On 11/17/2019 at 5:48 AM, 2gypsies said:

I totally agree. We've used TracFones since cell became popular. We now have Samsung Smartphones for under $100 & we can do most everything others do on their expensive phones.  Our service is so cheap that I doubt we'd ever give up TracFones.  If working from the RV I don't know if it would be enough but It's plenty for a normal, non-working person.  

With all due respect, you don't need to be working from your RV to want and need a lot more data than the 2-3GB that comes with Tracfone plans.  From what I can see on the Tracfone website it appears to primarily be focused on people who use their phones for voice conversation, rather than data.  Many of us rarely use the phone to talk, but use extensive amounts of data for streaming video and other purposes. 

We've recently discontinued our DirecTV service and are now steaming all our video.  I'm sure we're currently using 200-400GB/mo spread across a couple of unlimited hotspots.   I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with using Tracfone (or similar service providers) if that meets your needs.  I'm simply pointing out that such service can't be equated to that which is provided by most of the plans offered by the major cellular providers.

  On 11/16/2019 at 6:46 PM, RV_ said:

But all the competition they need are the current Verizon, ATT, etc. Cell companies. They go cheaper or die out. And Musk will be competing with them too. We live in interesting, exciting times.

People who complain about cell phone pricing and data limits often fail to take advantage of the bargains that come and go.  I happened to miss the AT&T Mobley plan, but I do have an unlimited prepaid Verizon hotspot plan and an unlimited AT&T hotspot provided by OTR Mobile. My Verizon hotspot is no longer offered, but the new "Visible by Verizon" has many of the same features and is also unlimited. All the plans I've noted are priced at <$60/mo.  

Sure, competition from LEO satellite service will force prices down but so will the ever-expanding terrestrial network.  Next month T-Mobile will begin broadcasting on the 600MHz band and is offering a form of "low frequency 5G".  It appears that one of the new markets they are targeting is fixed location rural service which will put it in direct competition with the many WISPs who operate in those areas.  They are bandying around a price of ~$50/mo for residential service, and I, for one, am eager to see when they will provide it where our winter site it located.

I recall that in 1993 when we lived in ABQ and one of my sons had to drive to NMSU in Las Cruces, I got him a "bag phone" and a $20/mo plan that, as I recall, had something like 10-15 minutes of analog service per month included in the price. Enough to provide him an emergency contact capability and not much more.  As they say..."we've come a long way, baby!"

  On 11/17/2019 at 6:48 AM, docj said:

With all due respect, you don't need to be working from your RV to want and need a lot more data than the 2-3GB that comes with Tracfone plans.  From what I can see on the Tracfone website it appears to primarily be focused on people who use their phones for voice conversation, rather than data.  Many of us rarely use the phone to talk, but use extensive amounts of data for streaming video and other purposes. 

We've recently discontinued our DirecTV service and are now steaming all our video.  I'm sure we're currently using 200-400GB/mo spread across a couple of unlimited hotspots.   I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with using Tracfone (or similar service providers) if that meets your needs.  I'm simply pointing out that such service can't be equated to that which is provided by most of the plans offered by the major cellular providers.

I agree Tracfone's data allowances are pretty meager, although it's easy to add more at $10/GB. We use texting more than voice for much of our communications, and those allowances are more generous. We also have our Mobley SIM in a Netgear Explore hotspot for low cost unlimited AT&T data, and a Visible phone tethered to a Pepwave router for low cost unlimited Verizon data. Our primary streaming hardware is our FireTVsticks rather than our phones though. When we do stream with our phones, it's usually through a WiFi connection to the unlimited services. Our monthly unlimited data usage is usually 150-200 GB.

Awesome Dutch and Joel, and it's only going to get better. The Telcos had a monopoly on Internet access when it was all dial-up essentially and they choked on spending for fiber installs in the 90s, essentially letting the Cable vendors take $Billions$ away from them. That was1998-2003. The Telcos answer, in a world then of much higher speed cable Internet access, was DSL. Big flop over time. Now they focus on wireless, but they have to have millions of towers to cover the world. I think in ten years they will have lost again from short-sightedness of their leadership without vision. I think RVrs will have broadband anywhere soon. It remains to see if it is competitive.

  On 11/15/2019 at 10:05 PM, NealC said:

Remember what we paid for a phone in the house back in the '70's? Sucks we are paying that if not 2x and 3x (people with kids, etc.) for monthly phone costs!

I paid around $250/mo with no data, no texting, just some phone calls.  My phone cost $900, the battery was good for maybe 8 hours, and all it did was make and get calls.  I had a stiff belt to hold the holster I carried it in.  Today you can get that plus text and some internet with a $40 phone from the convenience store, and a $20/mo cell plan.  The battery lasts three days, and the phone fits in a shirt pocket.

I'm thinking you didn't actually live through the 90s.

I was the second non-employee customer of Sprint PCS when they launched.  The phone cost several hundred, and the service was "only" $75/mo for 1500 minutes, text only barely worked, and no data/internet without huge efforts.

For me the real advantage to satellite is the reach for places in the West that have little to no cell service.  We're constantly in places where cell either doesn't work, or you just get 50k or something unusable like that.