Power & Internet Vanlife Gadgets Live & Work Remotely
Let’s talk work flow on the go. If you’re a dusty backroads digital nomad, freewheeling freelancer, or aspiring adventure-preneur, you might be wondering exactly how you’re going to make all this work.
Aside for all the normal humdrum that goes along with starting to work remotely, van life workers also have to deal with basic connectivity logistics. Namely, how are you going to turn in projects and put your work out there?
Aside from a computer, basic mobile office requirements basically boils down to two things: power and Internet.
You mean to say my van doesn’t come with free wifi?!
Obviously both are easy enough to find in plenty of public spaces, like cafes or libraries. But if you want the capability to work literally anywhere (in your van in the middle of the Sierra Nevadas, which is where I’m writing this as it so happens), you’ll want some form of portable power station and the means to charge it.
With the right mobile office setup, you can work anywhere, go anywhere, and LIVE EVERYWHERE!
*This post contains affiliate links.
ELECTRICTY
Any gadget needs power to run (especially your camper van refrigerator!)
But how do you get power when living off grid? Laptops in particular can be tricky to charge. While cell phones and tablets can easily charge off any USB pocket battery bank, laptops often require special voltage converters and inputs.
There are essentially three ways to charge electronics off grid in your van:
1. Generator [power source: gasoline]
Image courtesy of Pulsar.
A classic generator is an easy, install-free way to power your mobile office. Just fire it up, plug in your computer, and work away.
The cons of a gas powered power generator is that they’re typically quite large to store, are noisy to run (which can be distracting if you’re trying to work), and also require a can of gasoline on hand.
For slightly more compact camper van inverter generators that will save you a little bit of space, check out:
2. Vehicle DC Power [power source: vehicle battery]
The easiest source of power is your RV or camper van itself. When a vehicle runs, its alternator converts an endless trickle of charge to the vehicle battery.
This means you can plug any USB device directly into the DC port (i.e. cigarette lighter) of your vehicle and get a charge while it’s running.
Computers get a bit trickier. Essentially, power voltage can exist in either an AC or DC circuit. DC circuits are those found in your vehicle and from most renewable forms of energy (wind, solar, etc); AC circuits are those you find in your house (think traditional pronged plugs). So the trick to vehicle-powered devices is being able to charge an AC-typical device off a DC circuit.
Many PC laptops come with available DC charge plugs, though you may need to special order them. Macbooks, however, CANNOT be run off a DC circuit. For those, you’ll need to invert power to an AC circuit, as we’ll get to next.
3. Inverter [power source: solar energy/van alternator/shore power]
To convert power from DC to AC (thus making it compatible with most electronics), you’ll need a power inverter. There are lots of different sizes and heft to these, all the way from 100 watts to 2000+ watts.
The size determines how much you can “draw” from it at once. For instance, a Macbook charger is typically 80-90 watts, so a 100 watt inverter is sufficient, but could not handle any other simultaneous loads. Electrical items like induction stoves and video game console have much larger draws. Check what wattage your devices draw before purchasing an inverter.
Since we have a full solar set-up and permanent electric system installed in our van, we have one of the largest inverters available, the Xantrax Freedom 2000W inverter. It takes a LOT of simultaneously run devices for us to trip our system.
Honestly, Xantrax’s lower wattage inverters will save you some money and will suit you just fine (provided you aren’t trying to run tons of appliances at once, and don’t plan on using an induction cooktop).
However, we also spent a lot of money on our electric setup, and you can obtain a sufficient power system for far less money if you’re just starting out. Some items we recommend to power your startup digital nomad office include:
Image courtesy of Ampeak.
Ampeak 100w DC outlet inverter: Super basic, super cheap, but will charge any computer right off your car. It’s not the best quality and can overheat based on reviews, but it’s the most inexpensive starter power options you’ll find.
Ampeak 400W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Car Inverter: A big step up and only mildly more expensive. Features 2 USB plugs, 2 AC outlets, and can either plug into the DC port of your vehicle OR connect to the terminals of a battery.
While the car plug inverters can work independently of any other system components, they also mean you have to be running your vehicle to charge anything, which isn’t always ideal. Gas costs money, too!
Most inverters aren’t much good without a power bank to invert from, or a way to charge up that bank. For that, you’ll need some form of battery and a way to charge it.
Ways to store power in your camper van
We’re not getting into the specifics of full camper van electric systems in this post (stay tuned for that), but essentially, you need an external battery of some sort (like a car battery, or a golf cart battery as we have in our van).
