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Old 10-10-2019, 07:40 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Internet! Specifically video calls!

Hi All!

Hoping to hear from those who use video calling or video conferencing on the road. What is your internet set up that allows you to do that? I am primarily in Canada but am in the US sometimes too.

I need to see clients on an online video platform and apparently wrongfully assumed that getting a phone with a company claiming the best data coverage would allow me to do that on the road. The video is so choppy and cuts outs, even using an app that claims to work on 2G or 3G. The coverage map claims I’m in an area with LTE “super fast” and it’s showing LTE on my phone.

I currently have access to my families home to use wifi as back up but I really want to be able to see my clients on the road wherever I am. How have you made it work? Thank you in advance!!

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Old 10-13-2019, 11:18 AM   #2
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The folks that I have run into that rely on good internet to conduct business on the road have relied on two different carriers to improve reliability.

Google Fi might be worth looking at. Their service uses two or three carriers networks with one device.

Good luck.
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Old 10-13-2019, 12:22 PM   #3
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Do you have a booster? If you don't that might help. We've got a Weboost OTR trucker's booster. Sometimes we need to raise the antenna on a 18' telescoping window-washer's pole. Here's a video on a pretty good mobile setup that can use multiple carrier's SIM cards, but it requires a bit of investment in technology.
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Old 10-13-2019, 03:08 PM   #4
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I used to sell and install Wilson antennas and amplifiers. I had very good luck with them. One thing that I appreciated was that their manufacturing was done in-house in St George Utah. And..... They fed me lunch when I stopped by..

One thing that I did find is that, with CDMA carriers, when you get so far away from the tower, even if you manage 3-4 bars, calls will fail. I puzzled over that for a while. I sat at a remote homesite with all of the Wilson gear installed. We had a yagi antenna pointed at a distant cell site that hosted both Verizon and AT&T. Customer had 3 bars on his Verizon phone, I had 3 bars on my AT&T phone. My phone worked great. Customer, with 3 bars of signal, could not get a call to go through. Over time I saw this happen on a number of installs. I finally got the scoop from an engineer who works for a local cell carrier. Apparently part of the functions of the CDMA system watches latency between the tower and the mobile device. If the latency exceeds a certain threshold, regardless of signal strength, it will drop the call.

Short version : amplifiers and gain antennas will help whether you have GSM or CDMA service. But, at longer distances the GSM will benefit more than the CDMA.
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Old 07-25-2020, 04:50 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Short version : amplifiers and gain antennas will help whether you have GSM or CDMA service. But, at longer distances the GSM will benefit more than the CDMA.
Very helpful and interesting! Signal boosters is something I’m investigating right now, as are some of my friends. This will be good to pass along.
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