So, you want to embrace the nomadic lifestyle, but haven’t figured out how to keep it digital? It would seem in today’s day and age, remaining connected while on the road or in the campground, should be an easy thing to do, but I have found that this is not the case. I have found three potential solutions: public WiFi, Satellite, and Cellular hot spots. Each has it’s merits, but they also come with some downsides.

In addition, we identified a few key criteria or use cases we needed to solve:

1. Sufficient bandwidth with low-latency for making real-time video calls (ala Zoom or other). Ideally, you need the ability to connect just like you would at home or in the office without anyone suspecting that you are nestled by a secluded lake instead;
2. The ability to connect while in motion. Obviously, when you are a nomad, you are going to be moving around and while you might not be doing a lot of typing or video calls while you are driving, if you are traveling with a partner, they should be able to work like they are in the office, even when the office is moving down the highway.
3. Reliability and Simplicity. The idea of being a digital nomad, for many at least, is a less stressful way of living. Those hopes can be dashed if your solution is unreliable and/or difficult to maintain.

Public WiFi

It turns out that you can access public WiFi in many places, including truck stops, campgrounds, and the (still) occasional, non-secured WiFi access point found around town. The benefit of this method of connecting is that it is generally free, or low cost; and that’s where the benefits end in my opinion.

The downsides of public WiFi are nearly innumerable; however, besides questionable/inconsistent reliability and speed, I find the biggest challenge is re-configuring all of your devices to leverage the public WiFi. This can be made a bit easier if you have a WiFi bridging device like that found in many modern travel trailers. This allows you to have a consistent “internal” WiFi network that you connect all of your devices to, and you simply have to configure the bridge to connect to the public WiFi you want to use.  This works, well, should work. I had challenges with the one in our trailer that stopped us cold and the bridge itself is only as useful as the networks you attach to. In addition, those dreaded “splash pages” that many public WiFi networks use to authenticate users can be tedious to deal with. 

Lastly, the need to re-configure everything, even if it is just your WiFi network bridge, is exacerbated if you are truly mobile; i.e., if you are driving down the road. Public WiFi is not a mobile solution, but a solution for when you are not mobile. So, on our three use-cases, public WiFi fails #2 entirely, and scores questionably on the remaining two.

Satellite Internet

Satellite internet comes in a couple of flavors, high, geosynchronous orbit and low-orbit; e.g. Dish Network versus Starlink. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the geosynchronous satellite internet, mainly for its generally limited bandwidth and its latency. While bandwidth has improved, latency is what it is … you cannot speed up the signal. In the past this was just a problem if you were a gamer, but as a digital nomad, it will also affect all your Zoom calls. Going mobile also has its limits as you need a motorized dish that can track the satellite if you want to try using it in motion, which significantly increases the start-up costs. Lastly, as anyone who has satellite TV will know, trees and other obstacles can prevent the “clear view of the sky” that is required to get consistent, reliable service. This is hard enough in a stationary environment, but when you are on the road, living in campgrounds (which often have … trees), it is less than desirable.

Low-orbit satellite, a.k.a. Starlink, does dramatically improve on the geosynchronous option when it comes to speed and latency. These satellites are simply greater in number, and much closer than their geosynchronous cousins providing low-latency and high bandwidth. That being said, you still have challenges when it comes to the “clear view of the sky”. In the standard configuration, with a free-standing antennae you do have a bit more flexibility to move the antennae out from under the tree in the campground, but you also sacrifice the ability to connect while in motion. Starlink does offer a configuration that can be mounted on your vehicle that allows for “in-motion” use, but it is not only significantly more expensive (both in equipment and in monthly fees), it also makes it less flexible when trying to get a clear view of the night sky. 

If we look back at our three use cases, geosynchronous satellite doesn’t quite meet our first one, could meet the second one at additional cost, and only scores half on the simplicity/reliability aspect. Low-orbit only improves by also meeting the first use case, but doesn’t fair much better than the other with the same caveats.

Cellular Hot-Spots

The last option is the good-old cellular hot-spot, which is a solution that we’ve relied upon many times in our preliminary travels. Most people are somewhat familiar with this approach by using their mobile handset as an emergency internet connection for their laptop and/or tablet when nothing else was available; most people are also, then, familiar with many of the challenges including poor signal, usage limits, additional monthly charges, and limits on the number of devices that can connect. While stand-alone hot-spots (either pocket devices or those installed in mobile platforms like cars, trucks, and trailers) do address issues with limits on the number of devices, most providers still severely limit the monthly throughput and you still have the same issues with signal quality as you travel around. 

On the other hand, cellular hot-spots do provide true “mobile” usage as long as you stay on major highways where the signal is consistent (if you don’t drive over 70 miles an hour, which is apparently about the speed at which you cross tower signals too quickly for proper hand-off).  So, cellular generally meets all three of our use cases, with a bit of variability.

An Alternative Solution

After going through the above exercise, I will admit that I was a bit concerned about how we could commit to a nomadic lifestyle while maintaining our digital connections. While cellular seemed to be the best option, our past experiences using hot-spots did not instill a lot of confidence in relying on them for our mobile connectivity needs. I was beginning to think that we would need some combination of low-orbit satellite combined with cellular to be certain we could connect, but didn’t like the idea of having multiple services (and multiple bills), nor did I look forward to doubling the initial start-up costs. That is when I discovered Nomad Internet.

Nomad Internet is, to be fair, essentially a dedicated cellular hot-spot just like many others. Where it is different, though, is where it counts. Nomad offers unlimited data (with no throttling), speeds currently up to 200Mbs (download), and not only eschews monthly contracts, but also offers a “mobile” option allowing you to pause/restart your service only when it is needed for a small up-charge. (Starlink also offers this on their “mobile” option). Nomad also works on the newer 5G “C-Bands”, which not only allows for higher speeds, but also provides good signal reception even when mobile phone service is dicey.

These changes were enough for me to buy my first Nomad router and put it through the paces. I installed an AC inverter in my truck and for a few weeks, we drove around with a Nomad WiFi network surrounding us at all times. We drove to the backwoods of northern WI where my partner’s mother lives and where both my partner (on Verizon) and I (on AT&T) often have difficulty getting solid cellular reception and our data connections have been slow as molasses. In all these cases, we got solid connectivity, without disruption while driving or at rest.

Out of curiosity, I did a speed check at my partner’s mother’s house. First, I checked her hardwired broadband connection (4Mbs down/.2 up). Then I checked the Nomad connection (40Mbs down/1Mbs up). For Christmas, we replaced her broadband with my original Nomad (this time registering 62Mbs down/ 1.6Mbx up), leaving her with a monthly bill 33% lower than she had before. It’s no wonder Nomad’s original business plan was to provide rural areas with better Internet; here, they delivered exceptionally well. 

Final Thoughts

All-in-all, so far, Nomad has addressed all three of our initial use cases with flying colors. Add that my new Nomad modem came with a 7-day back-up battery, all at less than many others charge for their devices alone, and I’m feeling a lot less anxious about maintaining our digital connections as we explore a more nomadic lifestyle. That’s not to say I am completely at ease and this coming spring/summer we’ll be putting it through its paces in some of those more out-of-the-way places (like Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks), utilizing that back-up battery to see just how far off the beaten track we can go. But, so far, it has shown to be a reliable and simple solution that provides sufficient bandwidth to provide the ability to work on the road, in-motion and at rest.