Campground WIFI or prepaid MIFI

The chat I had with the campground manager this morning.

I"m getting great wi-fi now that the park is half full
I spent {large number} Dollars improving it this summer
Well it's working great now that the park is half full.

Seriously.

How well park wi-fi works depends on many things, One park (Roughly 30 sites) I stay at it is fantastic, High speed cable and not many users.. This park has 750 sites give or take a bit, Multiple cable accounts and too many users.

The thing is Mi-Fi cards are like park wi-fi.. A lot depends on where you are parked.. now if you are playing odds.> Verizon has the best coverage over all

But the question is now who has the best coverage over all

IT IS WHO COVERS YOUR PARKING SPOT.

Now in the winter I split my time between two parks

One ... High speed DSL
The other.. NOHING
The one. Dang near no data connectivity on my cell phone (NOT verizion)
The other.. Like greased lightening the data flows on the phone.

In short, where I need it.. I got it.

rbrand wrote:
Here is what I use. I'm very happy with it. Cheap, works on the sprint network.


http://www.datajack.com/dealnews

Here's the coverage map from their site. Might leave a lot to be desired is you travel very much.
http://www.datajack.com/coverage-area-map

Hi,

Does the unit operate on 12 volts?

rbrand wrote:
Here is what I use. I'm very happy with it. Cheap, works on the sprint network.


http://www.datajack.com/dealnews

paulcardoza wrote:
If your Campground Wifi works well when it works, the best answer is BOTH! Is the CG wifi filtered? By that, I mean when you attach to it, does it transfer you to a login page, like Tengo Internet does? If yes, your choices are more limited.

Well at this point I don't HAVE a campground but I know what you mean. I started out by thinking that if there was some way I could get a recommendation of a campsite with reliable internet I'd be happy but I'm coming to think that's like predicting a winning scratch ticket before you buy it. So CG wifi isn't worth thinking about, if it happens to work great but don't bank on it.

Milleium sounds like the best bet but even there I have to know ahead of time which network is best in my intended path (Verizon's or Sprints). Datajack would be fine if I thought I could get away with 5G. Again no streaming just MS office, spreadsheets, exchange email and the inivitable forced virus updates & patches that you get in a corporate WAN.

The router idea might have merits if I were going to do this full time, but the price is more then the monthly data overage from Verizon so for once a year it doesn't make sense.

If your Campground Wifi works well when it works, the best answer is BOTH! Is the CG wifi filtered? By that, I mean when you attach to it, does it transfer you to a login page, like Tengo Internet does? If yes, your choices are more limited.

If not and you simply attach, I would suggest a good Cradlepoint Router, such as the MB95 or MB1400. With that you can set it up to load balance between multiple connections. It will spread usage over the CG Wifi and your Mifi unit, saving you some data usage on the Mifi. Right now, I have two Mifi units connected to an MB1400 and it does a wonderful job of spreading out the data usage.

If your CG wifi is filtered, you MIGHT look at a Wifi Ranger setup. This unit has loads of potential and some folks have them working great while others gave up on it altogther (like me). It handles the filtered networks, but requires more manual intervention. It's also a product in progress and some of us felt like were were in the constant beta test mode......

Here is what I use. I'm very happy with it. Cheap, works on the sprint network.


http://www.datajack.com/dealnews

A lot depends on location. Campground wifi can be hit and miss, especially when the campground is full. I've had better luck with the hotspot on my phone for streaming, especially on our last trip. Since it could stream from our home satellite system almost perfectly, it would have no problem with the type of use you're looking at.

You might want to look at data coverage once you've selected a destination.

Setting up office computers in the RV TRAILERS has come up alot of late.. If you gots the room and want a good setup for business and pleasure you might want to consider what I have done.

I use the Dell Precision M90 workstation LAPTOP with a docking station that has external Monitors, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc connected. I actually have one 24-inch and one 22-inch "dual" monitors connected to the docking station. These monitors are also secured to the desktop and survive the RV Trailer environment very well. My 120VAC power source is run from my Inverter when camping off the power grid. I just snap my M90 laptop into the docking station and everything jumps to life. never open up my Dell M90. I also can use my el cheapo HP Deskjet printer from WALMART/Best Buy less than $100...


