Cellular internet

We are both still working as we travel the country in our motorhome, so having reliable internet access is essential.

To that end, we have six internet options: two cellular plans (AT&T and Verizon) in a cellular modem, one cell plan (T-Mobile) via a Wi-Fi hotspot device, two iPhones (AT&T), and (very recently) Starlink satellite internet.

And sometimes we connect to campground Wi-Fi, when available, though our various options are usually faster and more reliable.

Having four different networks and a variety of devices ensures that almost anywhere we are, we can connect to the internet.

Some details about the plans:

  • T-Mobile (via 5G Wi-Fi hotspot): unlimited data; plan provided by the Calyx Institute. This is what we’ve used the most, being truly unlimited.
  • AT&T (LTE SIM in cellular modem): 800 GB data; plan provided by Mobile Must Have. A good backup option, though often not very fast.
  • Verizon (5G SIM in cellular modem): 150 GB data; pre-paid plan from Verizon. Often the fastest cellular option, but very limited data, so we don’t use it much.
  • AT&T (iPhones): unlimited data; plans and phones provided by Apple Upgrade Program. We use these a lot as standalone devices. They only have 40 GB data as a personal hotspot, so we don’t tether other than emergencies.
  • Starlink (satellite): unlimited data; plan and dish provided by Starlink. We’ll probably use this the most going forward, if it proves to be reliable enough (and if our campsites can see enough of the sky).

I’ll cover Starlink in a separate post later, once we’ve spent more time with it — as of this post, we’ve only had it for a few days.

This is the T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot; we can connect to it directly, but most of the time we go via the modem, which also connects to it:

MiFi

The modem has a roof-mounted antenna (the white fin in the following picture), which we got from Mobile Must Have, and installed by NIRVC; a Poynting 7-in-1 Roof Antenna. It contains 4 cell antennas, 2 WiFi antennas, and a GPS antenna:

Roof antenna

Zoomed out a bit:

Roof antenna

The antenna connects to the Pepwave MAX Transit modem (also from MMH), which contains the AT&T and Verizon SIMs (and can support two more). NIRVC mounted it in a cupboard above our entry door:

Pepwave modem:

See a later post about some further modifications to this cupboard.

Young’s RV Park

We stayed at Young’s RV Park in Caliente, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-04-21
  • Check out: 2022-04-24
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Windy, rainy, cloudy
  • High temps ranging between 60 and 72°F, lows around 32-44°F
  • Very windy the first day (wind is common in Spring)

Noise:

  • No road noise, occasional train noise
  • Quiet and noisy neighbors on different days

Site:

  • #38, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
  • Medium site: no marked edges, but about 60 feet long by about 25 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power conveniently located
    • Good water pressure, 55 PSI water, conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, conveniently located
  • Picnic table

Internet:

  • Campground Wi-Fi: 0.5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-145 ms ping; not used
  • T-Mobile: no service
  • AT&T: 3-8 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • Verizon: 3-9 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 80-128 ms ping

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • No pool

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Good basic campground

We stayed for a few nights on our way to Great Basin National Park. Our site was level and easy to get in and out of. Seems like a very popular spot for gatherings as I got the impression everyone else staying there knew each other, but at least everyone obeyed the quiet hours. We camped at Young’s RV Park in a Motorhome.

The weather forecast for our stay:

Weather

This park was unusual in that there was no paper map or other information provided, just a credit card receipt (that had the Wi-Fi password on it). Here’s the map from their website:

Map

The satellite view:

Young s RV Park

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

A tumbleweed blowing in the wind:

Tumbleweed

Conveniently located utilities:

Utilities

55 PSI water pressure:

55 PSI

It was very windy on our first day; here’s a GIF of the slide topper flapping in the wind:

Flapping GIF

Our site and neighbors:

Our site and neighbors

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Other RVs

The office:

Office

Bathroom and laundry:

Bathroom and laundry

More tumbleweeds:

Tumbleweed

Tumbleweed

It rained on our second day; the first time we’ve had real rain in about a month:

Rain

A side-by-side on the back of a pickup; an interesting arrangement:

Side-by-side on truck

Travel from Boulder City to Caliente, NV

We drove our coach 181 miles, four hours, from Lake Mead, Boulder City, Nevada to Caliente, Nevada.

Here’s the map, heading north:

Map route

Decorations in Boulder City:

Decorations in Boulder City

More freeway decorations:

Freeway decorations

Paladin was contented in his safe space:

Paladin in his safe space

A trike:

Trike

Las Vegas in the distance:

Las Vegas

Overpass art:

Overpass art

Wall art:

Wall art

Passing by Las Vegas:

Las Vegas

Exit:

Exit

Overpass art:

Overpass art

We stopped at Love’s for fuel:

Love's

We were interested to see that this Love’s has RV and boat storage:

Love's RV and boat storage

Fuel time:

Love's

Spendy for less than half a tank:

Fuel pump

I used my laptop while traveling:

Using laptop

Motorcycles:

Motorcycles

A lake:

Lake

Curvy road:

Curvy road

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

A long straight road, heading for the hills:

Long straight road

A bunch of Joshua trees:

