Road Tripping in the USA!

Did anyone manage to find a perfect solution for internet while on the road? Something fast, reliable, lots of data (15GB+ or pref unlimited) and not too expensive?

2 PAYG simcards with unlimited data or some sort of mobile hotpost? (cant see the benefit in the hotspot when it's only two people using it unless it offers much larger data packages than a standard simcard)



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kaktus said:
Did anyone manage to find a perfect solution for internet while on the road? Something fast, reliable, lots of data (15GB+ or pref unlimited) and not too expensive?

2 PAYG simcards with unlimited data or some sort of mobile hotpost? (cant see the benefit in the hotspot when it's only two people using it unless it offers much larger data packages than a standard simcard)



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Why do you need that much data?

I bought a local SIM card this year when I went to Canada, it had 2Gb of data which was sufficient. Much of your usage in hotels etc will be on wifi.
 
Taking a 3 week break to USA at the end of August, starting in Washington DC and then following civil war sites generally as a reason for a road trip.

Can anyone recommend good car hire sites?, any deals on at the moment? We have decided on a Mustang convertible if possible since we wont drive one anywhere else..
 
kaktus said:
Did anyone manage to find a perfect solution for internet while on the road? Something fast, reliable, lots of data (15GB+ or pref unlimited) and not too expensive?

2 PAYG simcards with unlimited data or some sort of mobile hotpost? (cant see the benefit in the hotspot when it's only two people using it unless it offers much larger data packages than a standard simcard)



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Click to expand...

I am literally just finishing off a US Road trip (incorporated with business I had over here).

1)LA to Vegas (incredibly uninspiring, didnt help I did it on a Friday so there was traffic leaving LA and traffic heading into Vegas. Also didnt help that a friend of mine reminded me that most of the Friday LA to Vegas flights are a stripper bus for the weekend ladies)
2)Vegas to San Francisco via Death Valley and Yosemite (great trip)
3)SF back to LA via the coastal route (Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara etc). This drive was epic! Probably the best bit of driving I have ever done in the US.

Didn't use a rental car, I borrowed my friends M3.

In respect of a phone SIM (Ultra Mobile) I picked up a $85 package from LAX. 2GB data at 4g, then unlimited 3g data. Also a lot of free international calls to various destinations, the UK being one of them.
 
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We had planned to do the 10 hour drive to the south rim from the strip but now thinking of doing the plane ride to south rim and then the bus around the view points.

I've seen people were recommending grandcanyontourcompany in this thread but that was around 2013. Just looking at reviews on yelp, google and trip advisor and majority are terrible.

Now looking at maverickhelicopter.com now and they seem to have better reviews for the plane and bus ride, but it's more money.

Anyone done either one recently?
 
Ash2097 said:
We had planned to do the 10 hour drive to the south rim from the strip but now thinking of doing the plane ride to south rim and then the bus around the view points.
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10 hours form the strip to South Rim, I assume you meant return....even that is excessive.

Either way, why not spend a night? Splits up the drive :)
 
I figured it would be 4 hours each way myself but just going from what someone else here posted that they had done it and it took them 10 hours.

We already have the rest of the trip planned/booked so we have to be back that day.
 
I've just booked with Maverick to do the jet stream from Vegas to Grand Canyon, then bus into the park. I added the south rim helicopter too for some aerial views!

Get a price from Viator (usually cheaper), then get Maverick to price match. That's what I did
 
[TW]Fox;29825834 said:
Why do you need that much data?

I bought a local SIM card this year when I went to Canada, it had 2Gb of data which was sufficient. Much of your usage in hotels etc will be on wifi.
Click to expand...

I'm honestly not sure how much data we need - just seeing the extortionate data pricing I want to be covered incase of as my wife likes to stream music a lot which I know she'll enjoy doing while on the road so that will probably need 5GB or so during the trip alone. I figured she could also tap into our home server and watch a series or movie while we're on the road if she feels like it.

The rest I imagine we'll need for ad-hoc planning like maps/places to eat/things to do and see etc.

I know it's not particularly efficient but we're both working from like 7am to 10pm practically everyday so we're not really getting a chance to plan this properly ahead of time. Plus I'd be lying if I said there wasn't an element of excitement from not knowing what we're going to be doing exactly till we do it!
 
kaktus said:
I'm honestly not sure how much data we need - just seeing the extortionate data pricing I want to be covered incase of as my wife likes to stream music a lot which I know she'll enjoy doing while on the road so that will probably need 5GB or so during the trip alone. I figured she could also tap into our home server and watch a series or movie while we're on the road if she feels like it.
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Streaming audio and video?! Really? You'll find the signal levels patchy on longer road trips - it's a much bigger country than the UK and much much more sparsely populated. Listen to local radio, satellite radio and plug in a USB stick with your favourite road trip tunes. Driving across America watching netflix kinda defeats the object, no? :p

Data is incredibly useful for trip planning, working out where stuff is, etc etc but I used about 2Gb on 3 weeks in Canada so unlimited is both overkill and expensive.
 
How much are these sims across there?

iD mobile have 4GB for £10 and 2GB for £7.50, and has inclusive roaming in USA.
 
rossk26 said:
How much are these sims across there?

iD mobile have 4GB for £10 and 2GB for £7.50, and has inclusive roaming in USA.
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That sounds excellent providing they don't use T-Mobile which is awful for data speeds.

Edit: IT sounds excellent because it's wrong. You need a Takeaway plan for inclusive roaming, which is £20 a month on pay monthly for 3Gb of data. It also has a 12 month contract so it's actually £240 a year.

Not £10.
 
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[TW]Fox;29834955 said:
That sounds excellent providing they don't use T-Mobile which is awful for data speeds.
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Actually it's not the case. They seem to have a different plan for roaming.

2GB is £17.50 and 3GB is £20 on a 12 month contract too.

3 have a 2GB 1 month rolling contract for £14, which allows roaming.
 
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[TW]Fox;29834903 said:
Streaming audio and video?! Really? You'll find the signal levels patchy on longer road trips - it's a much bigger country than the UK and much much more sparsely populated. Listen to local radio, satellite radio and plug in a USB stick with your favourite road trip tunes. Driving across America watching netflix kinda defeats the object, no? :p

Data is incredibly useful for trip planning, working out where stuff is, etc etc but I used about 2Gb on 3 weeks in Canada so unlimited is both overkill and expensive.
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you know what I mean, like Apple Tunes and stuff like that but yea I suppose you're right.

Do you find one of those mobile hotspot devices worth it or just get a simcard and pop it in? Only advantage I can think of with a mobile hotspot like a Verizon one is that if one or both phones don't support the 4G signal band for that particular carrier but it looks like we'll both be ok with her Iphone6s UK and my Sony E6653 (Z5)
 
We manage without any data whatsoever. Every hotel has Wifi pretty much, and if you need to check something en-route then fast food restaurant Wifi usually does the trick.
 
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