Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (August 2004, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:18:07 -0600
Reply-To:     Gnarlodious <gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gnarlodious <gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: LVC: Any direcway experiences?
In-Reply-To:  <C7991E00-F0C0-11D8-8C18-000A959B3796@knology.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Entity Jim Felder spoke thus:

> The idea is internet access and maybe TV when we travel. Anybody have > any experience with this at home or traveling, or any warnings or > alternatives I should consider? You might as well forget about DirecPC/Direcway, the hardware is a bulky powerhog and the satellite is hard to find. It's not mobile technology. I know the Roadhaus had sat tv but that was just for ostentation.

Your best bet is a DVD laptop. You can use free public WiFi hotspots which are plentiful in the city, especially with an antenna you can do it in your driver's seat stealthily: http://quickertek.com/products.html#al1517whip

My TiBook rests nicely in the steering wheel for comfortable surfing. Run "Stumbler" software while bmoving to find AP's (Access Points). An external antenna like this will get you a lot more range with tight directionality: http://Gnarlodious.com/Vanagon/Electrical/Pages/Internet.html

A text-based cellphone can fill in the gaps while you don't have internet access although they are difficult to use and you are limited to sending from your cellphone's ISP so you can't send to mailing lists.

For visual entertainment, DVD's are great. They take up little room and you can rent/buy on the road. Your laptop can run from a DC-DC converter so you can save power by not even needing an inverter.

If you want realtime media anywhere the best deal is Sirius or XM. If you just want music an iPod can be the most efficient way, you can have thousands of songs on it and broadcast on your Van sound system.

-- Gnarlie


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.