If you’re not ready to get into the complicated world of camper van battery types and specifics, you can invest in a simple, portable power bank, like Goal Zero van life products. The Goal Zero Sherpa 100 AC power bank may not have quite the storage capacity as a full battery system, but it’s more than enough to give you a couple charges to your device.
Find the Goal Zero Sherpa 100 power Bank here: Goal Zero / REI / Backcountry / Amazon
A step up from this, the Axiom portable power station or Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer 240 performs similarly.
The Goal Zero Yeti-Series power banks are the best and most powerful options. They’re super simple all-in-one power bank and inverter combo. They can store power (from either solar or AC sources) and invert power for either AC or DC circuits.
These might look a little expensive, but compared to the prices of other individual components you’d be replacing, they’re not that unreasonable. And at barely a cubic foot in size, their simplicity and space efficiency is well worth the cost.
Find Goal Zero Yeti all-in-one off-grid power station here: Goal Zero / REI / Backcountry / Amazon / EMS
How to charge your power bank
We’re big fan of solar energy. Solar panels are renewable and super inexpensive (especially when you compare their cost to the cost of repeated gasoline to run a generator or your vehicle).
You don’t even need to permanently mount solar panels on your roof. If you invest in a less expensive portable solar panel, you can just place it outside in the sun when you need to work or charge. Some good options for these types of portable solar panels are:
Goal Zero’s Nomad-series: Smaller and more portable but with way less power draw. Good for small devices like phones.
Available: Goal Zero / REI / Backcountry / Amazon
GoalZero’s Boulder series: Bigger and more powerful, up to 200 watts of draw. These briefcase folding solar panels tuck away then easily pop out with an adjustable stand to catch optimum rays
Available: Goal Zero / REI / Backcountry / Amazon
You can also use your van itself. Remember above when we mentioned how a vehicle itself can be a source of power? Well, many van lifers connect external batteries to the van alternator, which will charge the batteries while driving, just as it does your vehicle battery itself. Goal Zero even makes a Yeti Link complete charging kit to hook their power banks up to an alternator.
Find the Goal Zero Yeti Link Charging Kit here: Goal Zero / Backcountry / Amazon
And if all else fails, shore up and plug your power bank into a standard AC outlet to charge the battery up. RV part sites pretty much all come with access to shore power and you can find it in other public spaces as well.
Gotta charge the big battery to charge all your little ones!
INTERNET
Getting internet for your camper van is an even bigger hassle (most because it’s more expensive no matter how you look at it). Then again, when internet is the only utility you really have to pay, it’s not too bad.
As with camper van power, there are a couple different ways of providing all your van life wifi and internet needs.
Both methods are cellular network based due to their wide-spread signal towers. Locally based van lifers could also use local internet providers just as they would in a house. However, because these signal ranges do not allow for much mobility, we have no included them here.
We’re assuming our audience is pretty mobile like us! If so, here are some various options for internet on the road.
1. Cell phone data plan with hotspot capability
The most common camper van internet solution, many people will just up their cell phone data plan tote able to handle just about all their internet needs.
This is the primary method we use (though as you’ll see, we have a backup prepaid modem just in case). Essentially, Chris has an unlisted data plan and I have my regular 3gb one. For most of my work, I use Chris’ phone to either research or hotspot my computer.
Common problems with the cellular data as van wifi method:
Weak/absent cell signal: Not much you can do about dead spots, but for areas with low cell service, a cell data booster like the WeBoost Cell Signal Booster really helps strengthen your cell phone’s signal. See a review of these devices here.
Limited hotspot data: Unfortunately, most cell phone providers still don’t have this figured out very well. Even “unlimited data” plans come with a 15GB maximum hotspot data. For extra data heavy usage on my computer, like uploading web articles or videos, I still seek out free WiFi locations (like a cafe). If you make a point to spend a few hours a week doing this, you won’t need to lean quite as heavily on your bought-and-paid-for data plan.
Limited high speed data: Similar to above, these “unlimited” plans also tend to come with a high speed data allowance. Anything over that (typically around 22GB) is free but slower than snails on hot pavement.
If you’re interesting in comparing which cell service providers are better for remote work and van life Internet usage, we’ve taken a look at the unlimited data plans offered by each of the four major U.S. service providers.
