Wireless Internet Access

[Renipladlo]

All - I receive an e-mail alert daily concerning RV trends, and business news. The link here was one of the alerts listed. I believe now with this floating around, we will see less wireless internet provided by parks, and getting access will depend more on our own resources. TT parks have spotty access at best, usually in the family/adult centers. Other parks have wired their faculties generally throughout. This information offers no incentive for this practice to continue. Verizon & ATT can now expect more customers to sign up if the parks decide to eliminate this service.

ARVC Study Probes Potential WiFi Liability | RV Business

[gjstacy]

is right! We don't feel we are in our RV enough days per month to justify the cost of a Verizon card, so we always use a park's WiFi service. I guess if the parks do decide to discontinue the service, we'll have to bite the bullet...so to speak. What would we do without our Internet access??? Perhaps enjoy nature more, like campers are supposed to do!

[bdpreece]

The days of free internet in RV parks are quickly disappearing anyway. Most parks have given up trying to support wifi as more and more users switched to using skype or watching streaming video. They cannot afford to provide the bandwidth necessary and they are tired of listening to the complaints. It seems that more and more the parks are turning their wifi over to companies like Tengo Net who as providers require password etc which is what the study suggests. Myself I am happy with my Verizon MiFI. It works almost everywhere and by the month is cheaper than buying Tengo Net.

[RJay]

This was only a matter of time before this happened. Parks that installed a WiFi system have nothing but complaints. Since WiFi is a line-of-sight service parks with trees have the constant expense of trimming trees to maintain service. When you add those parks with poorly designed systems it's a money losing investment. Then you have those parks that turned the whole thing over to Tengonet which in most cases charge a ridiculous fee for mediocre service. I got the hint a couple of year ago and got a Verizon data card and Cradlepoint router and now I'm considering a MiFi system.

[Renipladlo]

All - We have traveled all over the southern tier of the country over the past two winters, and as others have stated, Wi-Fi is spotty in parks at best. And I hate Tango Net. At home (yeah I don't full time) I use Clear Wi-Fi, and it works good for what I do, cable is faster, but costs 2 times more. I can add a 3G/4G device which takes my bill up to 65 dollars a month and change which give me access everywhere Verizon or Clears signal works. I do have the 5GB limit on the 3G side since it piggybacks onto Verizon’s network. We have cell phone for voice communication. I don't like the fact I have to limit myself to 5GB but I will do it. I only need my e-mail and some internet when I'm not in Clear's 4G system. It will work for us, and on the few times I need more access, I can always find a hotspot. For security on wireless networks I use this device-it's a router repeater and I am invisible behind it. See:JEFA Tech: Long Range WiFi Repeater Kit for RVs - they are supposed to have a USB option Router/repeater which allows hooking in the USB device directly into a port and that protects you. I also use ZoneAlarm Internet as a software firewall as a second line of defense.

[OldForester]

I use the internet a lot. Four years ago we installed the Motosat Satellite internet dish. Used it for a year and a half, and found it to be cumbersome, often not easy to get a lock, and slow. So we switched to an AT&T air card because we were on the family plan with our kids, and also because I went to an I-Phone when they first came out. We got rid of the satellite and installed a Winegard Travl'r HD dish and were glad we made both changes. We also added a CradlePoint router.

I really like the AT&T air card and the CradlePoint Router. Gives you the best of both worlds -- the router gives you wi-fi so you can run more than one laptop off the aircard in your motorhome or at home, and the aircard allows you to run your laptop off it when you're not at a place where you can plug in the router to AC power, such as in a waiting room or on jury duty where I am this week.

I don't know about Verizon but AT&T allows me to freeze the service on the aircard when I'm not using it in the summer, and saves me a few months of pay on it. If I didn't have cable internet at home, I would just use the aircard and router at home and transfer it to the coach when I'm traveling.

[JohnLori]

I have the same experience as Bill, only I have the Verizon MiFi. We used it for the last several months, and reception and speed were very good, except in the most remote areas. When I got back home I was able to suspend service until we get ready to hit the road again.