Wi fi at campgrounds vs air card - RV-Dreams Community Forum

gypsy97 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wi fi at campgrounds vs air card

Speedhitch · RV-Dreams Family Member

Like you gypsy that is all we do and I have wondered the same thing. I have DSL here at the park we are at now but when we travel we use wifi and it works great. I can't see having to pay for air card if wifi works.

Joe and Sherri

rwarner22 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think it depends on how often and why you need to get on line. If you intend to move around a lot where wi-fi may not be dependable, an air card seems like the way to go.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing, using what is there and not paying for something you don't need at the moment.

Randy

Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

In our 2 yrs of experience we use the Verizon air card. I will not carry my laptop over to the office in an RV park to plug it in. Some parks you do not have to do that, but some will charge to use the internet. When we were at a TT park in Ca. you even had to drive with your laptop to access wi-fi as it was down from the park across a major road. I would rather have the convience of using my laptop in my own RV. We only use it for emails, banking, and reading blogs and doing our own Journal also. Also some parks we were in the Wi-fi was not working half the time.
southwestjudy

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

We started out using our Air Card (from Sprint) exclusively, unless we were out of cell phone range (the Air Cards rely on cell phone technology). In those cases we would take advantage of the park's wifi. This worked out great for us for almost a year. The Air Card fees were only $60 a month ($50 if you also have a regular cell phone with the same company). But then one day Sprint called me and told me that they were no longer going to honor their 'unlimited bandwidth' policy. From now on it is limited to 5 GB a month. That's probably fine for most people, but we use the internet for ALL our multimedia content. We elected not to subscribe to the Direct TV setup we have in the coach, so if a park does not have cable TV we download news and TV shows off the internet. Mostly video podcasts (all three major networks put out their nightly news casts as free podcasts every night) movies, and TV shows, mainly via iTunes. We have a set-top box from Apple (AppleTV) connected to our flat screen TV in the coach, so all these shows can be viewed on the TV, via our in-coach wifi, instead of having to watch them on the computer. Works out great for us. However, I'd been averaging about 50 GB a month up until that time. Now that Sprint has decided to throttle our bandwidth, we usually use the park's wifi so we don't risk going over our allotment on the Air Card.
Most of the time these days parks offer free wifi. But you may be located too far from their antenna. And sometimes they charge for their wifi. Those times it's nice to have the Air Card as a fall-back. It's nice to have both, so we are rarely without a connection. We are internet junkies (yes, Bev, you are too!) and don't like going more than a couple of days without access. We've even considered having an internet satellite dish installed, in case a park has no wifi and our aircard is out of cell phone range, but the expense has deterred us so far.

Donna162 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have an AT&T air card (no router or any other equipment just my laptop and the aircard) and am glad I have it. I only read email, blog, pay bills, and banking on the internet. We have only been out on the road a couple of months but what I have found is that yes most of the campgrounds do have free WiFi but it doesn't always work that good. Sometimes you're just not in the right position to get good signal or maybe too far away. I also will not take my computer somewhere like the office or meeting room to get on the internet. I haven't been anywhere you have to pay for it extra but don't think I would like that either. However, I would say I use the park WiFi about 50 percent of the time and my air card the other half. I like the air card because it allows me to get on the internet when the WiFi won't. (I do have an amplifier and external antenna that I use when I have poor cell reception that also works on the air card. The antenna and amplifer increased my cell signal from no service to 3 bars at my home base.) The air card does cost $60 a month and does have a contract time like a cell phone but I feel better knowing that with the two options I can most likely get service.

