Friday, November 05, 2010

Droid Saved the Day

I was able to use my Droid X phone to get internet while we on our trip last month.  It worked very well, perhaps a little slower at times, but for the most part it was fine.  I had some issues here at home where the internet service was lost momentarily and I had to reconnect.  That seems to have been resolved with an update from PdaNet.

When we got home, I plugged the  router and modem back in and found that modem was dead.  No power to it whatsoever .  Did I mix up the cords and plug the wrong one into the modem or did it just decide to die?

I called Windstream and was first told I would have to pay for a new modem since I didn't put the $5 monthly insurance on the $50 modem.  After I pointed out to them that if they tried to charge me, I would cancel my phone and internet, and that I had just replaced the modem 2 months ago, they saw it my way.  I should be getting my new modem today.  It's very nice to have back up internet from my Droid, and I haven't really missed my DSL connection.  I am seriously thinking about canceling the internet and phone service when we head to Florida. It costs about $70 a month.  The only reason I don't is because I get free long distance and I prefer a land line to talk to my Mom and friend Carol.  Carol and I tend to gab a long time, so we need unlimited minutes :)  Also, we use our Roku player to watch streaming Netflix movies and I don't know if  my Droid would allow me to stream fast enough to be watchable.  I need to check that.  Supposedly, I have unlimited Data on the Droid so that wouldn't be a problem.  I just don't know if it will stream fast enough.

I've been trying to figure out how to take our Directv Tivo boxes with us next month and get our local channels.  I know when we start fulltiming, we will have to sign up for (and pay extra) for the DNS service, but I am not sure exactly what I need to do for a short trip.  I put the question out on RV-Net Forum but the fact that someone  from Georgia is heading to Florida for the warmer winter weather, is taken over my post :)
My question has been lost in the discussion.  Anybody out there know what I need to do?  Can I take both Tivo receivers with us and just call direct and tell them what we've done to get temporary local channels?  We  will be at at least two different locations.

The first wave of our cold front has arrived.  It got down to 42 last night and Saturday night they are predicting mid 30's!   Brrrrr.  Saturday might be a cold garage sale day!


5 comments:

  1. Call Direct TV and tell them that you are going on vacation for a few months and that you are taking the the box with you, then they won't shut off your service in the middle of a show. I don't think that you can get local channels more then 175 miles from your home base. While you have them on the phone get the full time travelers package, it's some federal forms ( I think you can download them ) that you need to fill out and mail in along with a copy of the registration for your motor home. Then when you start full timing you just call them and your all set.
    At least that was the procedure ten years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your having a heat wave there it was 28 when I got up this morning in KC.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know how satellite coverage works down in the US, but when we take our dish (Shaw Direct) and receiver down to Palm Springs, we get exactly the same channels we do at home which includes all the local stations. Hopefully, someone will know the answer to help you out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hope you get some good answers, Karen. We have been wondering how to take our DirectTV box with us when we go on short trips. (We have an extra older dish that isn't being used) Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. We always take our Directv DVR with us on all trips. We get our locals up to about 200 miles anything over that we have to use the antenna to get local channels. Directv in the US transmits local channels on a spot beam so if you leave your area no locals. Have a great winter in FL...
    Gin

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave comments. We love to read them! To contact me directly you can send e-mail to rvtravels2@yahoo.com