HOW accessible is FREE WIFI while travelling?

3oaks wrote:

strollin wrote:
I've personally never encountered FREE wifi that was worth bothering with.

And I have had the opposite experience. Never had a problem finding reliable FREE wifi service that was available for public use. We have even found many small town libraries to be very friendly in welcoming visitors and set up with high speed internet service. Another advantage of using libraries is the use of their printers should we need that service. We always leave a donation which is greatly appreciated.

This illustrates that different people have differing needs. I wouldn't want to have to find a nearby public library in order to find wifi. If the wifi isn't where I am now, it isn't worth bothering with. I'd rather pay for a data plan and use my cell phone's hotspot feature so I don't need to go someplace in the hopes that I can make use of their free wifi.

darsben wrote:
ON the interstate there is no free WIFI. Bite the bullet and invest in a no contract hot spot. Otherwise you get to maneuver that Class C in and out of spots you may not want to. Or travel blocks off the interstate to leech on a free wifi at Starbucks, Mickeys etc.
False economy IMHO.
Lets say you pull into a Walmart or FlyingJ for the night then what do you do for WIFI.

Sleep :B

I have the free wi-Fi Finder app. That seems pretty good. It shows places that have free wifi & places that charge $ for it.

Your mileage will vary greatly on what you can do on free WIFI. I would never have expecations of streaming NETFLIX on public WIFI. As stated, RV Parks vary greatly. I found some campgrounds limited the number of devices per campsite. At first I was irritated being a family of 4 but found it to be preferable because that reduced the demand on the system and made the internet usable for casual browsing. We were mostly planning ahead for the trip and looking and campgrounds, routes, etc.

I can use my iPhone as a hotspot (AT&T) and it works pretty well. I had to give up my grandfathered unlimited data to do it but I actually pay less with more benefits now on the family data plan. Out West though, cell phone coverage can be really spotty.

We've been lucky as well to find Wifi at libraries, McD's, Lowes, Home Depot, Travel Centres and lots of other places during our travels. Of course having your own is a convenience thing and for secure connection in banking etc but as with all things we have to pay handsomely for that convenience especially being Canadian in the USA (roaming) moreso than when travelling Canada wide with our mobiles.

CG's need to up their game big time based on surveys and personal experience if they are to retain their share of the business, cost prohibition aside, there's got to be better options they could invest in to retain repeat and referral business. In today's age over 90% of the population needs this as a given not an extra, moreso than cable TV and phone hook ups at the site they still tout from the 18th century!

http://www.wififreespot.com/
Texas has wi-fi at Travel Information Centers.
Verizon has pay as you go service or you can suspend the mi-fi when you're not using it. Ask your provider if they have the same plans.
You can use McDonalds and other places where they have free wi-fi but we found it's a pain.
Can't depend on RV parks wi-fi.

strollin wrote:
I've personally never encountered FREE wifi that was worth bothering with.

And I have had the opposite experience. Never had a problem finding reliable FREE wifi service that was available for public use. We have even found many small town libraries to be very friendly in welcoming visitors and set up with high speed internet service. Another advantage of using libraries is the use of their printers should we need that service. We always leave a donation which is greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU! Millenicom worked off of Verizon towers and I never failed to get a good WIFI connection. I'm looking at the Straight Talk hotspot that would connect via Verizon. If I understand the information on Straight Talk, I don't have to always have time on the Hotspot. Let the card expire and reload when I plan to travel again. Is that correct?

I've personally never encountered FREE wifi that was worth bothering with.

RoyB wrote:
I finally gave up on FREE WIFI and got hooked up with the VERIZON MIFI service plan. I never needed alot of DATA so it fit us just fine. We still have the 3GB DATA PLAN and it works up to five of our WIFI Enabled devices just about anywhere we go using VERIZON TOWERS.

Anywhere my VERIZON CELL PHONE works my VERIZON MIFI stand alone units works as well...

It is all second nature now...

Roy Ken

X a bunch.

Verizon Jet Pack is the best for us.