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Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

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Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#141

Post by nomadiccoder »

turtlebits wrote: post #30

I have an off grid space that I work from. For connectivity, I use a 5G phone on T-mobile with the EasyTether app (which tethers over USB and doesn't count as hotspot data). I have an RPi connected to the phone and a travel wifi router connected to the RPi over ethernet. That said, 5G service is pretty good in my location, speeds are fine, but isn't the cheapest solution ($70/mo.

I second easytether! I use this from my at&t Samsung s9 and it works incredibly well in USA. I have it usb to a pi which runs dnsmasq to operate as a router with both an Ethernet switch and WiFi access point. Toss on a UPS and plug it into my truck. When I’m driving it charges and they make 12000mAh batteries so it lasts a full workday. I’ve used over 100Gb from this setup per month for over a year. I also tried out a cellular hat for the pi and found that it was a pain to setup but in the end can replace the cell phone.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#142

Post by ilaksh »

Maybe you can get Starlink? Maybe.

Try Duo or another AI-powered video chat (possibly with purposely throttled connection).

Also, most digital nomads don't actually roam around in an RV. It usually just means living abroad temporarily.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#144

Post by thaumaturgy »

If you purchase a contributing membership from the Calyx Institute, they gift you a fully unlimited 4G/LTE mobile data plan: https://calyxinstitute.org/membership/internet/4g-lte-faq . The membership costs $500 the first year and $400 each additional year. It's a popular option in the nomad community.

These two apps in particular were invaluable: Wifi Map (lists nearby hotspots), and iOverlander (shows nearby camping, RV, and boondocking areas along with their amenities).

For me, I found that logistics made this style of living enjoyable or stressful. I needed to plan farther ahead to be able to be productive in a new setting, and I was better off settling into a new place for a few days and doing a big chunk of work in a nice new environment and then spending a couple of days after that traveling, rather than trying to work and travel in smaller, more evenly-spaced chunks. The days where I tried to travel any distance and also work any amount all kind of sucked.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#146

Post by simias »

trevor-e wrote: post #130
al_chemist wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I feel that Starlink will drastically alter this market and open up so much more remote working environments You're not allowed to use Starlink in other location than you ordered. It's not for nomads. https://www.starlink.com/legal/terms-of-service-preorder 6.3 You acknowledge that you are only authorized to access Services at the location identified on your Order, and you will not divert the Starlink Kit or Servic…

Yes, currently, but I don't think anyone expects this to be their policy in the future.

What makes you say that? I haven't followed StarLink very closely but it seems to me that in order to be competitive and maximize profits it would be extremely beneficial for them to have regional pricing policies.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#147

Post by yosito »

unnouinceput wrote: post #125
yosito wrote: post #122

Hardware is pretty minimal: MacBook, Android Phone, eReader, Roost Stand, Magic Keyboard/Trackpad. But your question is more about data. I travel internationally, and primarily use wifi at coffee shops, coworking spaces and Airbnbs. This year, that's been mostly wifi at the place I've called home all year. I've also got Google Fi which allows me to tether "unlimited" data. I think it has a cap at 22GB/mo, and maybe c…

22 GB per month as a cap for google fiber, is that for real? I eat 22 GB per day. Looking at my network properties it says I've eat 725 GB in past 30 days, and that's low actually as I routinely go over 1 TB. And that's just me alone, not the rest of my household.

This is Google Fi, the cell service. Not Google Fiber. I don't use more than that because I used uncapped wifi most of the time. I think on wifi I'm probably using around 9-10 GB most days, but it wouldn't be too hard to use over 20 here and there.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#148

Post by iso1210 »

disabled wrote: post #92
iancmceachern wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starlink does not allow you to be mobile. You have to give them a service address and that address cant change (often enough for RV travel) Edited - spelling

You have to give them a permanent address, but what you do with it is another story. People on boats are successfully using it: https://provscons.com/starlink-is-the-best-internet-for-boat... However, it cannot be used extremely far off the coast, like on cruise ships. Starlink still requires base stations on land for use. They hope to solve this issue in 2-5 years, supposedly.

Moved our dish about 20 miles today (from west london to the chilterns), get an "out of area" message and it doesn't lock on, which is a shame

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#149

Post by samatman »

a3n wrote: post #9

Semi truck driver. I have a laptop, and a phone. I use the phone's hotspot. "Being on the internet" is not part of my job, and many nights I don't bother to take the laptop out of its bag. I never use wifi because I'm paranoid. While driving I listen to podcasts or streaming. I never predownload anything. I don't know if I ever get throttled. Sometimes, even in this day and age, I'm out of cell range, and my podcasts…

A proper VPN should mitigate that paranoia, if you choose.

Yes, you have to trust the VPN provider. But it goes from "anyone could be monitoring my metadata" to "Protonmail or Mozilla could be monitoring my metadata" and, at least for Protonmail, one credible leak of that would completely end the company.

And this is the relationship you have with your phone provider already... although if you're paranoid, let's skip talking about what can be sniffed between your cell and the tower!

No idea if that's worth it to you, I never, ever use public WiFi without a VPN. Just tossing that out there.

As an aside to the aside, I just read your story of how you went from programming to trucking, and I can relate to a lot of it. It sounds like undiagnosed ADHD, but lifestyle changes are a valid way to accommodate that, and come with fewer side effects than medication. I'm lucky to have the job that I have; I expect I'm more temperamentally suited to driving a truck than to the median software engineering position.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#150

Post by jamal-kumar »

klinskyc wrote: post #111
tayo42 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which part of Costa Rica? Funny I was just looking at spending a month or two on a work-cation after getting vaccinated. Looking at Santa Teresa or nosara, keep reading the internet is unreliable. That was my experience after spending a few days in Santa Teresa a few years ago

I spent a month in Jaco in Jan/Feb this year. I found it to be a nice middle ground where it's on the beach, but is also a (small) city with reliable internet. It's easy to get to Santa Teresa/San Jose/Manuel Antononio, etc as well. It has a (not-entirely-undeserved) rep as being seedy/a party town, but I found the overall pros to outweigh cons related to that.

I find that whole garabito zone to be WAY TOO HOT. Like it's really dry there. The guanacaste region too gets really hot and dry. Somehow I think my health prefers hot and humid. My nose is all dusted up and clogged in those regions. That said this country has a TON of microclimate stuff going on, so there's something for everyone, because plenty of people don't seem to mind that at all!
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