WiFi

We had/have an ATT hotspot for the last year or so. Camping often in Missouri and at a couple of our favorite parks never a problem, last year. Early this spring as we set up camp and got no signal we learned that ATT pulled their tower/service to that area. DW went insane with no FaceBook so we're off to Wally World and got a Verizon. Ta Da! the world is at peace again and FaceBook is restored. Finished our stay and headed to our next MO State Park. Guess what doesn't work there? Yup the Verizon. Had time left on the ATT so fired that up. Now we carry two hotspots. Thank goodness 2gb will last us about 2 weeks of more, because we do no streaming. But still a royal pain figuring which to activate or just bite the bullet and do both. Only saving grace is that we rarely travel for more than 2-3 weeks at a time.

Lots of CGs say they have WIFI. Few have it CG wide & included with CG fees. Nothing is free. Lots have excuses for why the WIFI advertised does not work. The most popular being "We got hit by lightning a few days ago." "The tech is coming tomorrow." You get tired of hearing these excuses pretty quick. Often, all they have is an interior router, good only for very close to the office. Some will have an exterior router antenna. Better but still very limiting in performance. Very few have multiple linked routers.

Then there are the users who expect the service that they get at home & try to stream all kinds of stuff bogging an overworked router right down so that nobody gets anything.

We went for weeks without knowing any news and it was sooooooo refreshing. :)

Once in while we'd spend a few quiet hours in the local library catching up on local or national news - without commercials or videos. We enjoy reading local news best. National is the same stuff.

We never watched television.

It's amazing that once you wean yourself off all this you don't even think about it.

Tony B wrote:
This is a shocker to me. I have been living and traveling on my boat, both coastal and inland, and most marinas have free WiFi. I would have thought that certainly a land based operation would have it. I do have a Verizon Jet Pack for those odd areas when I am anchored in a cove. However, 10GB would not even cover me for a wekk or two just reading the news.
Thanks for all of the replies.

It's way easier for a marina if you think about it. For starters their wifi will be covering a much more compact area as compared to most CGs or resorts. The Boats in slips are only a few feet apart. It's perfectly level and there are no trees. And they probably already have a tower in place.

I don't recall ever being on a site that had WIFI strong enough to stream video. I'm happy if it will just handle forums like this. Don't expect much better.

Commercial campgrounds have no to weak Wifi, public parks generally none. There are of course rare exceptions................

I agree with the posters saying you must have your own Wifi hotspot to count on being able to get online. There are of course areas where signal can be weak or not existent. Streaming TV would get VERY expensive VERY quickly.

We have a satellite dish and Direct TV (or Dish works too) and the monthly cost of that is less than paying a major price for lots of data. Normal email and mild internet surfing does not use a lot of data. This works in areas even where there is no internet signal as long as you have no deep tree coverage. Just a thought for you for TV.

Good luck with your new adventures!

Tony B wrote:
Is it safe to assume that pretty much all RV campgrounds, both public and private, offer free WiFi. Obviously, we wouldn't expect WiFi in primitive areas.

WiFi is important to us as it is our primary source of news and TV.

No, I consider good wifi at a campground to be a pleasant surprise, not something I would ever depend on.

I use my own cell plan for data and voice...And, while more reliable, its not a given either depending on where we are..

Using wifi (or cell) for TV is out of the question. You'd use way too much bandwidth on WIFI. While its possible to do it on your cell data plan under ideal conditions, the cost would be enormous...In the long run, it will be much cheaper to go with satellite...

JFNM wrote:
Even if a site does have wifi, folks like to stream video or do other things that destroys that bandwidth and ruins it for everyone. Can't wait until all campgrounds learn how to prevent streaming and other inconsiderate bandwidth hogging activities!

Reality is it's moving in the opposite direction in a race to escalate.

10 yrs ago, most campers didn't have any use for wifi and if the campground had wifi, it was just around the office and dial up slow.

Fast forward to today: A family of 4 now, has 4 phones, a couple tables and a couple of laptops with 3-4 running and trying connect to wifi at any time. They want to be able to download videos and make calls over wifi. They expect to connect at their campsite. The campgrounds are getting better but it's a constant struggle to keep up with demand.

The end result though is if you need internet access an air card is the only reliable way (assuming you move around and can't get a land line to your trailer).

Streaming will get very expensive. Check out the verizon plans to get an example of your cost if you use too much. We have a jetpack device and use 12 Gigs a month. With connection fee $90 mo

rr2254545 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
NO!!!!

Public campgrounds almost never provide it.
Private campgrounds will often provide it but often it is unusable.

But my Verizon air card has worked 245 out of 249 times in the 37 states we have traveled in the past 7 years

Which campgrounds provide Verizon air cards?:h

The OP asked about campground provided wifi. We use it when available but also have the hotspot option on our phones to fill in. It's not an insignificant cost that the OP should take into account if internet access is necessary. Using a cellular option for TV is pretty much a non-starter if you watch more than a couple hours of TV per month.