Joshua trees

Downgrade sign:

Downgrade sign

The exaust heat warning light came on, with all the hill climbing; went off again shortly thereafter:

Exaust heat warning

Rocks and curves:

Rocks and curves

Rocks and curves

Our destination:

Our destination

Chair armrest adjustment

Our coach has fold-down arms on the two cockpit chairs. When we bought it, one of the arms of the passenger chair was too low. We figured that someone had put too much weight on it and broken it:

Passenger chair

Armrest too low

However, I recently learned a trick: inside the small hole at the end of the armrest is an adjustment lever. One can put a finger in there and lift up the lever below the hole, and adjust the resting height of the armrest:

Hole with adjustment lever

So now yay, it’s all better:

Adjusted armrest

Mind blown! 🤯

Learn something new every day.

Lake Mead RV Village

We stayed at the Lake Mead RV Village in Boulder City, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We considered staying at the Thousand Trails in Las Vegas, but the reviews weren’t very favorable. So we opted for a nicer park with a view of Lake Mead instead.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-04-10
  • Check out: 2022-04-21
  • 11 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny, some clouds
  • High temps ranging between 66 and 91°F, lows around 35-57°F
  • Some days of gale-force winds (gusts up to 64 MPH!); did not enjoy those

Noise:

  • No road or train noise
  • Initially noisy neighbors, until they left

Site:

  • #LV21, pull-in, cement pad surrounded by gravel
  • Unusual in that pull coach in front-first — so get a lake view out the windscreen
  • Initially had a fiver next to us, backed in, so their door was facing us; didn’t like that — but the site remained empty after they left
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked on gravel beside coach
  • Medium site: about 55 feet long by 30 feet wide, with 40 by 15 cement pad for RV
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power conveniently located
    • Good water pressure, 60+ PSI water, conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, conveniently located
    • All utilities on both sides, to accommodate front-in motorhomes and back-in trailers
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit

Internet:

  • Campground Wi-Fi: 26 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping; not used
  • T-Mobile: 25-30 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 38 ms ping
  • Verizon: 32-37 Mbps down, 15-17 Mbps up, 55 ms ping

Amenities:

  • Garbage and recycling dumpsters, not particularly close
  • No pool
  • Nice camp store; we bought groceries there
  • The usual other stuff we didn’t use

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Gorgeous lake and mountain views

We had a pull-in Lake View site and it was sooooo worth it. Best view ever, even if the lake isn’t as high as it used to be. The only drawback is that while we were front-in with our motorhome, our neighbor was backed in with a 5er, which means it was basically a buddy site, so privacy was lacking. If they could keep motorhomes and trailers/5ers separate that would be even better. Utilities are available on either side of the site because of the front or back-in arrangement.

Our site was so level, our automatic levelers pretty much just went down and called it good without any fiddling. That never happens. Very convenient to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas for some sightseeing and touristy fun, but it was so nice to come back to this quiet spot when the day was done. Some basic necessities in the camp store. Groceries in Boulder City or Henderson weren’t too far away, but you might want to put a cooler in the car just in case. We camped at Lake Mead RV Village in a Motorhome.

The weather forecast for our stay:

Weather

It was quite windy, with gusts up to 64 miles per hour, though I think we were a little sheltered from the worst of that:

Wind

Here’s the campground map, which only shows the RV sites; most of the park is mobile homes:

Map

The satellite view shows all the mobile homes; our approximate location is circled:

Satellite view

Zooming out, you can see the lake edge. Though these satellite images are out-of-date; the water is actually a bit further now, as the lake continues to drain due to the ongoing drought:

Satellite view

Satellite view

This last image shows the Nevada/Arizona border line, and Hoover Dam:

Satellite view

Our lake view site; notice that we fronted in, to have a nice view out our windscreen, while trailers back in:

Site

Site

Site

The downside of this arrangement is that a trailer next to us has their door facing us, so a “buddy” situation. Not great for privacy:

Site

Site

Fortunately the sites are fairly wide, so we weren’t on top of each other. And they left after a few days, which was a relief, since they had their TV blaring with the door open most of the time.

Looking down the side of the coach to the utilities:

Site

Pretty convenient location; to accommodate motorhomes and trailers, all of the utilities are available on both sides of the site:

Utilities

Good water pressure:

Good water pressure

Once we spent a night here, we were able to fill in a hole on our states map, adding Nevada:

States map

States map

Utah will be added soon, too.

