Internet In Truck

Hello, been awhile since I've been on here. After some hiccups in getting his CDL , my husband is about to reach his six month anniversary of driving OTR with Werner. And since my grant-funded position wasn't renewed, I'm going to take some time off and go with him. We both love traveling together so we're looking forward to it.

While I'm with him, I want to teach English online to supplement his income and also so I don't have a resume gap. My question is that possible to do in a truck? Meaning could we get wifi in the truck where I could get online with a laptop? And would the connection be strong enough that I could do video sessions with kids in China?

My husband uses data on his phone now but the other problem is he keeps going over his useage and then we have to pay extra. So getting a wifi hotspot in the truck would help alleviate that.

You are answering your own question, almost:

My husband uses data on his phone now but the other problem is he keeps going over his usage and then we have to pay extra. So getting a WiFi hotspot in the truck would help alleviate that.

First, if hubby is using all that data, you need to increase the chunk you buy each month. I hear it's getting cheaper, but it will be your expense. An on-board hot spot will be part of your data usage. No truck company will provide WiFi (yet) as a benefit. I know you had one on the Greyhound, but now you're with a real trucker, who is going to be on his own for amenities like WiFi.

And you know video will be an intense user of both data and speed. I doubt you will be able to maintain a good data connection in a moving truck. Try watching Youtube while your husband is driving through Nevada. Good luck with that!

So, my version of the bottom line is that live interaction via Internet for your English classes may not be feasible. As they say in China, "Wo bu zhidao"*

* "I don't know."

There are mobile Hotspot you can buy. There are plenty on ebay that sell Verizon Hotspot with unlimited data, but they can be pricy. Good luck!

Problem with trying to do video, is that hotspot's (and all cellular based internet), favor DOWNLOAD SPEED, while you doing video is going to require UPLOAD SPEED. Upload speeds are usually significantly slower than downloads.

That and, as Errol mentioned, the fact that you are going to be in a MOVING VEHICLE means your connectivity is not going to be consistent.

Best bet - as far as coverage and speeds go - would be a Verizon LTE HotSpot.

The "unlimited data" deals, usually will give you full speeds up to a certain limit, then start throttling your speeds down.

Rick