Lost service (wi-fi) on the road

Discussion in 'Trip Planning and Travel Concerns' started by Dinty, Aug 22, 2022.

  1. Dinty

    Dinty
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    Has anyone experienced the loss of wifi while traveling and the subsequent loss of the RV life map program leaving you with a backup Garmin or paper map? I downloaded all the maps for the states I'm visiting so I thought this would not be an issue, but it happened 2 times. Is there a way to prevent this? I carry a mobile hot spot but it too has limitations
    The other issue is how do you lay out gas stops and know they will accommodate your rig for access ??
    Last Grades when pulling concern me, I was given an RV route of rt 550 from Gunnison to Durango, and I'm reading this should only be attempted by an experienced mountain driver !! It's a scenic route Id love to do it but I'm concerned about the opinions of fellow RV drivers. Does the app say it's safe let's hope so ?!
    Any feedback on this route appreciated I'm towing 35' ,8,000lb camper with a Tundra which has a 600 lb motorcycle in the back! It got me up the mountains from Kansas thru Colorado Springs to Gunnison rt 50
    I drove through the smokeys on the way out in NC I think I can handle it, but every rig is different
    I'll try to remember to follow up on how I make out whichever route I decide on next week
     
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  2. Grizzly Valley Bear

    Grizzly Valley Bear
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    Hi. I rely don't rely on wifi or cell or sat once on the road. Having travelled around the world and now living in the Yukon Territory you can not rely on any of that once you leave a city, town or village in my opinion.
    I do all the planning on my laptop. My route is like the AAA TripTics they used to be able to order, very detailed and printed off with turn by turn instructions when necessary. I also have paper maps with routes, gas stops, repair/mechanic, NAPA Auto parts locations, restaurants, grocery and medical facilities all highlighted.
    We do carry an inReach with a comprehensive medical/recovery and MEDEVAC subscription since my backpacking days in Africa, Asia, Central & South Americas.
    I'm pretty low tech, I do use a Garmin Oregon GPS when traveling in the USA but even up here it sucks when not in range of a microwave tower or cell tower or satiloon. Cell phone is useless where we live unless in town.
    I know this doesn't help you much, but I spend a lot of time planning a trip as we don't generally go to big tourist attractions or big RV parks in the past. That said that is slowly changing too.
    As for the grades....try using a topographical map when planning your route and alternate routes. It has contour lines that will be brown and if they are really close together I tend to avoid them if I can as they suck gas and put unnecessary wear and tear on the truck and pocket book.
    I also speak to truckers a lot at rest stops or Service Centers. They are usually a wealth of information on routes and even attractions and good home cooking places to eat and routes and places to avoid or times to avoid a route.
    All this is more work, but I like planning the routes. That said when I was in the army we had a saying "No plan survives contact with the enemy".....same applies to RVing. At least if you have a plan you have something to work with. It looks like you are well on your way.
    Keep the shinny side up and have a safe trip.
    Please update what your solution is as I am slowly kicking and screaming into the tech age and am learning to.
    All the best, Marcus
     
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  3. mdcamping

    mdcamping
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    Not trying to hijack this thread but just trying to educate myself when we venture more out west or north in the furure. My understanding is that with the garmin gps (or any gps) that the risk is minimal of losing a signal because they ping off satellites, not cell towers. I'm east coast here so signals for the most part is not a problem.

    What I have been doing this year is to build/research out a route with my garmin, and have an old fashion map for backup. Just wondering if I need to make more precautions in our future travels.

    Mike
     
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  4. Fitzjohnfan

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    sort of true Mike. on my phone GPS, it uses the internet to generate the route, then pings off satilights to determine your current location. i have been in areas in the mountains where i have no phone signal, but my GPS is still telling me where to go. once i get there, the GPS cant give me a route back.

    this is only on my phone gps, like google maps. stand alone gps's may work differently.
     
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  5. Rollin Ollens

    Rollin Ollens
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    Just a H U Mike. We have travelled a large part of North America and have experienced very very few times when we have lost satellite signal on our Garmins. We have an RV660 in our Motorhome and a older 61 in our Towed. Having said that, neither are all that reliable even though we update them regularly. I rely on Google Earth and Google Maps to verify their accuracy. You may also want to check what kind of coverage your cell service provider has when going west. Some providers are don't provide much coverage in the hinterlands.

    Darrell
     
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  6. mdcamping

    mdcamping
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    My garmin 890 uses the blue tooth off my android phone for traffic & weather updates and my phone works off the cell towers, so I loose my traffic or weather updates with no cell service, that I can live with. What I have been doing lately is to build going to and going home trips before the actual trip. I believe I could still build a trip without cell tower service as the maps are already preloaded/updated on the garmin. though I'm not completly sure... hate IT stuff...

    anyway I still have my old fashion AAA maps with my yellow highlighted routes as backups. google maps if I'm still not sure. And if I have to I'll post online for travel help :cool:

    Mike
     
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