Changes in Our Telephone - Internet - Television

This is our Comcast cable modem and
wireless router in the attic.
From the attic - it provides
 wifi over our entire lot.

One of my favorite funny movies is Planes - Trains - and Automobiles. It is about two business travelers played by John Candy and Steve Martin trying to find their way home through Thanksgiving  holiday travel troubles. Lulu and I travel a lot but we never experienced such travel tumult. I like to add Television - Telephone - Internet to the above list of travel issues. I would always tell Lulu to pick hotels that have - free parking - free internet - and free breakfast. 

We travel a lot in Europe and nothing helps better than having your cellphone working - internet for your computer - travel maps - and the ability to see television shows from back home. 

We just changed our ATT cellphone service. We used to have the ATT unlimited plan for $160 a month with tax for two phones. But we decided to try another service from ATT - one that does not require a contract - one that allows us to view our home television on our cellphone - one that turns our cellphone into a hotspot so that we could use our computers and iPads anywhere on the road. 

First off - our new service is $128 a month with tax for our two iPhone 7's. We bought the cellphones outright - no contract. That way when we travel the world - we can buy a local SIM chip - put it in our cellphone - and have local service and internet. In Germany we did that for as little as $20 a month per phone. 

Our present ATT service - is month to month - no long contract. We get 16 GB of data usage for $128 with tax. Any data not used in one month is added to the next month free. In the first 10 days of our month service - we used 1 GB between us. With that small usage we could choose another plan next month for even less money. Another bonus - since ATT and Directv are the same company now - any television usage over your cellphone is free of charge - no use of your data. In other words - on the road - like in a camper - you can hook your television to your cellphone - and have free Directv anywhere in the USA! If you had a vacation home - you could hook your cellphone to the TV by a wire or by bluetooth wirelessly - and have all the TV shows from back home. 

At home we have Comcast cable for our internet service. It is $75 a month with tax for internet and that includes basic cable TV. We do not use the basic cable TV  but have to pay for it. We do enjoy the 80 GBPS lightning fast internet. High up in our attic are our cable modem and wireless router. Having them so high up - they provide internet anywhere on our property. 

In the guest room - we have the main directv box - they call it Genie. With Genie - you can watch and record television programs on 4 different TV's in the house. Next to the Directv main box - we have an Apple express wireless router. It extends our network and also wirelessly connects to our Directv box. Directv cost $139 a month with tax. That covers 4 TV's and many sports and entertainment channels. They all can be watched at home on 4 TV's - but also can be watched on the road on our cellphones and anything connected to them. 

In our master bedroom we have another Apple wireless router. It catches the signal for the router in the attic and amplifies it for use downstairs. It is not needed - but it is nice. It also has a 500 GB hard drive in it that I have never quite mastered. I used to have it automatically back up our computer hard drives a long time ago - but I have since forgotten how to use it. 

One of the best features about our new ATT cellphone service is the hotspot. Lulu and I can be both traveling in different places - like Pennsylvania and Nevada. We can both use our cellphones as hotspots - no extra charge - and use our computers - iPads - etc. That gives you very fast internet connection in a hotel - in your car - on the beach - as long as you have cellphone service. 

All of the above is not cheap - Comcast home internet is $75 - Directv television is $139 - and ATT telephone is $128.  That is $342 a month with tax. But in Lulu's business - she must constantly be in contact with the whole world. Wherever we go - our phone service - internet service and TV service go with us. Now the only time we are off the grid is when we are in an airplane crossing the sea. 

This Directv Genie and Apple Express Router is
 in the guest room.This allows us to
watch our Directv on our cellphones.
Even in Europe - are able to connect
 the TV to receiveprograms from home. 

This is another Apple wireless router
called a Time Capsule. It extends our
 wifi network - but also
 has a hard drive to back up data. 

Our ATT services offers us 16 GB a month.
We only used 1 GB in the first 10 days.
Any unused data rolls over to the next
month.