Here’s the picturesque view out our windscreen; we didn’t put up the Magne Shade, so we could enjoy the view:

View out windscreen

View out windscreen

View out windscreen

A dust storm:

Dust storm

Dust storm

Paladin relaxing:

Paladin

Let’s take a walk around the campground, and look at other RVs and the mobile homes:

Other RVs and mobile homes

Other RVs and mobile homes

Other RVs and mobile homes

Mobile homes

The entrance:

Entrance

The office:

Office

We enjoyed the blooming cacti out front:

Blooming cacti

Blooming cacti

The office also included a decent camp store, where we got some groceries:

Store

Village hall:

Village hall

I worked outside on several days (when not too hot or breezy), in the shade in front of our coach, enjoying the view:

David working outside

David working outside

David working outside

David working outside

Jenn had some meetings outside, too:

Jenn working outside

Jenn working outside

Jenn working outside

Paladin looking outside:

Paladin

Paladin watching taunty quail:

Paladin watching quail

Paladin watching quail

An interesting plane / copter thing:

Interesting plane / copter

Dinner with a view:

Dinner

Surprisingly, there were several empty sites for much of our stay. We had several trailers come and go on our driver side, but I would have expected the park to be more packed. Sure, it’s early Spring, but we were here around Easter weekend:

Empty sites

Empty sites

Sunrise over the lake:

Sunrise

 The moon over our coach:

Moon

Moon

 Sunset alpenglow:

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

A good park, with the nicest view we’ve experienced (so far). We’ll definitely stay here again.

Travel from Williams, AZ to Lake Mead, Boulder City, NV

We drove our coach 183 miles, 3.5 hours non-stop, from Williams, Arizona to Lake Mead, Boulder City, Nevada.

Here’s the map, going right to left (or heading west, if you prefer):

Map route

Maybe someone didn’t like their dog? Devil Dog Road:

Devil Dog Road

A view heading downhill:

View

A truck clipped our mirror, crossing the center line. Doesn’t seemed to have done more than scrape it, but it was rather disconcerting:

Truck clipped our mirror

Based on the their trailer, they may not be the best driver:

Truck

Paladin not looking impressed by a rough stretch of road:

Paladin

I put him on my lap for a bit:

Paladin and David

Passing a motorhome; hey fellow traveller:

Motorhome

This was a non-stop trip, so we had a lunch of chips and a sandwich while driving:

Chips and sandwich for lunch

Jenn eating chips while driving

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Another motorhome (a Thor Aria was one model we considered when shopping for an RV; Thor isn’t the best brand, but the Aria isn’t bad):

Motorhome

More interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Steep uphill:

Uphill

Travel trailer delivery:

Trailer delivery

A pickup with a camper, towing an interesting trailer; I’m guessing a contractor:

Interesting trailer

Approaching the exit from I-40:

Approaching our exit

Yet more interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Our exit:

Exit

A view (and yes, our windshield was getting rather dirty, from lots of bugs):

View

We encountered a motorcycle accident; the rider was on the ground, attended by several people. I hope they’re okay, but it didn’t look good:

Motorcycle accident

Paladin peeking:

Paladin

Last stop in Arizona:

Last stop

Info sign:

Info sign

Hey look, more interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Hilltop view:

View

Approaching Hoover Dam:

Approaching Hoover Dam

Approaching Hoover Dam

A glimpse of Hoover Dam from the center lane of the bridge next to the dam (when Jenn later saw the bridge from the dam, she said she was very glad she didn’t know how high it was when driving over it!):

Glimpse of Hoover Dam

Entering Nevada:

Entering Nevada

Our exit:

Exit

View of Lake Mead:

View of Lake Mead

Lake Mead National Recreation Area entry station:

Lake Mead National Recreation Area entry station

Jenn going to the RV park office to check in:

Jenn going to RV park office

Following a guide to our site:

Following guide to site

The timelapse video from this trip will be coming later today, and our review of the RV park tomorrow.

Safe T Plus and Koni shocks

A while back I mentioned that we got some enhancements while at NIRVC. A couple of those were the addition of the Safe T Plus steering control system, and Koni shocks.

The Safe T Plus steering control system is a cylinder that mounts between the frame of the RV and the steering mechanism, to help smooth out wobbles in the steering due to wind and such, and help with control in the event of a tire blowout.

Our coach has independent front suspension using air bags, which gives a pretty smooth ride, but could be a bit bouncy on rough roads. The Koni shocks help to reduce that bounciness.

Here are some pictures looking under our coach; the yellow tube is the Safe T Plus, and the two red tubes are the Koni shocks:

Koni shock and Safe T Plus

Koni shock and Safe T Plus

Koni shock

Koni shock and Safe T Plus

3-stage water filter

Our coach has a water filter in the wet bay, to help ensure clean water:

Water filter

We recently changed the filter while sanitizing the water systems; here’s the dirty one and a clean one:

Water filters

That was actually the wrong filter, so I got the correct one:

Water filters

For drinking water, one filter doesn’t really cut it with some campground water supplies, though. So I purchased a Clearsource Ultra three-stage water filter system, with a 5 micron rust filter, a 0.5 micron bacteria filter, and a virus-guard filter:

Clearsource water filters

Our coach now has five filters between the water supply and our fridge water dispenser: those three, the aforementioned built-in filter, and the filter in the fridge.

I also bought a potable water hose to go between the tap and filters.

When first hooking up the hose and filter, I flushed them out by draining directly into the sewer:

Water filters

Then hooked them up to our coach:

Water filters

Ideally I’d like internally-mounted filters, and perhaps a water softener. One day I might arrange that, using the small bay on the other side of the coach. But for now, I’ll deal with the external filter unit; just another part of setting up at a site. Worth it for cleaner-tasting water.