Poll: When you camp, do you normally have cell service?

[K12]

You can simply go to an app on your phone and enter your new location.

Ive heard sometimes this still doesnt work and you need to know where you are going to be. Also how well are the sattelites now? The gen ones needed to have no inteference for them to work. Have you has the opportunity to use it yet?

I have been thinking of getting this for my trailer as remote work and school will be far easier with starlink. Due to how I have heard the current state is for mobile, I was going to wait until they released their "mobile version".

 

[ProtonDecay]

Ive heard sometimes this still doesnt work and you need to know where you are going to be. Also how well are the sattelites now? The gen ones needed to have no inteference for them to work. Have you has the opportunity to use it yet?

I have been thinking of getting this for my trailer as remote work and school will be far easier with starlink. Due to how I have heard the current state is for mobile, I was going to wait until they released their "mobile version".

I don't want to hijack this thread, but this fellow: Starlink for Overlanders has put together an excellent write-up that gets updated fairly regularly as things change with respect to Starlink. Net-net, it is a lot better now than just a few months ago, and this trend should continue as more satellites get added to the network. Realtime mobile connectivity is now possible for some, if not all, users in the US. I'll try to post pics as I build my mount and modify the dish and wiring for static mounting, plus will report viability at home and "in the wild". Apologies to the off-grid purists out there - we are so lucky to live in a country where we can even do things like this, or not, in our pursuit of happiness. Now I'm off to search for a dedicated Starlink thread.....

 

[smritte]

Being the techie, I am installing a StarLink satellite system in my teardrop so I can bug out to the mountains and still work remote. That gives me wifi for my phone and computer. I can video conference. That is mainly for the wife. She is a minister and spends 4-6 hours a day coordinating multiple events across the country.

Just got my box and starting build. Let me know if you want to compare notes.

I'm looking at this also for pretty much the same reasons. It's still down the list of things to buy. I'm looking at 6-7 months from now
Once you've used it for a while, make a post about it.

 

[Maximus_Offroad]

Most of the time I do not have service or it is in and out. However I take a spot satellite communicator for emergencies, and to make sure loved ones back home know I am safe.

 

[12C20]

Great question!

Last summer I had open heart surgery. That made my medical needs different than they ever had been before. Cell service is spotty here in the Desert West, but there are some things that can help overcome those limitations.

Now, when I drive and camp, There's a little more thought that goes into my planning. I used to think about emergencies in terms of breakdowns or vehicle accidents. I knew I could mitigate many of the dangers on the trail by modifying my behavior and engaging in less risky activities, so medical emergencies were far from my mind.

During my recovery (ongoing) my plans have developed to include gaining a better understanding of distances and directions to pavement and to medical care. That doesn't limit my activity, but simply serves to make me more aware of what my options are in case of an emergency. If I expanded that awareness to include things like wildfires, flash floods, etc. using NOAA, etc., then I'd further reduce the risks in the trip, while still allowing myself to have a great time in nature.

And, if the figurative wheels fall off, I carry my Garmin InReach and ensure the service is turned on.

 

[shansonpac]

I have been playing around with the layers in Gaia GPS, and there are a couple of general and specific layers related to cell service coverage, specific layers for all major carriers and a general. Might be helpful in trip planning when connectivity is important.

 

[Boucher]

I rarely get any cell phone service, but that's the point I guess lol. I'm usually alone and let my significant other know approx. check-in times and always send her GPS coordinates of my camping areas before I lose coverage

 

[er waddell]

Very rarely do I get a cell signal when we are camping. Occasionally we may get a spotty cell connection, and one of our phones will starting chiming with received text messages.

 

[pluton]

I like to have cellular data, mainly for entertainment purposes but also I get jobs through email and texts. I've got an inReach for the really remote places. I make a note of places that have cell service but are pleasantly remote.

 

[ProtonDecay]

Update to my earlier post. We've converted to Starlink and now have connectivity pretty much everywhere we go. The Weboost was great for what it did, but we mostly travel now to places with no cell service.