage use. According to the "12 volt side of life" reference... http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm a satellite receiver uses about 20 watts...but that's an older reference. Previous poster stating 45 watts is more like it.
This is going to save me a lot data overage cost I'm currently racking up with my Verizon hotspot cellular plan and streaming HD movies thru my Roku. Free data from midnight to 5:00 am woohoo!
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 02:25pm
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btw: my name is creeky. I used a kill-a-watt to test.
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rayyy
Member
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 05:02pm
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I have Hughesnet satellite internet at my cabin.I love it.As long as they can point the dish at the EchoStar xvii satellite in the south west,your good to go.you can get 10 gb of use every month and free service from 2 am to 8 am about $65 dollar per month.I use my Honda eu2000i to power up my computer and internet set up.It's how I'm talking to you right now.My internet is 90% of my communication with the world.tv is 9 % and my cell phone 1%.On a bad point their customer service isn,t so good but I haven't had any problem with this equipment in the 2 years Iv'e had it now.
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MJW
Member
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 05:17pm - Edited by: MJW
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We use Millenicom, the Hotspot Plan.
http://millenicom.com/plans/#hotspot-plan
20 GB for 89.00 a month. It was 69.00 a month up until a couple of months ago when they upped the price without one word of warning but what are you going to do?
We started using it when we RVed full time. A Hotspot that fits in your pocket to go with you wherever you go and most of the time provides 4G speeds is hard to beat.
Uses VERY little juice to power it and if you like, you can unplug it and just go off of the battery. The battery life is very good.
You can also have up to 10 devices connected to it at the same time so it does double duty as a router.
It operates on the Verizon network so the coverage over the US is great. We get 4G speed at our place over 90% of the time.
I hate Millenicom customer service...they suck...but trust me, I looked high and low and for the bandwidth you get and the speeds they provide it can't be beat.
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rugercpl
Member
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 05:55pm
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Millinicom...that's pretty darn good...no contract and no dish mounted on your roof. If I can't get a good signal from WildBlue (Excede) then I'll nix it and go with Millenicom. I'm hopeful that the dish works though....free data after midnight is pretty nice for my schedule
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Scott G
Member
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2014 08:34pm - Edited by: Scott G
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I don't but know of a couple families that do.
In South Eastern NB we have Xplorenet and a Sat ISP. They use old TV antenna to get a boosted/receiver in the air. Decent signals...I see them posting on Facetoob and such.
Rates are higher than DSL for less bandwidth but it works.
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rugercpl
Member
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# Posted: 27 Aug 2014 02:45pm
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Unfortunately I have too many trees and they can't point the dish at trees. No dish anything for me. It may be Millenicom or Adding data to my Verizon plan.
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Wilbour
Member
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# Posted: 27 Aug 2014 09:06pm
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Quoting: Pookie129 I am still chasing the elusive portable, bluetooth satellite radio/music/media system
I subscribe to XM Radio and have a boombox which can be battery operated or plugged in to 110.
Honestly I leave that at work and just use a solar/wind up radio for music. I also have a small NAOA radio for weather. Waiting for the local weather on commercial radio is frustrating. That said we Canadians must sit through a forecast in the "other" language before we can understand what's being said.
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