Internet OTR

I'm getting ready to join my husband as a team driver. I am in charge of securing fast, consistent Internet service for our truck. So, what service providers do you guys use? How much do you pay for it? Are there places where even the best provider does not deliver service? How about hardware? I have heard that touch-screens get "wacky" over time due to the vibration from hard-driving. What type of laptop would be a solid investment? What are your issues when trying to connect to the Internet from a moving truck?

I really appreciate any input you can share. Thanks so much!

I have a smartphone and Verizon is my service provider. I just use the mobile hotspot and connect to that. I have 10 GB and that seems to be enough for the whole month, you might need more or less. For me and my wife it was $160 for 10GB shared and unlimited talk/text. Since she went to Sprint and me still being with Verizon my last bill was $145. I basically just use it for FB, online courses, browsing the web, downloading podcasts etc. . . I don't watch videos. I just have a regular HP laptop, it was only around $300 from Best Buy, I would imagine any laptop would be okay. I store it in a laptop sleeve, and then put it in a laptop bag. I then put it in the overhead bin in the SB and tuck clothing around it to keep it from bouncing around too much. I haven't had any issues as of yet, can't promise you anything, though!! With Verizon, the only place I seem to have trouble with it is on I-40 in some parts of OK, other than that I might lose service for a minute or two and then it's back up and running. So far, I'm happy with it...I wish my wife hadn't have gone to Sprint because it's cheaper, of course and haven't had too many issues with Verizon. Hope this helps...good luck!

I agree with josh on the verizon part, I do the same. I work in West Texas in the oil fields and verizon always gets me 3g and sometimes even 4glte in the middle of nowhere! They are expensive but they have great service. On the laptop I can tell you that Dell is a great brand, the one I have right now, the inspiron 7000 series is awesome, I've dropped it 2 times on the ground (on accident of course) and it got a little banged up on it's side but the screen still like new and everything works fine. Oh and it's touchscreen so that still works good.

Another good option would be Asus. They make great laptops too. My dell was 650 at Best buy. Hope it helps. I don't have any info on your other questions, hopefully someone else does. Good luck!

I rarely went without service when I had Verizon. My instructor has T-Mobile and was happy.

I would say that Verizon has the best service and make sure you have plenty of data available if you're not on wifi depending on how much you do online. If you're wanting the best laptop in regards to durability and being bounced around, if money isn't an issue, it's really really hard to beat a shock book. They're designed for the military and used extensively by fire departments and EMS personnel. I have a good friend who works as a field supervisor for a local cable provider and have watched his fall off of a second story roof and land on the driveway with no damage received.

Do you need something like that? I have no idea, just throwing it out there.

On the lower end of price, you can usually find a used IBM ThinkPad for about $150. I would avoid the Lenovo ThinkPads past the first year they made them. I think those were the T60 series.

Have had similar experiences as the others with Verizon - very solid, but difficult to get service in parts of Oklahoma, west Texas, New Mexico, southern Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, but usually have roaming at least. Sometimes the roaming data charge is a little higher. I pay $130 for 15 GB of data and one line, have only come close to hitting that one month when I was catching up on Walking Dead.