Comment by SwellJoe | Hacker News Reader

Comment by SwellJoe | Hacker News Reader

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This is also my primary concern for the future of this project. I don't really know yet how it will work out.

Today I'm parked at Morro Dunes RV Park in Morro Bay. They have free WiFi that is excellent. I'm currently watching Torchwood on Netflix, while also uploading several large photos to flickr. It's not the 20-something Mbits I had in Mountain View via Comcast, but it's perfectly usable, and fast enough for everything I need to do, including repository syncs of our software. It has also been reliable all day, and Netflix streams have been completely smooth and without interruption for the couple of hours total I've been watching and working.

The KOA I stayed at in Monterey had very expensive ($14.95/day) and very slow/spotty Internet, though, so I don't expect Internet to be an easy problem everywhere. But, finding great Internet here in Morro Bay is encouraging, as this is a small town, not renowned for technology.

When I parked on the street when first arriving last night, I used my G1 tethered via PdaNet. But, there's no 3G here, so it was really slow. Pretty much just good enough for checking for urgent email. So, boondocking (just parking wherever and living wholly off-the-grid) will probably be limited to weekends, and possibly 3G-enabled areas. PdaNet also only runs under Windows, so I can't run Linux natively while using it; which means I have to virtualize for development (our software is a Linux/UNIX-only product).

Satellite internet is probably the way to go if you want reliable coverage. Though WiFi/3G might be cheaper, it's also much more unreliable.

http://www.groundcontrol.com/RV-Internet.htm

I don't have four+ grand just sitting around to get started with satellite Internet. I spent nearly every penny to my name in order to buy the RV. I was unable to get a loan (banks hate startup founders with spotty income history; even with a mid-700s credit score and up to 40% down, no bank was interested in lending me money), so I had to pay cash and buy an older/smaller coach.

I have suspected for a little while now that most the US has good enough WiFi availability that I'll be able to get by without satellite. And, when I have 3G, my phone is an acceptable source of connectivity.

It's something to keep in mind though when/if you do get the money. The thought of parking an RV in the middle of Yellowstone miles away from any people or cell towers and hacking away is, I must say, very appealing. One of these days...

you dont need internet to hack.

It's such a part of my workflow that I think I at least would be crippled without it.

Hack hack hack...hrm... need docs, go fetch them... hack hack hack ... need some source code ... fetch it ... hack hack hack ... need some examples or to talk to someone on irc ... hack hack hack.

To be honest, I do. I am constantly referring to online notes, docs, manuals, blog posts, and every other source of information you could name. I make at least 3 or 4 programming-related searches an hour, I reckon.

While I will readily admit I am probably one of the more clueless programmers here, I doubt I'm alone in this...

I imagine with a bit of planning of what I'll be working on I could probably download the vast majority of docs and manuals I need in advance. Sure it wouldn't be 100% coverage, but good enough to keep me hacking. Then every time I completely hit a wall I'd make a note of what I need and move on to some other part of my project. Next time I have internet I'll look up everything on my list and repeat.

I was thinking of doing that. But does it work in real life conditions?

One advantage would be that I won't be tempted to compulsively browse HN and other news web sites.

Yes, it does. It will slow you down by a bunch at first. Then, you will learn to keep local copies of documentation and how to access them. Then, you will get to know your debugging tools better. Eventually, you will become more self-reliant. Remember, people used to program on displays that showed one line at a time.. and there was no google to query for answers.

I've never actually tried it (other than sporadically on planes and similar), but thinking about it it sounds like an interesting idea. I know I have tendency to start idly browsing when I go to check up some programming thing on the web. Perhaps I'll try unplugging my network cable for a few hours a day, just to see what it does to my productivity.

You are not alone in this. Whenever I fly, train, or passenger around I expect to get some coding done on various backburner projects, and inevitably I run into a "crap i need to look up x" within 20 minutes.

next time try www.lendingclub.com (This is not a plug, but an honest suggestion)

huh. I thought latency on satellite was pretty bad.

When I moved out to the farmland with no cable or DSL service I tried satellite. I found it next to useless due to the latency, incredibly slow uplink and spotty connectivity (it may just be HughesNet, but that thing was down for something like two hours a day at random times).

I switched to a Sprint 3G card and have been comparatively happy for three years. The data cap is worrisome, the latency isn't great and neither is the throughput, but it's a vast improvement over satellite, especially in reliability.

Are 3G dongles common in the US? What's coverage like?

I've used a Verizon 3G card; worked well in New York and Tampa.

I also used a Verizon 3G card when traveling by RV and it worked most places in the Western US. Many highway rest areas have cell tower sites right next to them which ensures a good connection.

If satellite Internet will work for you, there's always MotoSAT (motosat.com). I was a beta tester for this setup back in 2001 and it worked very well.

I too thought you could have cheap reliable nationwide 1mbit connection with 3G these days...

Where to after Morro Bay? I grew up just south of there in Pismo Beach and Oceano. There's an rv park in Oceano I always liked ... I think it's called Pacific Dunes. It's very secluded and right next to a large stretch of sand dunes.

Good post.

I don't know yet. I'm waffling a bit. I ordered dishes which will be delivered to Palo Alto tomorrow...poor planning, as I should have waited until I was settled somewhere for a week or so before ordering them. So, I can either proceed with my "keep going south until it gets warm" plan and be without dishes for a couple of months until I get back up north, or detour back up to Palo Alto to pickup the dishes. I might also bother my friend who's receiving them to ship them out to me next time I settle somewhere. I also have solar panels coming that were supposed to be delivered several days before I left, but got delayed. I suspect I'll cancel the solar panels and just keep going south; Los Angeles, San Diego, maybe Mexico.

I think we're going to do a conference in February in Los Angeles, so I'll probably stay in California until then. We'll definitely be doing OSCON, so I'll be in Portland in July. I don't think I'll make YAPC this year, since it is across the country and doesn't leave a lot of time to get back to the left coast for OSCON (my goal is to drive no more than six hours between stops and never stop for less than a week, since I do have work to do and can't be driving all the time).

I've had really good luck using the Jesus Freak ROM and wifi-tether on my G1. If your Linux distro supports connecting to devices, you might want to try that out.

What does Jesus Freak do? I have the developer G1, so it's already unlocked and root-accessible, though PdaNet runs as a user application and only needs USB debugging enabled to operate. I haven't had any compelling urge to hack my phone, since Android works very well out of the box (though seeing the Nexus One in action has me cursing the crappy GPS and navigation features of my G1; next paycheck, I'm upgrading).

Doesn't android have some sort of program that presents phone as a generic USB Ethernet interface or uses a bluetooth internet tethering protocol unofficially (like iPhone tethering) so you wont be stuck with something like PDA net?

Create a super wifi antenna and attach it to your RV?

This is an excellent idea. Though most WiFi is secured these days, so I don't know that even with great range, I'll find many connections. But maybe if I park close to a Starbucks, McDonald's, etc. that has free WiFi for patrons, and buy a drink or something to get access for the day then just point the antenna their way.

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