Jul 12
The Famous Blue LED Dish
The Satellite Internet for RVers section has been updated with a brief history of satellite RV use.
Information on current Automatic and Manual satellite Internet systems and plans remain to be completed. Soon.
Jul 10
Adjustable Plastic Document Storage Tubes — 7″ diameter (left) & 2.5″ diameter (right)
Actually they’re called document storage tubes, but what’s in a name.
Necessity drove me to discover these adjustable wonders.
I needed a safe place to store some unwieldy satellite dish parts. Mmmmmm . . . what to do?
A Google search of “plastic storage tube” yielded several different sizes — both length & diameter — of adjustable tubes.
Adjustable Length
And my large tube (7-inch diameter) fit the bill for unwieldy satellite parts storage . . .
It Slices, It Dices
Jul 8
Projects > HughesNET Gen 5 Satellite Internet – I added more information on our new portable satellite system
Also, planning a major update to the Satellite Internet for RVers section over the next week. Watch for details.
Jun 30
NEW AC
Out with the old, In with the new
If you’ve been following along, then you know we were having issues with one of our air conditioners (see Hot Springs, Hot RV from June 6).
Our AC was cycling on an off like clockwork — 6 minutes on, 6 minutes off, over and over. However, it recently became worse, cooling for 3 minutes, but then blowing warm air for 3. Temperatures in June have been in the low 100s or high 90s. Our single AC unit couldn’t keep up.
So enough was enough. We had a local shop order a new AC and install it. A few hours after the installation, we were in coolness again.
NEW CAMPSITE
We moved to a new campsite just a few doors (make that “driveways”) away from us.
I don’t know why we didn’t move earlier. Our new home is heaven — particularly dog heaven as it has a lawn so Flirt can roll on her back to her heart’s content.
As you can see, we’re right under a couple of trees. It took some fine driving (kudos, Jan) to wedge our way between the two trees . . .
A Whole Inch to Spare
When we look out our windows now, we see lawn and trees, but I think the best view is from our shower’s skylight . . .
Shower with a View
Jun 28
Today I set up our HughesNet Gen 5 portable dish again, aimed it, and acquired the satellite (Echostar 19). My signal level was 121 which, according to Mobile Internet Satellite, is a good level.
Then I conducted a number of Internet speed tests using several speed test programs. I settled on three HTML5 programs. I discovered some glaring differences between speed testers. For example, a few always ended up with very high download values and one was just plain wrong. It came up with Ping values that indicated the program had somehow exceeded the speed of light.
As a comparison, I also ran speed tests on our campground WiFi system and our Suddenlink cable modem.
SPEED TEST RESULTS
REAL WORLD TESTS
Speed tests are one thing, but actual day-to-day use is where the rubber meets the road.
I tried three tests: YouTube, Netflix, and AppleTV.
YouTube Test
Blackpink in Your Area
I streamed a Blackpink music video using HughesNET, campground WiFI, and our Suddenlink cable modem.
Netflix & AppleTV
I streamed a TV show on each service. Both Netflix and AppleTV have superb adaptive video engines.
CONCLUSION
Would I get a HughesNET Gen 5 again? Definitely.
Though I expected higher download speeds, the “slower” (14 – 20 Mbps) speeds I’ve seen so far did not seem to impact day-to-day performance. Note that any satellite Internet system will have high Ping values. While it’s not an issue with streaming video, long Ping delays can make applications like VoIP (voice over Internet) problematic.
The Gen 5 dish was easier to set up and to aim than I expected. However, a HughesNET Gen 5 system does take up room and requires a 2-year commitment.
I’ll try to do another evaluation later this year or early in 2019.
rvSeniorMoments 