Go Unlimited ($75)- No specific high speed cap but "data may be temporarily slower than other traffic during times of congestion" at any point during your usage… ( WTF Verizon?!), 480p steaming quality,
Beyond Unlimited ($85)- 22GB high speed cap, 720p streaming quality, 6 months free Apple music
Above Unlimited ($95)- 75GB high speed cap, 720p streaming quality, 6 months free Apple music. 500GB on Verizon Cloud
Unlimited & More ($70)- 22GB high speed cap, 720p streaming quality, 15GB LTE hotspot cap
Unlimited & More Premium ($80)- 22GB high speed cap, 1080p streaming quality, 15GB LTE hotspot cap
Unlimited Basic ($60)- 480p steaming quality (only at 500KB/sec), 500MB LTE hotspot cap
Unlimited Premium ($70)- 50GB “high speed” cap (though Sprint defines “high speed” as fractional of typical 4G LTE speeds), 1080p steaming quality (but only at 1.5MB/sec), 15GB LTE hotspot cap
T-Mobile Unlimited Data Plans:
T-Mobile One ($70)- 50GB high speed cap, 480p steaming quality, all hotspot data capped at 3G speeds
T-Mobile One Plus ($80)- 50GB “high speed” cap (though Sprint defines “high speed” as fractional of typical 4G LTE speeds), 1080p steaming quality, 10GB LTE hotspot cap, free WiFi on GoGo equipped flights.
Make sure you factor coverage area in your decision as well. Depending on where you want to spend the majority of your time, different providers have better coverage. Check out the website / app OpenSignal.com for an interactive map of different network providers coverage. They also have a free wifi finder.
2. Prepaid WiFi modem
Also known as a MiFi device these require you to buy a separate modem, like the Verizon Jetpack, or the unlocked Netgear Nighthawk M1 (this is actually what we use).
They essentially work like a prepaid hot spot, compete with password and everything. You load a certain amount of GBs onto the device for a month (or other specified period). They have the benefit of not draining your phone battery, like hotspotting does.
There are a handful of third party-brand unlimited prepaid modems, though approach these with caution. For example, Calyx Institute offers one where you prepay for an entire year to get unlimited data. It’s pretty inexpensive, but from reviews we’ve read, the service is on-again, off-again, so you never know if you’ll actually have the data you bought!
If Internet seems too cheap to be true, it probably is.
Common problems with the prepaid modem as van wifi method:
No data rollover: Your data is up at the end of the payment period, whether or not you’ve used everything you paid for.
Separate device charging: They may save your phone battery, but they need charged themselves, which typically takes much longer than charging a phone. If electricity is something you need to conserve, best charge these up in public spaces.
3. Satellite internet
Formerly the go-to internet solution for mobile living, but today it’s pretty obsolete and incredibly slow. Plus, it can’t be used while you’re driving, which can be a limiting work factor for van life duos.
How to Conserve Internet Data Allowances
For all these methods, being somewhat conservative about data usage is important for van lifers and remote workers. To help make sure you aren’t blowing your data on meaningless things, and are instead reserving it for important work to be done, we’ve compiled some tips to help you conserve internet data on both your phone and computer.
Tips for reducing data usage on your phone:
Stop scrolling through social media! It eats data like crazy if you’re not careful AND just eats away your time. No better time to break that social media addiction.
Go to your phone’s data settings and turn in “low data mode”. This hardly affects the speed or functionality of your phone but will reduce each app’s data draw.
Fully shut down apps when not using them. Allowing apps to run in the background will also allow them to keep sucking up bits of data.
Turn your cellular data off for unnecessary apps. Especially social media apps! This limits the mindless opening and scrolling of these apps, which is good for your productivity and general mental wellbeing. If you really need to check something, turn the data on to check it then turn it back off again.
Make a habit of checking your social media briefly when you find spots of free wifi (like the grocery store!). This keeps your mindless scrolling and addiction in check while also sparing your data.
Only download (music, books, whatever) on WiFi.
Turn off background app refresh
Tips for reducing data usage on your computer:
Turn off auto updates
Don’t stream videos. Sorry, but this means no Netflix and Chill for the vanlifers.
Create a metered connection to your hotspot device. Google how best to do this for your particular operating system.
Before You Drive Away…
Your office could look like this!
So what are you waiting for…. Get to work and get out there!
If you have any questions, please connect with us. If you’re interested in knowing more details about our camper van’s electric setup, stay tuned for an upcoming post all about the electric install during the van build. if you can’t wait until then, just ask and we’re happy to give you more specifics.
We hope this guide has helped you get connected so that you can live a life a bit more, well, disconnected. After all, vanlife is all about striking that beautiful balance between being part of the world and staking out your own corner in it.
**This post contains affiliate links to support the continued creation of these van life guides. This just means that if you purchase something from one of the links above, I get a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Read more here or reach out with more questions.