Golly. 3G. 4G. iPads. Streaming. Internet. Back in the day on road trips we used to see who could spot the most cars with a color of our choosing. Green and blue were sure winners. Or we'd READ A BOOK, even if it was a comic book. That's novel, and also enlightening. Have you tried that?

 

Yeah, why even drive? Should walk, uphill, both ways....

 

Ahh yes, road trips of yore. Reading was a great option, for me, I never got car sick. But sandwiched between my brothers who were NOT reading, or doing anything for that matter, ensured we all spent most of the 10 hour ride to Sarasota (double nickel days) sitting on our hands as punishment for 'hitting' each other. Yes indeed, good times!
That said, I have been often accused by my children for being 'mean' by limiting screen time on long trips, although it is allowed, to an extent. However, I do encourage (and PARTICIPATE in) playing HangMan, 'Orange Car' (that's the best color IMO, now common enough to actually see, but rare enough to encourage plenty of staring out the window searching...) and having them read. Kind of nice to have it both ways!

 

Some additional information.
-- At least streaming from youtube, if you append any url with "&fmt=4" reduces the video quality sufficiently to stream seamlessly over the 3G connection. I have not tried this with other streaming sources.

-- As for using your phone, someone else mentioned you can create a hotspot with 5G or so of data. My understanding (though I didn't read all the fine print), is that the car's hotspot has no data limits.

-- If you buy and download movies with google play, vudu, or some other service you can only play them through a wired connection to the AV port on the car. I use a Screenbeam (which uses it's own dedicated wifi connection), and the digital rights management feature of the vudu type services for bought movies will not allow another wifi connection.

 

I always preferred the license plate game growing up :-)

 

I've used the WiFi once since I picked up my DD. I don't like the fact that it's 3G and I didn't notice if you could pick and choose what carrier provides the service. My kids were good with it...but I also have the rear seat DVD...so they'll be good regardless.

 

ques: Anyone heard anything about a 4G update for the WiFi in the 2014 DD?

 

My 2014 is 3G.