I use the VERIZON MIFI 2200 device to connect to the Internet which works all over the country anywhere you pick up VERIZON CELL PHONE service. This is a WIFI hot Spot device which will also allow you to use up to five devices at the same time. My 2200 unit normally resides in a Wilson Sleek holder that has external antenna but can be removed and carried around in my shirt pocket if we are hiking around with our tablets etc... This Verizon is only a 3GB DATAPLAN and is used primarily for paying bills, keeping in touch with the kids, and some web search. I am mainly off line with this setup working on my projects and working with my photos etc... This is nice comfortable setup and supports all of this type use just fine.



Everything associated with the docking is VELCROED inplace and survives being transported in the trailer when in tow.
I have been doing this idea of being portable for several years and my M90 is still running Windows XP-PRO hehe... Never had a need to upgrade to anything else. It runs all the software you might have with ease and I was running AUTOCAD LT until I had to give my program back to work when I retired. Never could afford to get my own subscription. I now use a free version of LibreOffice 3.4 along wit Adobe Acrobat Pro ver 9.0 which does a bang-up job of drawings etc... I work and save everything in PDF format so that I can exchange with almost everyone...

The DELL M90 is outdated of course and its replacement now is the M6000 series precision computers. I purchased my M90 from Internet ebay sales which were re-certified off-lease computers and cost around $500-$600 back then. Mine even had Dell Warranty left on it. has never give me any problems whatsoever. These were the same office work-station computers we used at work. Very heavy duty... Do a look on eBay for the M6400-M6500 series precision laptop computers and you will the price for these are around the same $600 for off-lease re-certified computers. I'm not sure what the latest version M6000 series is now. I'm thinking M6700 maybe...

Although the work stations laptops are loaded with features i also carry several USB type Portable multi GB Hard drives. I usually have one for my photo taking excursions and additional portable hard drive for my work projects... These cost around $150 bucks for the Western Digital version I like to use.

I also use my computers for my RADIO Operations with Ham radio, Races, SkyWarn and NAVY MARS radio ops... Everything is computer/internet based these days...

I do all of this in my OFF-ROAD POPUP but had plans at one time to upgrade to some hard walls with a JAYCO 213X and was going to mod out the bunk room area for a OFFICE/COMPUTER/RADIO ROOM arrangement that would look like this floor plane.


All of my computer items is mounted to the top of cabinet close to the wrap around seating in the POPUP...

My off-road POPUP floorplan is configured as shown here...




If I was really into this for a business setup I would most definitely go with the MILLENICOM 20GB 4G setup using the VERIZON NETWORK which runs around $60 a month I think it is (NO CONTRACT).. If this was in located near the large cities are located then it would be easy to increase your DATAPLAN up into the 50GB a month area using MILLENICOM with their SPRINT SETUP. Please check with MILLENICOM as all I am passingly along is pure hear-say...

My current 3GB DATAPLAN with VERIZON MIFI works great just about anywhere we go here on the EAST SIDE of the US and fits my low usage of data just fine with my general office setup and working with my drawing and photo programs and radio communications projects. VERIZON is great keeping tabs on your daily data usage... I love my idea of using the COMPUTER DOCKING setup as I just snap the LAPTOP in place and have a very nice COMFORTABLE OFFICE COMPUTER setup. This is the same general computer setup I do in my house when at home. When we leave the RV Trailer just take the laptop with us...

Just passing on for-info-only on what we do with our on-the-road Computer requirements.. Might not work for your requirements at all...

Roy Ken

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Prepaid may eat your lunch and supper too!

Your best bet is Mellincom. They have a 20 gig plan that piggy backs on Verizon, and an unlimited plan that does the same on Sprint.

It is a bit hard for a Canuck to get the device as they want a USA credit card. But you might find a willing American friend to "do the deed".

Thanks!

Yeah I looked into them as it uses Verizon's network but Mellincom's $50 set up fee and $15 shipping fee makes it pretty much the same price as Verizon's at the end of the day (although you get more data). I understand unlimited isn't really unlimited and I failed high school calculus so I'm not sure I'd be able to calculate the real cost of that ;)

I've fallen into the US credit card trap before, some carriers will take a pre-paid walmart/wallgreens cc, others won't without a valid SSN (I guess they're affraid I'm a terrorist).

Hi,

Prepaid may eat your lunch and supper too!

Your best bet is Mellincom. They have a 20 gig plan that piggy backs on Verizon, and an unlimited plan that does the same on Sprint.

It is a bit hard for a Canuck to get the device as they want a USA credit card. But you might find a willing American friend to "do the deed".