How I work on a single 14" screen (I don't) - 9/11/23

One of the questions I get when talking about the #fulltimeRVlife is: How do you work on one 14" screen?

It can be difficult, but certainly not impossible. Virtual Desktops allow for different workflows, full screen apps give you more space while allowing focus, Split Screen in macOS or Snap Layouts in Windows allows for easy reference or copy and pasting, and perhaps my biggest hack is an external, magnetized screen from Mobile Pixels.

This is a 13" screen that magnetizes onto my MacBook pro and can be powered via USB-C. It can be adjusted, angled, and extended to create a workstation that is expansive, while still fitting within the confines of the RV. No crazy adapters, stands, or monitor arms, just 4 magnets, one cable, and an extra 2,073,600 pixels at my disposal. Mobile Pixels, and I'm not shilling for them, there are other companies in this space, also make a dual monitor setup that allows for a monitor on each side of your laptop. TRIPLE MONITORS ONCE AGAIN! There are plenty of additional options that aren't a monitor magnetized to your laptop: you can use an iPad as a second screen with Sidecar, wirelessly cast your screen to a TV with a Chromecast for additional space, or set up a traditional docking station at a dinette for when you need that Desktop Experience.

Technology has come so far in the last decade that these machines are no longer constrained by their small size. Sure, I definitely see the argument for a full on workstation setup, and mobile GPUs are still catching up, but for me in this 34' RV, this works just fine.

How I get internet on the road

Working from an RV can sometimes be challenging. I’m not talking about sharing minimal space with a family and pets, although that’s a topic for another time, I’m talking about the ongoing effort to secure solid internet. 

While moving to a new city every few weeks can provide a much needed scenery change, with that comes different levels of cellular reception. AT&T could give you solid speeds in one location, but pitiful speeds in another. Likewise, you can enter areas where a carrier has no real service at all. If you’re one who loves to camp under the shade of trees, well, there goes your clear sky for Starlink. 

Sure, you can try to utilize the campground’s wifi, if it exists, but that can often be unreliable, slow, or not exist at all. Sometimes campgrounds will partner with a local company to provide internet, but there will typically be a fee for access without any guarantee of reliability to work! Of course, there’s always driving somewhere and using their wifi. Coffee shops, restaurants, libraries; these all can give you the internet you need… if you are staying in a reasonably populated area. 

Like I said, it can be challenging. Not impossible, but challenging. So what setup do I use that allows my family and I to work and attend online school? It’s fluid. 

Currently I have three sources of internet: Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T. Yes, I have a line with each of the main cellular providers. On AT&T,  I have a Business line which provides a SIM card with unlimited monthly data. This data can be throttled, depending on network saturation, but there’s no data cap and can also connect to their 5G network, when available. On T-Mobile, I have a line that provides me unlimited monthly internet much in the same way as AT&T’s does. On the eastern half of the US, where we’ve been traveling, T-Mo tends to have better coverage, especially 5G. Lastly, I have a line with Verizon. This is pre-paid line that I use just in case the other two have poor coverage. When I visited Bar Harbor, Maine, I was in an area where this was the case and Verizon was able to provide me solid coverage. 

As far as the hardware used to take advantage of these plans, you guessed it, that’s a whole other set of options. I started with an Inseego MiFi for my AT&T line. Eventually, when I purchased my T-Mo plan, I bought a GL.iNet mobile router. After realizing the MiFi did not enjoy being powered on for 24 hours a day (battery swell), I looked at other options and settled on a dual sim (not dual modem) Cudy LT18. This would let me manage one device and change networks accordingly depending on who had better speeds. Eventually I switched to a Cudy P5 which can connect to 5G networks. 

But guess what, this is only part of the setup. There’s more! Having the data plans, and the routers to use them in may, in most cases, give you a decent internet connection. But when your household has to run four concurrent meetings, you need better. That’s where an external antenna comes in. These run the gamut from $20 models to $500+ with all kinds of different configurations. In the end I went with a Peplink 42G and mounted it to the roof of my RV. I regularly will get download speeds of 50mb, sometimes over 150mb, and sometimes over 300mb. Generally though, speeds of 25-50mb tends to be enough to let our family do our thing. Upload is all over the place, but generally is solid enough for video in said meetings.

You can go on and on from here. You could buy a dual modem router like a Peplink BR1 Pro 5G that would allow you to run two sims at once, bond those connections together, and have one connection splitting your data across both to give you a very reliable connection. You could route all your traffic through a VPN for security. Manage ads and content blocking with something like NextDNS or a PiHole. You could remove the bunk beds and put in racks for all of your servers, I’ve seen it done!

And I haven’t even touched on satellite. I’m sure some of you have gotten to this point and thought, “Rick, Starlink is your answer.” For the most part, yes, you’re correct, it is. You can pay $150 a month after an initial $600 hardware cost and get a pretty reliable connection with speeds of ~150mb or so. But remember earlier when I talked about camping under trees? Starlink needs a direct, clear view of the sky to function. Block that with trees, buildings, heavy clouds, and your connect can grind to a halt or drop entirely. I’m paying about the same for my three data lines as I would just for Starlink, and in that case I wouldn’t have a backup. 

We are in the early stages of planning our 2024 travel. As I understand it, coverage on the main three cell providers can be all over the place, but there’s plenty of clear sky in Utah, Arizona, etc. So I’ll likely purchase Starlink before the trip and drop AT&T. I might even buy a Peplink router and route all my connections through it for reliability and failover. 

So why write this? I spent 15 years in an office day in and day out, imagining a day where I might work remotely. When COVID happened, I think it showed that a lot of roles that were traditionally only in-office could in fact be done from anywhere in the world. Our shift from purely on-premises servers to the cloud, coupled with the shift to SaaS really has changed the way we work. I’ve been on the road for 16 months working like this, seeing countless cities, parks, and monuments. I’ve met people, ate food, and participated in their cultures. It’s been a marvelous experience. So I’m writing this for the person who is thinking about taking the jump, but doesn’t know how they will work on the road. You can do it, it’s not as hard as you think. 

It just takes some planning.