NOMAD Internet

[GerryS]

I am a little resistant to giving details, but I feel like I must. I spoke highly of them and was wrong….

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH NOMAD INTERNET. EVER.

I posted a few times about having internet while on the road, something which was very important to me in 2022 as I was assisting my parents through some of the trials of the elderly. I had to stay with them and was for several extended stays living out of my teardrop and having no access to the internet except a hotspot.

I have been with nomad for several years — since 2019. While I had some bumps, they always seemed willing to help — even if contacting them was extremely difficult, as all of their internet-based support is. How you get support for your internet when you don’t have internet is a bit of a mystery. I always had a backup plan, so I was able to adapt – but it meant having 2 services.

In November 2022 or possibly very early December, they announced they had agreed with Verizon (formerly, they used ATT), which would resolve the connectivity problems and improve user experience. I will thrilled! They announced a price decrease to $99 from $149 if you migrated. They also announced that if you had ATT it would continue working — but if there was a problem, you would be required to move to their new plan.

Without warning, much as every other problem I had, about a week later my service failed. So I upgraded. I was using a “sim only” plan using my own hardware. When I got the new verizon sim, the activation was not documented. I called and had them activate my service for me. I worked, but was slower than ATT. A few days later it stopped working again.

At this point I called and they had me re-activate the SIM using an app on my phone. Things again worked — My suspicion is that the SIM had a “demo” plan on it — it was about 10 days before the failure. At that time, they announced “Oh, by the way….its 149” .

THis herky jerky situation was pretty much the norm when I started the servie back in 2019. Their company is like a jelo mold – they don’t plan ahead and things shake for a week after a change is made….the gel never sets right.

This was the last straw — I opted to cancel the service. What good is something you can’t trust, and I don’t >need< to travel any more….so it is a luxury at best. Besides, I found another option that promises to work better. More on that after some time.

The fight to deactivate begins. Since early January I have been trying to cancel — they offer no-contract “cancel at any time” service, so this should be effortless right? I go to the member portal and all of my records are gone — All I have is the new service – I have no proof that I had a sim-only plan and that I had the service for nearly 3 years.

I email billing, and they tell me to contact cancellation department. Cancellation doesn’t answer the phone, and they do not respond to email. Then comes a “customer forum” and there were hundreds of posts….everyone saying “How do I cancel?” I mean hundreds. Same for comments on facebook advertisements which allowed replies. And twitter.

After 3 weeks of calling, emailing – being polite, being rude, being threatening….I had enough, but I got a call from them – and they apologized profusely and cancelled my service. I explained I had the SIM-Only service and wanted to know what to do with them SIM. I was told they were single use and should throw it away, so I did.

Comes 31-Jan-2023 and I get a notification of another bill.

I called chase, my credit card company and they politely tell me that since Nomad is a repeat billing, they are effectively unable to stop the payment.

SO…I do what any red-blooded American can do. I threatened to notify the FCC, Verizon, Federal Trade Commission, and Texas department of consumer affairs, and…to make a trip down to speak to someone face to face.

Today — I FINALLY got my cancelation….

We’ll see on March 1’st if they meant it.

The sad part is, the BBB still gives them a B rating….don’t was your time with these jerks.

[S. Heisley]

Earthlink supposedly has a portable Internet satellite disk unit for RVs. I don't know much about them except that a friend uses his at home (doesn't have an RV) because that's the only way he can get any kind of signal. I do know that he has to put the disk on a tree stump at the back of the property to get a signal but, without that, he'd get nothing. All Internet providers are getting pricey, with many costing around $100 a month if they are any good. I blame the Internet problems and prices on all the Video streaming that people are doing nowadays.

[bdosborn]

$149 is way too much: that's more than what Starlink costs! Starlink for RV is going to put the cheesy/shady internet service providers out of business. We have Starlink residential for our cabin and it works as well as our home Comcast service. Here's how I would do it for the van (someday).

Bruce

[GerryS]

$149 is way too much: that's more than what Starlink costs! Starlink for RV is going to put the cheesy/shady internet service providers out of business. We have Starlink residential for our cabin and it works as well as our home Comcast service. Here's how I would do it for the van (someday).

Bruce

Thanks Bruce --- I was really excited about Starlink --- it came out at a time when I really needed something more than I had. I did a lot of research and Starlink wasn't a great alternative...maybe it will be some time.

1] I needs an absolutely clear view of the sky --- even a tree or two will impact service.
2] Speeds are a lot slower than promised -- lots of "nomads" have reviewed it and I haven't heard anyone jumping for joy over the service yet

this looks like a new offering though --- I'll be investigating it.

Hopefully they improve --- because I'd REALLY like this to work. Cell networks still need cell towers...

"too expensive" is a relative term. If $150 solves my problem --- its not too much. The problem here is that the company is fraught with ethical problems...I hold just shy of call them con-men...but had they not refunded my month of February AND January (which I did not ask for) I would be a lot more harsh.