igotjam · RV-Dreams Family Member

In the last 1.5 yrs on the road we have used WI-FI exclusively. I don't know where you travel but only 25% of the parks had free wi-fi and even those..a bunch the wi-fi does not reach to your rig. About 50% had wi-fi you pay for (2-5 $/day) and about 25% did not have wi-fi. There is no doubt wi-fi is a cheap alternative if you can do without for a few days and use it at the library. It certainly can be a hassle though. Like I said, its what we do but it is not trouble free.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you go to standard commercial campgrounds you will often have wi-fi. But many membership campgrounds do not have it or only have a limited wi-fi in the clubhouse. Many campgrounds that Linda and Howard stay at do not have wi-fi, they like the public parks and they rarely have wi-fi. Right now we are camped for two weeks at an Elks lodge campground (30AMP w/e with a dump station for $15/night) and most Elks lodges do not have wi-fi. Campground choices make the difference and that is where we all differ. Many campgrounds also give out the wi-fi per computer, if you have more than one computer you either can't use the wi-fi or pay extra.
Diane and I came out of the computer business and it paid for our lifestyle. We use the internet a lot and for many hours a day. When the campground wi-fi works well, and for some reason our experience is not good here, we use it. But we stay about 1/3rd of the time where there is no wi-fi or it requires taking the computers to the office or clubhouse. We each have our own computer and we carry two others that occasionally need to be online.

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

bjoyce wrote:

If you go to standard commercial campgrounds you will often have wi-fi. But many membership campgrounds do not have it or only have a limited wi-fi in the clubhouse.
...

Diane and I came out of the computer business and it paid for our lifestyle. We use the internet a lot and for many hours a day. When the campground wi-fi works well, and for some reason our experience is not good here, we use it. But we stay about 1/3rd of the time where there is no wi-fi or it requires taking the computers to the office or clubhouse. We each have our own computer and we carry two others that occasionally need to be online.

Bill, you neglected to say what you use for internet access when there's no wifi in the park you are staying at (Elks for example). Are you aircard or satellite when you have to provide your own access?

RonBoyd · RV-Dreams Community Member

We have traveled on average two weeks a month since June putting a little over 20,000 miles on our Roadtrek. In that time we have not spent more than one night in the same RV park. (One exception, however, was the KOA in Salina KS -- first in June and the second time in December.) So we have some experience with this issue.

The biggest problem is, of course, the inconsistent quality of Wi-Fi available at RV Parks. Some are great and others (most?) are worse than no access at all. After about six weeks, we purchased a Verizon Aircard, antennae, and router. Since then, we have traveled all the states from Wyoming/North Dakota to South Texas. In addition, we took one trip from Denver to Annapolis MD and back through Wisconsin. In all that time, we have been able to access the Internet with the Aircard every time we tried.

After getting the Aircard, we realized there was an even bigger problem with using the Wi-Fi at RV Parks. That has to do with security -- very few Parks even require, for instance, a password to access their system. We do, for example, ALL of our banking online and access our CC accounts daily. The risk, in retrospect, of someone hacking into our personal accounts is just too great to expect an RV Park to protect against. Using our own access point provides (theoritically) protection from unauthorized access -- arguably worth $60 a month. (Yikes! That's $720 a year.)

RV Park Wi-Fi does have one advantage, however. (Well, other than the lack of bandwidth use restrictions.) When you get a good connection it is significantly faster than an Aircard -- which is just a step faster than the old dial-up modems.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

jcw wrote:

Bill, you neglected to say what you use for internet access when there's no wifi in the park you are staying at (Elks for example). Are you aircard or satellite when you have to provide your own access?

We have both a tripod Hughes.net satellite internet dish and a Verizon aircard. We picked up the aircard in March intending to replace the Hughes.net service and kept encountering places where the aircard did not work, even with an external antenna and wired amplifier, or was slow speed. Slow speed is unacceptable for us. That means we have both.

In our previous two campgrounds we used the dish because in the first one we only had slow Verizon and in the second we had no Verizon. These were both membership campgrounds in rural areas with lots of hills. Both of these membership campgrounds had wi-fi access in the office using satellite internet. Where we are now, an Elks lodge, the aircard is working fine.

