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Re my previous post about heading back home.

 While driving up the A38 I thought I recognised an Autotrail travelling the other way.

Yep it was a friend heading for Brixham. So i've turned around and am going back for a few more days   (and the weathers getting better)

Tony

Dont blame you Tony!

Have a good time!

Sue

On the final few days fo a 5 week stint of unplanned touring in Europe, planned on going to Spain but ended up doing Belgium, Luxenbourg, Germany, Italy, Monacco, and France. No sites booked, just turned up. With dog and 2 kids. Only had a few sites where we could not get in, 2 in Italy, but that was because we arrived late, the other was on France due to use being to large to to fit on their pitches.

It is the freedom that is great about these things, and also having Internet connectivity where ever we go - will have to do a post on the Netmast system, it has meant I have been able to continue working - also using SKYPE for phoning back to the  UK, Switzerland and the USA.

If it was not for the kids having to go back to school, would just keep on roaming

This is a satellite system, like your normal dish, but it has a twin LMB so that you can tune into another satellite for streaming broadband. Basically you have the normal TV side of things, astra, astra2, hotbird etc and then you also have another option, when you tune to that satellite you basically are able to transmitte (at 256K, and receive at 1M)  the system is all automatic and easy to use, I have had some initial problems which I will go into on my post on the system, but the guy in Germany has been very helpful all the way. The system costs about £3300, but includes 50 days usage, you then purchase additional blocks of time,, so this means you can use the system for 1 day and only use one days worth of credit, this one day (based on the European time not UK) can either be a 5minute stint on the net, or the whole 24 hours. As I have said it is great for SKYPE, purchased £10 worht of air time and had phone calls where ever I went. Calls tothe uk where about £0.012 per minute - now you can not get that on your mobile.

The only drawback with the system is that you can not hav TV and Internet at the same time.

It works out about £2.75 per day usage so when you conside how much your mobile bill is if you do data calls, it makes perfect sense, it is also very quick. As I said also, I was able to keep upto date with all the office work, and keep the company running whilst away. (2 hours a day work is a small price to pay for a 5 week stint away)

I will do a proper post on this very soon, I need to get somethings sorted out first of all so that I can comment on the UK side of things wrt support etc

Hi Romaway,

I don’t know if the following is of any interest to you or if you already are aware of them but for those that don’t want to fork out a lot of money for an installed internet system there are other alternatives available but sadly with these alternatives, use abroad is still very much restricted unless you are prepared to return to a hefty bill?

I use 2 methods for mobile internet access within the UK: I have a Three USB dongle which I pay £15 per month on contract for, for 5Gb of use and I also use an unlocked Vodafone data card for times when I cannot get a signal with Three and in this I use a T Mobile’s web 'n' walk PAYG sim card. This then enables me to surf the web on a PAYG basis for a maximum cost of only £1.00 per day!  Three I believe also offer 1GB of use for £10 per month and if you are a light user then that tariff may be more than sufficient, especially if you plan to only use it when in your motor home?

I am reasonably pleased with Three but I have found a lot of areas in the UK can be hit and miss but when you do get a full signal the connectivity is very quick and reliable and they are covering more areas around the UK each month. T mobile is also very good when it is good but sadly I have not found either of these two as reliable as Vodafone, which is who I was with previously. Therefore, in my own experience my most preferred option is actually Vodafone and as soon as my Three contract is up, I am going to sign up to Vodafone again and opt for their new USB Mobile broadband dongle. I found when I was last with Vodafone it was very rare not to be able to get any connection with them and the speed I found was generally quite excellent too. My ONLY gripe is connection when travelling through Europe and the roaming charges for Vodafone and most other service providers is extortionate and I really wish they would bring these charges down to a more favourable one as I am sure they would get a lot more people interested in taking out mobile broadband contracts with them if they did?

I opted for Three last year as we toured Italy last winter and I was informed that any allowances I was entitled to use within my Three contract would be honoured all over Italy also and believe it or not, this was absolutely correct! I enjoyed excellent internet access all the time we were away and in fact the speed and the connectivity was better in Italy than here in the UK at that time and happily and much to my relief,  I returned to NO extra roaming charges whatsoever. However, Three I have been told have since introduced a new PAYG tariff so for those that do not wish to be tied to a contract may find this a better option. I know when I return to Italy again in the future I would take full advantage of this PAYG service and definitely use my Three dongle with a PAYG sim in it during my trip.

I hope my findings are of some use to you and it really is fabulous and liberating to having internet access on your laptop whilst on the move and now that we have been used to having internet connection in the motor home for the last 3 years we would feel quite lost without it now and it really is a godsend when looking for travel related information and advice etc.