I have to assume that they are stupid -- not up to evil. But I will never do business with them again, and will continue to warn people about them.

[Squigie]

People have different needs and expectations.

Starlink would never work for me on the road, unless it improves by leaps, bounds, and lightyears.
And that isn't even factoring in the necessary clear view of the sky contrasting with the fact that I tend to seek out camp spots in trees.

I had Starlink for about 8 months at my home, and again for about 2 months last summer.
Even with a stationary dish with a perfect view of the sky, at 43 degrees North, it was sub par.
Speeds were acceptable, most of the time.
Constant disruption of service was not. It wouldn't go more than 12-15 minutes without losing satellites -- or claiming "obstructed view" because it thought it should see a satellite, but SpaceX deorbited that one or shifted it into a slightly different orbit. (I was constantly tracking satellites and comparing what was in the sky, versus what Starlink was claiming. The dish was always behind the curve when it came to the satellite orbits.)
Average downtime with no satellite was about 2 minutes. But some gaps meant no signal for as long as 7 minutes.
Even when it wasn't a "no signal" situation, speed and response time would go to crap when there were only one or two marginal satellites available.
And it was worse in the most recent test than when I originally bought the equipment (and there were half as many satellites in orbit).

It was also a massive pain in the butt getting the round dish back online, only to be told by Starlink that, "If it doesn't work on this [last] attempt, you'll need to buy new equipment." (less than 2 years old ....)
They offered absolutely no help or resolution other than, "It's your problem, even if it is our problem. Pay *again* to play, or go away."

My neighbor saw my dish go up for the second time and signed up as well. I wish he would have talked to me first.
Even with the new rectangular dish, he had just as many problems with missing satellites, totally inexplicable "obstructed view" claims, and 4-6 minute periods of no signal (even if there were satellites).
$599 for equipment, and he only used it for about 45 days.

[GerryS]

$149 is way too much: that's more than what Starlink costs! Starlink for RV is going to put the cheesy/shady internet service providers out of business. We have Starlink residential for our cabin and it works as well as our home Comcast service. Here's how I would do it for the van (someday).

Bruce

VERY interesting video --- curious how flat mounting works in the flatlands east of the Mississippi...

I'll have to into nomad's more recent reviews --- but I know what I was seeing in early autumn 2022 was sub-optimal

[bdosborn]

Its interesting how different peoples experience can be with Starlink. Our service has been rock solid, even with two trees partially obstructing the dish. It started out at 290 mbs when we got it about two years ago and now its slowed down to 150-120 mbs or so. We close the cabin down for the winter and its always slower the next spring so we'll see what it is in a few months. We have the original round dish but I ditched the cheesy Starlink router and I'm using an Asus RT-AC68 router with Unify Access Points. We've had people work on Zoom all day with no complaints. We have a long range Ubiquity WiFi link to my brother-in-laws cabin and he's had people using it for work with zero complaints. One of the APs is outside and we have friends that park in our driveway to make conference calls when we're not there. At any rate, it's leaps and bounds faster than T-mobile, which is the only cell service available and its a blazing 0.5 mbs. I guess YMMV but I'm very happy with our residential Starlink service.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

1] I needs an absolutely clear view of the sky --- even a tree or two will impact service.
2] Speeds are a lot slower than promised -- lots of "nomads" have reviewed it and I haven't heard anyone jumping for joy over the service yet

The RV service is de-prioritized during peak hours so yeah, you won't get the speed that I get with residential service. The speed also depends on how crowded the cell is in the area you are in. I also think people watch their download speeds a little obsessively, I'd be happy with a consistent 10-20 mbs in an RV situation. I'm not uploading to YouTube and we bring all our movies with us so we don't need to stream video content.

The clear view of the sky is always getting easier as they launch more satellite but it can be a problem.
Bruce

[QueticoBill]

Agreed - Starlink varies. My brother in a rural area got Starlink 6 weeks ago and it's been fantastic.

I have T-Mobile home internet for a couple years and am very satisfied. I've thought this might be a RV solution but have not tried it yet.

[bdosborn]

I'll have to into nomad's more recent reviews --- but I know what I was seeing in early autumn 2022 was sub-optimal

The van guys seem to like it:

Ford Transit Forum Starlink Thread

Bruce

[GerryS]

I am certainly intrigued. I like the flat antenna, the antenna has always been a problem. It's "theivable" and large. Van people have a lot more space than a teardrop

I'm not beyond hacking a solution -- I wish there was a prettier way. I have to admit I have a square space on my roof which is just big enough for this solution...

I have since found a couple of other providers as alternative for Nomad --- 2 in fact --- but I'm not going to "sign off" or recommend any of them publicly until I KNOW I have something that is better. My experience with Nomad Internet was so horrific I'm a bit timid at this point to recommend. A bad month or poor service at a specific location is one thing --- but having to threaten "nuclear" options to get released for a no-contract deal with a bit more stress than I want to inflict.