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Old 04-29-2013, 10:55 AM   #15
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We have a Verizon 3G which I'm using to post this as we go down the highway to Sycamore Rv resort. We have had no problems and have used it for three years. Fingers crossed!
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Old 04-29-2013, 07:44 PM   #16
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I use VZW 4G hotspot on my smartphone and it works great. You can also use a 3rd party app and tether with a USB connection.

A side note on performance, using the 4G hotspot connection - the Speakeasy speed test typically clocks in the 25MBpS or faster range...much faster than my TimeWarner Cable connection at home.
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Old 04-29-2013, 07:57 PM   #17
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PDANet. A software program for Android phones, Windows Phones, and iphone/mac. They have a free version and a paid registered version (not expensive) and allow you to use your phone without tethering charges from the cell company.

You can check out the link below to see if your phone is supported and read up on it..

PdaNet+ -- Internet Sharing for Android
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Old 05-28-2013, 11:32 AM   #18
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Personally, I don't trust wi-fi, too much chance of it not being secure.

That said, I prefer my Verizon cell based wireless internet. More private and secure, and it works any place there is cell phone service, which should be just about everywhere in this day and age.

If needed, I run an extension USB cable to the laptop and set the modem in a window.
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Old 05-28-2013, 07:29 PM   #19
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Personally, I don't trust wi-fi, too much chance of it not being secure.

That said, I prefer my Verizon cell based wireless internet. More private and secure, and it works any place there is cell phone service, which should be just about everywhere in this day and age.

If needed, I run an extension USB cable to the laptop and set the modem in a window.

I think you're going to find there are still quite a few places with no or very poor cell phone/MiFi service! Anytime I go down a hill to get to a campground I'm amazed when I have any service.... cuz that's usually not the case!
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Old 05-29-2013, 09:48 AM   #20
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Personally, I don't trust wi-fi, too much chance of it not being secure.
The security of WiFi is commonly misunderstood. If you are connected to your bank, your credit card company, your Gmail account, or any other site on the web that uses HTTPS encryption you are fully protected. Someone hacking into your data stream on the WiFi would encounter the same 128-bit encryption that protects you anytime you do business on those sites.

Someone might conceivably intercept other internet browsing you might do or emails sent using a standalone email program, but as long as you know never to put sensitive information in emails or on any site not using HTTPS encryption you will be fine.

The horror stories circulated on the web about people having their identities stolen via WiFi are usually based on instances of crooks who have set up phony "free WiFi" systems in public places, so, for example, when you use the WiFi at McDonalds make sure you are really connected to the restaurant's WiFi and not a crook's.

And all of this assumes that everyone is smart enough to have some anti-virus/anti-malware/firewall running on their computers all the time.
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Old 05-29-2013, 10:02 AM   #21
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The security of WiFi is commonly misunderstood. If you are connected to your bank, your credit card company, your Gmail account, or any other site on the web that uses HTTPS encryption you are fully protected.


Wifi & Cell phones operate on radio waves, anyone with a receiver on the right frequency could 'hack' you. Credit cards with RFID chips allow your 'pocket to be picked' just walking by. These 'facts' are often reported during ratings periods of TV news. Fun to be paranoid, who knows, someone MIGHT really be out to get you! Maybe we should all go live in lead lined caves and wear tinfoil hats.
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Old 05-29-2013, 10:03 AM   #22
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The security of WiFi is commonly misunderstood. If you are connected to your bank, your credit card company, your Gmail account, or any other site on the web that uses HTTPS encryption you are fully protected. Someone hacking into your data stream on the WiFi would encounter the same 128-bit encryption that protects you anytime you do business on those sites.

Someone might conceivably intercept other internet browsing you might do or emails sent using a standalone email program, but as long as you know never to put sensitive information in emails or on any site not using HTTPS encryption you will be fine.

The horror stories circulated on the web about people having their identities stolen via WiFi are usually based on instances of crooks who have set up phony "free WiFi" systems in public places, so, for example, when you use the WiFi at McDonalds make sure you are really connected to the restaurant's WiFi and not a crook's.

And all of this assumes that everyone is smart enough to have some anti-virus/anti-malware/firewall running on their computers all the time.
So you are assuming a WPA connection so that packet sniffing is not being done on the Wireless Access Point by at minimum script kiddies?
I have not come across any campgrounds that I trust their network setup.
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Old 05-29-2013, 10:27 AM   #23
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A Little Learning

I suggest that anyone who uses wifi or cellular hot spots get 'Wireless Networking For Dummies'.

If you use a cellular hot spot you need to know how to set up it's internal router/access point to protect yourself. I've lost count of how many open-unprotected-out of the box and never touched wifi routers I've seen.

