Wifi question

They may have brought their own.. or...

True story: I used to help folks at the family center connect.. You see the park had purchased a Linksys Home/Small office router (WRT-54G) and plugged it in, they did not even change the SSID.

Well, turns out that router will only assign 50 IP addresses, that's all, once it hits 50 you can not get an IP address so you will be "Limited".

I changed it to 100

Next day I'm helping some young lady connect,, I explained, and then logged in and downloaded the client list (Technically I'm hacking but I am careful to do no harm). (I also reported all this to the park manager so let's put it to rest before it's an issue).

I explained that when they first plugged it in about all that connected was laptops but now we have PDAs Game machines and oh, here's one "Suzie's I Phone"

Yup, she was Suzie.

Thanks for the replies. From that info I found the following article: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343913,00.asp.

I have Verizon wireless plan, so will talk to them. Thanks again!

joebedford wrote:
We were in the Phoenix area (Mesa) last winter. The park only had clubhouse wifi that didn't reach my site. We had to deal with Centurylink which was not easy. Service setup and datarate were slow too. Were it not for the fact that we chew up a lot of bits streaming and surfing, I'd have gone with a mifi or USB aircard.

We had CenturyLink DSL in the Corpus Christi area and had similar complaints. I can't remember how many times I called customer service to complain that speed on the line had dropped significantly. Even after the complaint was escalated to a higher level it took several more service calls to get it fixed.

We were in the Phoenix area (Mesa) last winter. The park only had clubhouse wifi that didn't reach my site. We had to deal with Centurylink which was not easy. Service setup and datarate were slow too. Were it not for the fact that we chew up a lot of bits streaming and surfing, I'd have gone with a mifi or USB aircard.

mksmith44 wrote:
I have a DirecTV dish for TV. Free Wifi at campgrounds is slow and/or hard to access. My 5rh wheel came with a Hughsnet dish, but I have not used it. Verizon recommended against using my cell phone as a hot spot because of battery issues. We are looking at snowbirding in Phoenix area this winter, so need reliable Internet. We have Comcast cable at home, but they have no satellite access.

My next call is Directv to see if I can get internet as well as TV via that dish. I could also subscribe to Hughsnet. Anyone used either one, or have suggestions? Thanks.

Lots of people use their phones as hotspots. All you have to do to solve the battery "issue" is keep it plugged into a charger. It does use a lot of power when operating as a hotspot, but it doesn't hurt the battery.

There's no way to get internet using the DirecTV dish. That dish is a one-way system; there is no transmitter to send a signal back to the satellite and DirecTV does not sell internet service. What you occasionally hear is their ads in which they offer bundled service with one of the cellular carriers.

In contrast, the Hughesnet dish you have does have a transmitter for sending a signal back to a satellite. But satellite internet is pretty expensive for the service you get.

Personally, I would suggest you go the cellular route with Verizon, just recognize that you will have to buy a data plan that matches your needs and that may be difficult to determine at first.

A path you didn't mention would be to obtain a MiFi device (a standalone cellular hotspot) from either Verizon or Millenicom (a Versizon reseller). That way you don't have to tie the phone up as a hotspot. Furthermore, if you use large amounts of data Millenicom may turn out to be more economical for you.

I have a DirecTV dish for TV. Free Wifi at campgrounds is slow and/or hard to access. My 5rh wheel came with a Hughsnet dish, but I have not used it. Verizon recommended against using my cell phone as a hot spot because of battery issues. We are looking at snowbirding in Phoenix area this winter, so need reliable Internet. We have Comcast cable at home, but they have no satellite access.

My next call is Directv to see if I can get internet as well as TV via that dish. I could also subscribe to Hughsnet. Anyone used either one, or have suggestions? Thanks.

You may have an issue caused by the settings on your computer. Your security may be set to not allow a re-direct which means you connect to the access point but your computer's internet settings does not allow the sign-in page to appear, hence you cannot enter the password for the network. Maybe the hotel network you finally connected to does not have a splash page or is not password protected.

Are you running into a 'g' adapter vs. 'n' wifi problem?

My latest gadget has Wireless Bridge. There are other ways of accomplishing the same goal. I tend not to depend on local "Free Wifi".
I also have Seagate 1TB wifi hard drive that has bridge capability.


Hootoo Tripmate

You can get an external wifi such as the BearExtender mentioned above. It basically replaces your internal wifi with an external unit whose antenna is far more sensitive than the one built in. I use one on my MacBook when traveling which will usually result in far better connectivity.

If you have a bunch of devices which all require internet, then maybe a wireless bridge type solution is best for you?