Poor Wi FI at most RV parks

GordonThree wrote:
1 gigabit of Internet is around $500/month here for a business class connection, with the caveat you can't resell the bandwidth (so you'd have to have advertise it as "free" wifi)

Properly managed by a decent router and firewall a connection of that speed could easily support hundreds of campers and even allow basic non-HD streaming (Netflix low-q needs less than 1mbit)

Problem I see, that price is under a multi-year contract - what happens when winter gets here and the park is closed for the next 4-5 months? Similar situation for the southernly afflicted, 2-3 months of super hot weather scare off all the business.

Must be nice. The fastest connections I have available to my parks are 20 MBS. And those come with the caveat "optimum, you speeds may vary". Then you have the problem of upload speeds which are 20% or so of the download speed. RV parks are somewhat unique in that a lot of us have people who upload vast amounts of data. We have people trying to upload HD vacation video they shot all the time. That will stop an entire wifi network in it's tracks. Speed limitations just cause the data to stack, since most of the high bandwidth usage is set and forget. The people just log on, start their upload or download and then go cook burgers. Since I am not going to dig up all my sites and load them on flatbed trailers and haul them to the Silicon Valley, those gigabit wifi connections aren't happening anytime soon. RV park wifi outside of major metro areas will most likely always suck.
And always remember that device manufacturers have significantly increased the battery life of their devices by de-powering the transmitters in those devices. That means they are much more likely to see our wifi signal and then be unable to communicate with that access point. "Can you hear me now" is still very much in play, often with the access point saying "no".

One more thing, I have seen several commercial plans that say you cannot "redistribute" the bandwidth and they actually explain that if you have an open wifi connection (allowing non-employees to connect) you will be in violation of that policy. It was not a matter of money and reselling. Free or for a fee it was not allowed.

fj12ryder wrote:

Executive wrote:
Remember campground wifi is a bonus. Many campers forget that. Most CG operators provide just the basic wifi service. Campers now want to stream movies, run their businesses out of their coach, use Skype etc. etc. These stress the CG system to it's limit. Improving reception in most CGs simply increases wifi that's weak at best. If you truly want good wifi get yourself a mifi from one of the phone carriers. Then you have 5g or more per month and you can control it. Personally I don't have a problem with CGs throttling the signal based on your usage. As always, a few spoil it for the masses....Dennis

I'm not sure I agree that campground wifi is a bonus. If you spend the night and weren't expecting wifi, then yes it would be a bonus. But if they advertise wifi then it's a service and should work just like the water and electric.

AND the cost of the Internet service will be rolled into the CG rates just like water and electric. I suspect that this would only be NOT true for those CG that have user pay systems such as Tengonet. As I noted in another post if they have lousy Internet service just tell me, which by the way I have seen a few starting to do just that, but don't tell me that you have free Internet without telling me that it is poor and/or non-existant.

I like alot of others gave up on the so called FREE WIFI at the campgrounds. When everyone gets ON-LINE after 6PM each evening it always goes downhill rather fast.

I was against using my cell phone as a WIFI HOT SPOT as this ties up my cell phone... On my VERIZON CELL PHONE DEVICE I would have to add a non-approved WIFI program to make my WIFI HOT SPOT to work which VERIZON would not add for me telling me it may not be legal or not???

I switched to VERZION MIFI that is added to my cell phone account. It is actually listed on my invoice as a cell phone number. This only gives me a 3GB secured MONTHLY DATAPLAN but is available to use for up to five of my WIFI enabled devices. VERIZON has larger dataplans available.

This has been perfect for us across the Virginia and Southern States camp grounds we visit on a regular basis. The 3GB a month DATAPLAN allows us to check in with the kids, pay a few bills, and some surfing of the internet.

If we were interested in any down streaming of movies or HDTV programs we would have to increase our GB DATAPLAN for sure. VERIZON has the MIFI BASED JETPACK PLAN which is very popular among the RV'ers. MILLENICOM VERIZON was also a very popular large GB DATAPLAN but has since been bought out by VERIZON.

I just like the idea of using something that is secured and works at 99% of the places we go to and not have to bother with the FREE WIFI hotspots scattered around the country side.

Roy Ken

1 gigabit of Internet is around $500/month here for a business class connection, with the caveat you can't resell the bandwidth (so you'd have to have advertise it as "free" wifi)

Properly managed by a decent router and firewall a connection of that speed could easily support hundreds of campers and even allow basic non-HD streaming (Netflix low-q needs less than 1mbit)

Problem I see, that price is under a multi-year contract - what happens when winter gets here and the park is closed for the next 4-5 months? Similar situation for the southernly afflicted, 2-3 months of super hot weather scare off all the business.

We stayed in an RV park once where the front office told us about wi-fi availability and to not expect much in the evening hours because of all the full timers that live in the park that use up the limited service.

I agree a booster can help if the signal is weak. But will not help if the wifi is simply slow due to bandwidth. I have been in parks where I had very good signal without a booster, but still could barely use the wifi due to speed.

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Yes, Wilson Electronics has several. They will not help you recieve more bandwidth. That is limited by the bandwidth the camp can get from their provider. Shared by many?

Wrong, Wilson has WIRELESS boosters (Cell phone) not Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Ranger
TP-link
A re-flashed Linksys WRT54G (Some versions)

These are a few suggestions.

I got a TP link (in WISPR) mode (Wi-Fi Internet Service Provider Repeater) it works for a friend of mine here where I am.. I use a home made version of the Wi-Fi Ranger.

The following is true:

One park I am at the Wi-Fi Node is located one one side of the parkign area, then there is a large grass area/playground/pool and then the RV's start.

I am parked in the 4th or 5th row (I think 4) and put my Wi-Fi "Modem" (The device that connects to the park's Router) on top of a 20 foot pole.

The folks in row 2.. They connect to my Belkin indoor router cause they can not see the park router.

NOTE that I am much farther from the park router than they are. The sigal goes right past their RV on the way to the park's router.

We use our smartphone connected to our laptops to get on the internet for the month or so we are in Florida. However, along about the 3rd week we get a warning that we have used up 95% of our allowed units so we end up cutting back or paying the price.
I don't know what we would do if we were full timing!

We've also given up on expecting a reliable robust wifi while traveling. We have used Vrizon mifi in the past and currently have upgraded to smart phones. Very pleased with coverage and speed. We also always try park provided wifi and sometimes are pleasantly surprised at the quality. Needless to say, we do all our persona stuff over our own secure connection rather than public networks... MIFI or smartphone is our solution. Best wishes.

Executive wrote:
Remember campground wifi is a bonus. Many campers forget that. Most CG operators provide just the basic wifi service. Campers now want to stream movies, run their businesses out of their coach, use Skype etc. etc. These stress the CG system to it's limit. Improving reception in most CGs simply increases wifi that's weak at best. If you truly want good wifi get yourself a mifi from one of the phone carriers. Then you have 5g or more per month and you can control it. Personally I don't have a problem with CGs throttling the signal based on your usage. As always, a few spoil it for the masses....Dennis

I'm not sure I agree that campground wifi is a bonus. If you spend the night and weren't expecting wifi, then yes it would be a bonus. But if they advertise wifi then it's a service and should work just like the water and electric.