A comment on slow speed. We have often been where the aircard is slow speed, 1XRTT, and many other RVers don't think it is slow since it is faster than the dial-up they were used to in the past. Speed is relative, slow Verizon or wi-fi seems fast compared to dial-up or Pocketmail. We had cable internet in our house before we went full-time, we know speed.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

After getting the Aircard, we realized there was an even bigger problem with using the Wi-Fi at RV Parks. That has to do with security -- very few Parks even require, for instance, a password to access their system. We do, for example, ALL of our banking online and access our CC accounts daily. The risk, in retrospect, of someone hacking into our personal accounts is just too great to expect an RV Park to protect against. Using our own access point provides (theoritically) protection from unauthorized access -- arguably worth $60 a month. (Yikes! That's $720 a year.)
You are mixing up wi-fi security with internet security. Your banking will use secure connections (https access instead of http) so that is no problem. Even with a password your neighbor could be a criminal who has access, or they could just have a virus that makes their computer do some criminals bidding. The main problem with no password on the wi-fi is the campground neighbors can use the wi-fi for free and slow it down for everyone.

RonBoyd · RV-Dreams Community Member

bjoyce wrote:

You are mixing up wi-fi security with internet security.

Perhaps you are correct. However... there is considerable dissent on that issue:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24100

http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/wifi-security.html

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/08/10/Consumer10_081008.ART_ART_08-10-08_D5_PBAURR9.html?sid=101

Enough so that I prefer to avoid placing myself in harm's way. YMMV

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

RonBoyd: What you said was you were worried about banking and these articles cover that subject like I did, make sure it uses "https". You have to use virus scanning, firewall software and keep on top of software updates no matter what, the bad stuff can come through visiting web pages or through email.

Mostly I know that the internet is not the most secure thing out there. If you are in a house using cable or DSL it is common for your neighbors to see your network if they have the expertise. Sounds like you will need a separate aircard for each computer.

Too bad the aircard is not being fast for you. In many places our aircard is quite fast, way faster than dial-up. Like where we are today.

jrp · RV-Dreams Family Member

gypsy97,

Question is: if I can get free wi fi most of the time, what would be the point of paying for the equipment plus air card time.It depends on where you stay, how often you move around and how dependent you are on reliable internet availability. The answer is different for everyone. Many of us discover that lots of the places we prefer to stay dont have reliable or convenient WIFI. If it continues to be true that everywhere you stay has good WIFI, then thats a good choice for you.

Many of us are in need of having reliable internet available "all of the time" rather than "most of the time". The combination of an Aircard and wifi seems to be the best choice for me, since I'm online every day regardless of where I am.
I am not sure but it is my impression that an aircard is based on a monthly subscription rate, and that you commit for a certain amount of time, just like a cell phone.Monthly subscription, Yes (approx $60 for most). But no time commitment like a phone. There is a 5 gigabyte data transfer limitation (without extra cost) for Verizon, but even heavy internet users like me rarely get near 5GB in a month (unless you watch movies or TV online).

Jim

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

You can buy the modem (aircard) and go month-to-month with Verizon instead of signing up for a two-year plan. The modems will cost you about $250 to $310 instead of the $40 to $80 they cost with a two-year plan.

Donna162 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm sure you can get the AT&T air card, which is what I have, without a contract also; but, I got my air card for free (mail in rebate for the cost of the air card) by signing a contract. Without looking it up I can't remember but I think mine was for only one year but it could have been two.

Also, a good example of wanting both is the park where we are now. I had been using the WiFi with good results until yesterday afternoon and it would not let me stay connected. So, I just plugged in my air card and I was up and running. Internet is not a necessity for me but I sure get anxious when I can't get on when I want to. Just me and my preferences.

-- Edited by Donna162 at 19:03, 2008-12-22

gypsy97 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Is the air card good for a certain number of minutes airtime a month, similar to a cell phone? I think I would just use the free wi-fi if it is available (and working properly) and use the aircard when necessary, unless I am paying a monthly fee for x amount of time.
gypsy

Donna162 · RV-Dreams Family Member

You don't pay for time you pay for amount of data/space used. Most plans are 5GBs per month. I haven't even come close to using up my 5GBs and I don't think most people do. You use up a lot when downloading movies and stuff like that. And, like a cell phone you can go online and check to see how much you are using.

gypsy97 · RV-Dreams Family Member

So as long as you are staying within your 5GB limit, there would be no reason to use the free wi fi if provided by the campground. Thanks to everyone who has responded.

gypsy

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

The only reason to use the free wifi at the campground if you have an aircard is if the wifi is faster than the aircard. Some times it is, and sometimes it is slower.