Whenever I set up a new network I do the following,
#1. CHANGE THE SSID from whatever the default value was.
#2. Change the Administrator ID and password.
#3. Use WPA2 encryption and change the password once in a while.
#4. Don't broadcast the SSID.
#5. Use MAC filtering.
#6. Check the security log occasionally if your device keeps one.
#7. Turn it off when you're not using it.

#4&5 are optional as they are easily circumvented and only slow down a knowlegable hacker for a couple of minutes. So why bother? It will stop 99.9% of the miscreants out there.

If you're really worried look into a VPN service. This adds another layer of encryption on top of what you already have. Also another failure point IMHO.
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Old 05-29-2013, 07:16 PM   #24
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Credit cards with RFID chips allow your 'pocket to be picked' just walking by.
This sort of "fact" is the sort of thing that gets lots of soundbites but has little credibility as an actual threat. Here's the snopes.com analysis of the actual threat (assuming you even have a credit card with an RFID chip which aren't that common in the US):

snopes.com: Electronic Pickpocketing

IMHO the media do a disservice by creating unnecessary paranoia about all possible electronic threats. If I listened to every one of these I would never use an ATM or make an order over the internet or even let my credit card be swiped through a reader. But like any other risk we take in life one has to look at the real chance we take by doing something, that is, the probability of it actually happening. Getting struck by lightning is not a good thing, but the actual risk of it happening isn't really all that high (not that many people get struck each year).

Cybercrime is definitely a real threat, but I suspect that sophisticated cyber criminals have more profitable things to do than trying to eavesdrop on campground wifi.
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Old 05-29-2013, 07:24 PM   #25
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Cell phones operate on radio waves, anyone with a receiver on the right frequency could 'hack' you.
I don't think you have a good understanding of how difficult it is to hack a digital cellular signal. This is not the "old days" when analog cell signals were broadcast on ~800 channels per cell. I'm sure the government can hack into your cell phone transmissions, but I don't think it's a game for amateurs.
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Old 05-29-2013, 07:47 PM   #26
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I don't think you have a good understanding of how difficult it is to hack a digital cellular signal. This is not the "old days" when analog cell signals were broadcast on ~800 channels per cell. I'm sure the government can hack into your cell phone transmissions, but I don't think it's a game for amateurs.
I've got understanding, I was just commenting on those that are so afraid of free Wifi they don't use it. I've dealt with lots of folks afraid of free internet like it's waiting to rob them. If WiFi is available I'll certainly use it for searching for my next campground or points of interest, or even checking iRV2 forum. As I said, there's lots of media trying to drum up ratings during sweeps with "facts" (notice the quotes) to frighten people who often don't trust technology to begin with. I've got a neighbor that has the aluminum credit card wallet to shield his RFID cards (I'd already pointed out the Snopes debunking of RFID chips to him) and his WiFi network is named "GvmentGoinSpyOnYou" I named mine "FBIvanOutFront" in response.
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Old 05-29-2013, 08:00 PM   #27
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I've got understanding, I was just commenting on those that are so afraid of free Wifi they don't use it. I've dealt with lots of folks afraid of free internet like it's waiting to rob them. If WiFi is available I'll certainly use it for searching for my next campground or points of interest, or even checking iRV2 forum. As I said, there's lots of media trying to drum up ratings during sweeps with "facts" (notice the quotes) to frighten people who often don't trust technology to begin with. I've got a neighbor that has the aluminum credit card wallet to shield his RFID cards (I'd already pointed out the Snopes debunking of RFID chips to him) and his WiFi network is named "GvmentGoinSpyOnYou" I named mine "FBIvanOutFront" in response.
It sounds as if we're in violent agreement. Sorry if I misunderstood your intent!
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Old 05-29-2013, 08:45 PM   #28
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Off topic, but...

The biggest security threat to everyday users is not free wifi, it is the Windows operating system. It is inherently not secure, and (short of never connecting it to any network) cannot be made to be secure.

The vast majority of Windows exploits I see on a daily basis are 0-day exploits. This means that the delivery system (email, website, etc) that infects you happens within one day of its initial release.

The virus scanner people react to update their products as quickly as possible, but it's already too late. By the time they release their updates, the targets are already infected, and the bad guys already have what they want.

This cat and mouse game of "enumerating badness" in ever-growing lists of virus definitions does not work for reasons stated above. By the time an inoculation is developed, the targets are already infected.

How many times have you encountered malware on a Windows system that had an up-to-date virus scanner installed? I see them every day.

A simple solution would be for Microsoft to allow Windows users to define a short, secure list of processes that ARE allowed to run instead of trying to keep an ever-growing list of hundreds of thousands of processes that are bad.

Until Microsoft fixes this basic flaw, Windows users will be at the mercy of the malware developers.

Do I use free wifi? Every time I find it, I'll use it. And I'll use it for anything I need to do online with confidence.
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