RVers love MagicJack especially now that it is useable without a PC being on all the time. We use MagicJack at home and we take it with us. Friends and family can call the same number when we are at home or when we are on the road anywhere in Canada or the US of A. That means, no long distance for them and of course, we can call them for free. The cost $70 for the MagicJack Plus and $100 for 5 years. Good Bye Bell!
Many RVers have all kinds of internet devices in their coach besides laptops. WD TV and Roku are very popular not to mention iPods, iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets, XBox and Wii. Everything you buy these days seems to need access to the internet.
With technology constantly changing, our computer classes are very popular. RVers, even those that are retired, have a great desire to learn and that keeps us very busy and very happy. Besides everyone likes FREE. Our classes and assistance will continue to be free. But, enough about that.
How do you put together an Internet solution that you can have at home and take on the road? Here is how we've done it:
You need three (3) devices that will all work together and there are many variations of this if you wish. I will talk about the ones we use:
1. You will need a router just like you have at home connecting your internet there. You will connect all your internet devices, laptops, tablets, eReaders, printers, Web TV (Roku, WD TV) and anything else.
We are big fans of Linksys, We have a WRT610N now and will be soon getting an AE4500 to replace it. We like to attach a hard drive to it to be able to access movies and to backup our laptops. The list price for these, is about $179 but you can get a router that will be just fine, if you don't need the hard drive, for about $30.
2. A wireless extender - we use the Linksys RE1000, price $79. This has a dual function - connecting to device #3 and as well, can be used to connect you to the local park WiFi. But for now, we will talk about connecting to the next device.
3. A cellular MiFi Device - because we travel both in the US and Canada we have one for Telus and one for Verizon. See my previous post for how and why. The Telus device in Canada costs $150 and the plan we have is a 6GB for $60 per month. 6GB is a lot for the average user Telus has a 2GB plan for about $35.
How does this all work?
Power on the MiFi Device then the Wireless Extender (RE1000) - the Wireless extender connects wirelessly to the MiFi device and translates that into a wired connection. (These two act just like your home internet provider but replaces the internet providers modem.)
Connect and Ethernet Cable to the outlet in the Wireless Extender (RE1000) and the other end into the Internet input on the Router. Plug the MagicJack Plus into the router.
You now have full Internet access. Pack it up and take it with you.
Caution
All of these devices default to a 192.168.1.1 address so it is important that you change the address of the router to a different set. For example, 192.168.10.1. We actually use 10.10.10.1. If you don't change it, our experience has been that the system gets very confused. Then you will need to configure your wireless settings - Leave a comment and let me know if you need details.
Here is an Email I received and I thought I post it here because I have been getting questions like this from a lot of people.
ReplyDelete"You said to contact you if we wanted more information on how to be able to take our phone and computer with us on the road.
I've been trying to decipher all your information. It kind of seems to good to be true. It looks like for $179. of equipment and $55. per month in fees we can do it. I'm paying $70. per month now for Comcast, and have to fight with them every year to maintain that rate, for unlimited phone and high speed wireless internet. I would love to be able to tell them to take a hike!
Can you keep your phone number with Magic Jack?
Can this equipment become obsolete or brake down and require greater expense in the future?
I don't know what all the equipment your mentioning is. Is there a cell phone in there? Is that the MiFi device or do we have to have a cell phone too?
I tried a Magic Jack a few years back at Rock Crusher and it was so bad it was unusable. What's different now? Do I need a land line type phone too?
Sheila"
Thank you Sheila for your response.
DeleteMagicJack says you can keep your number. I don't really have experience with that because I live in Canada and we have not been able to do that here. You can go to their web site:http://www.magicjack.com/plus-v05/ and check it out for yourself. If you go to the bottom of the page you will see "Customer Care/Live Agent" if you click on that you can have an online conversation with one of their reps.
I only use the MagicJack now, home and away.
I have been using Verizon in the US while travelling and when I am stationary in Florida I use BrightHous. That costs me about $42 per month for my full cable based internet connection. You can suspend your Verizon contract while you're there.
I personally have not had any performace problems with the MagicJack at all but I don't really have a lot of experience yet with Verizon at Rock Crusher since I use BrightHouse when I'm there.
As far as break downs are concerned, the equipment is very reliable and not very costly if it does break. I have been using my current router for about 4 years and my MagicJack for just over one - I haven't had any problems with that.
Equipment:
There is no cell phone - the MiFi for Verizon is a NovaTel product sold by Verizon.
The second thing is a simple Wireless Extender (I have this for a bout 2 years. it's job is to take the Wifi signal (wireless) and translate it to a wired output to plug into the router.
The router is where you connect everything - the printer. the MagicJack, the laptop(s) and any other devices.
You do need a land line phone - you can pick pne up at Walmart for about $20. For the house I have a 5 phone system which I bought at Costco for about $89. The base connects the the MagicJack and the rest of the phone go anywhere and just plug into the wall.