In our case, we spend the summer at a campground that has free wifi which is faster thanmy aircard. So I suspend my aircard service for the 4 months we are there.

gypsy97 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm staying at Cal Expo RV Park in Sacramento for 30 days. There is free Wi fi but you must go to the office to access it, and they are only open from 8:00 to 5:00. That leaves a lot of evening hours with no connection, so yesterday I bought an AT&T aircard with a 2 yr contract. It had a price tag of $249 but that was rebated, so I got the card free. I had to pay $10 for the SIM card and nearly $19 sales tax, so they must have charged me tax on the $249. The dept. manager waived the normal $35 activation fee, and I walked out of the store for $28.84.

My 2 yr contract is around $60 a month, but with taxes, fees & charges it will come to between $71 and 73 per month. Installation time was about 15 minutes and then I had as fast a connection as I get at the park office. When I turned my computer on this morning at 7:30 am I HAD INTERNET! I may eventually need to buy a router & antenna, but maybe not.
I have one question about using the air card: If I leave my computer on when I'm not using it, or if I play a game of solitaire, do those minutes add up to time that is deducted from my 5GB usage? If they do, then I would be better off turning the computer on only when I want to use it, and then shutting it off (or disconnecting the air card).

Thanks for all the info and help.
gypsy

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

gypsy97 wrote:

I have one question about using the air card: If I leave my computer on when I'm not using it, or if I play a game of solitaire, do those minutes add up to time that is deducted from my 5GB usage? If they do, then I would be better off turning the computer on only when I want to use it, and then shutting it off (or disconnecting the air card).

Thanks for all the info and help.
gypsy

No, you don't pay for connect time. You don't even pay for data unless you go over the 5GB limit. Then you may be charged more, or your connection may be throttled (slowed down) or they may threaten to drop you (as Sprint does).

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Only one comment....the ATT system is, in general, far slower than the Verizon 3G system - since they have deployed it less across the country. It also has far less coverage. It depends on your needs, but if you are a traveler you might want to take that into consideration. Check with the 3GStore for coverage and their recomendations. It is about the best place to buy routers.aircards, as well.

You may be in a situation where you need to have the ATT, but I just thought I'd let you know there may be better options for you. You have 30 days of trial to return what you have.

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

We went through the same dilemma...we depend on our internet. I maintain websites where I publish weather data every day. And we use Skype (phone/video) to keep in touch with family members. Plus we do all the other stuff like banking, email, shopping, etc.

In 2 years of RV'ing I found the same problems everyone else mentioned. More parks are adding wifi because they know how much we depend on it. Even though they advertise wifi it's best to ask about coverage.

Some parks charge for access through companies like Tengo. From what I have found the charges range in the mid $30/month or $3/day for access. Usually if a park charges for access you should not have any problem getting access. They make good money off charging for internet so they make sure it works at all their sites.

If the wifi is free then be wary. I have seen some rinky-dink setups that parks have done just so they can advertise they have wifi. More often than not I find they are using standard home wifi routers in the office and if you happen to get a parking spot close enough you can get a signal. I have also been to parks that have free wifi and use Tengo. That means Tengo came in and designed the system for them and coverage is usually very good. These parks are where I like to put my business.

My advice would be that if you must have internet access then don't rely on park wifi. Get your own internet, be it an aircard or satellite. RV park wifi is not dependable. If internet is not a necessity then forget the aircard and save your money for when parks charge for access.

Something you can try is a WiFire (by hField) wifi amplifier for your computer. It will allow you to grab wifi signals that otherwise might not be strong enough in your coach for you to get a connection. They run about $100 and give you an additional wifi port on your computer. That means if your laptop or computer has built-in wifi, you can hook up the WiFire and use it for accessing the available wifi signal, and then you can share that connection to other computers in your coach using the laptop's built-in wifi. Saves buying routers :)