Like Andy M, we also use a Skype phone too and I really recommend getting one and not only will it save you money on telephone calls back home they are so convenient too. You don't need anything fancy or expensive and just a basic and cheap handset is quite sufficient for the job and I think if you had one then you would soon find they are an excellent communication tool when travelling, especially when abroad and whilst in Italy and not having to worry about costly Internet roaming charges, we were able to keep in contact via Skype with our staff, our family and our friends which was a real bonus I can tell you.

All the best

Sue

Quote: Originally posted by Andy-M on 02/9/2008

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This is a satellite system, like your normal dish, but it has a twin LMB so that you can tune into another satellite for streaming broadband. Basically you have the normal TV side of things, astra, astra2, hotbird etc and then you also have another option, when you tune to that satellite you basically are able to transmitte (at 256K, and receive at 1M)  the system is all automatic and easy to use, I have had some initial problems which I will go into on my post on the system, but the guy in Germany has been very helpful all the way. The system costs about £3300, but includes 50 days usage, you then purchase additional blocks of time,, so this means you can use the system for 1 day and only use one days worth of credit, this one day (based on the European time not UK) can either be a 5minute stint on the net, or the whole 24 hours. As I have said it is great for SKYPE, purchased £10 worht of air time and had phone calls where ever I went. Calls tothe uk where about £0.012 per minute - now you can not get that on your mobile.

The only drawback with the system is that you can not hav TV and Internet at the same time.

It works out about £2.75 per day usage so when you conside how much your mobile bill is if you do data calls, it makes perfect sense, it is also very quick. As I said also, I was able to keep upto date with all the office work, and keep the company running whilst away. (2 hours a day work is a small price to pay for a 5 week stint away)

I will do a proper post on this very soon, I need to get somethings sorted out first of all so that I can comment on the UK side of things wrt support etc

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Hi

In our motor home we have installed a twin LNB Oyster Satellite system and because it is a twin LNB means we can enjoy Sky Plus and all it live pause and record functions etc. Would the Internet system you refer to work on our particular system and if so where can I find out more information on this as if it would work then it may be worth us looking into?

I love having Internet access on the move and would love to have cheap accessibility whilst abroad so at £2.75 per day I would be more than pleased with that and if the satellite system we already have installed is compatible with the one you have had fitted it would be ideal.  I guess the vast majority of the cost of the system you have would be to do with the twin LNB and motorised satellite dish and transponder etc and if ours is compatible it may not work out too expensive to have a similar system set up?

I look forward to your reply and any information you can send me would be greatly appreciated?

Sue

Sue

I am not sure if your system would work, but it possibly could, the main issue is being able to connect to the correct satellite, this is why we have the dual LMB system, this allows for transmitting data as well, there is also a modem that is needed. It might be best to talk to someone directly about this, I do not really want to put the guys email address on the site, but I can forward it to you if you like, if there is some way of contacting you directly.

The issue of internet access in the UK is not a problem, I can do that for £1.00 a day with T-mobile as you say, which is what I have been using, but abroad is another matter, the charges doing that are rather high. this system is the business, expensive outlay but very good, and low cost to run, basically it is a pay as you go service, when you think that a satellite system will cost about £1500, it is just over double that but has much more functionality. I fitted mine myself, including dish and all.

Andy

Thanks Andy and yes I would like to know more and if you can send any details you have to the following email address that will be great. I only use this email for non personal matters so it is ok to send addresses and telephone numbers here. Sooh at fsmail.net   (Dont forget to replace at  with the at symbol?)

Thanks again it is much appreciated

Sue

Quote: Originally posted by Romaway on 03/9/2008

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thanks for your very full response Sooh.

I am only looking for internet in this country when travelling around in our little van as we can no longer go abroad - health reasons.

I may wait until March when my BT contract expires and look at what pay as you go options are available. I just don't want to be tied in to the current PAYG because you get the free dongle but have to pay the £10 or £15 per month EVERY month for term of contract or buy a dongle and pay £10 or £15 EACH month but you still have to use the money up within the 30 days or it expires.

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Hi

Oh I didn’t realise that Three’s PAYG expired after only 30 days - goodness that’s a bit of a pain isn’t it?

T Mobile isn’t like that and whatever credit you put on stays in credit until you have used it up and it doesn’t expire after so many days as far as I know. The only drawback is that the signal is not always reliable with T mobile, especially when you are in some more remote parts but near major towns and cities I normally don’t have a problem.

Good luck and if you find any good PAYG deals then please let me know?

Sue

I have sent you an email, please free free to contact me if you have any other questions.