There should be a law about an RV park advertising free Wi-Fi and when you get there and have to depend on it to do your banking, email, look for the next place to go or do some on line shopping. It is either so slow its useless or it disconnect you in the middle of what your doing and you have to start over. I don't mind paying for reliable internet. I have tried the Mi-Fi thing which works but is very expensive for not much band width.

Well, I don't know about having a law, but it is really aggravating to think you're getting WiFi because the campground says they have it, and finding it basically unusable. Usable WiFi is one of the criteria we use for choosing a place to stay. If they don't have it, they shouldn't advertise they do. I'm not out to rough it, or to "camp", I'm RV'ing and want my amenities.

Always have a good back-up plan, or a "Plan B" in the event first choice fails. The only one you can truly depend upon is YOURSELF. Make yourself truly 100% self-sufficient, then when the pleasant surprise come along ... like good working free wifi, it's a real treat!I am not a full time RVer, but we do go camping a lot, and we always take our computers and Iphones. We have to stay "connected." But we also do not depend upon someone else's service. We use it when it's convenient, but we do not "depend" upon it. And we've been to many, many campgrounds that did not have wifi, or if they did it was really bad.However, I do agree, if a campground advertises an service, it should be available and working and reliable.We once stayed in a motel specifically because they had a swimming pool. (it was in the middle of the winter). Checked in, paid, and then found out the pool was closed. They had a problem that took it out of commission for quite a while. When I check with the management, they just shrugged me off. I think they should have let us know up front and then given us a couple dollars off the price because the could not provide all the services they advertised.Actually, if they would have told us this before checking in, we would have gone to a different motel. We REALLY wanted the swimming pool.

I know it's not an optimal solution, but you can sometimes head to a McDonalds in town and use their wifi. But be very careful if you're using any wifi other than your own. Especially if you're doing your banking as you state above.

Verizon air card.....got us Internet connection for 7 yrs FT travel.I do NOT rely on any one else.If it is an amenity I require then I provide it.

I suppose if everyone just used the Wi-Fi / internet connection for email, browsing, banking, trip planning there would be a lot less complaints. Unfortunately many expect to be able to stream movies, download software updates, upload the photo's they took at the grand canyon, and conduct their business work. I get aggravated too when it doesn't work well but of all the things I lose sleep over, not at the top of the list.

There should be a law | Good Sam Community

76 Replies

toedtoes
Explorer III
Jan 19, 2016
ccxnola wrote:
Yep, I do understand the 'fun' of the Internet and the reliance on GPS for some folks and to them - enjoy!! I DO NOT think everyone should do as I do - but I really do encourage folks to 'stop & smell the roses' - and RV time (to my way of thinking) is just for that!! (My GPS once put me on a dead-end road up a mountain - I had to disconnect the toad just to turn around and get back - It is not always reliable!!) (And some maps are really bad too!!) My point is that to just take your everyday 'connected' life with you when you go 'camping', does not really provide the R&R that could be happening.
Now if your R&R is to chat with the folks at the office and do business, you live a different lifestyle.(Yes, I understand that there are many folks that live in their rigs and conduct business from there.) But for most of us (I cannot relate a percentage, but I am quite sure it is well over 50%) time in the RV is time away from the 'sticks & bricks' for a bit of R&R.
So my ONLY point is: with the limited time in your RV, forget about the connected & hectic everyday life for just awhile - enjoy the RV and get to know yourself (and your family - unless you are solo) better, listen to the quiet and wind in the trees, watch the birds in the trees (instead of the screen of the PC) and enjoy a few minutes of life - it is soooo short!!

There are a LOT of folks who full-time in their RVs. There are a lot of folks who spend extended time (more than 3 months at a time) in their RVs. To assume that all the folks posting about needing internet access are just weekenders unable to step away from the internet for a few days is pretty ignorant.
ccxnola
Explorer
Jan 19, 2016
Yep, I do understand the 'fun' of the Internet and the reliance on GPS for some folks and to them - enjoy!! I DO NOT think everyone should do as I do - but I really do encourage folks to 'stop & smell the roses' - and RV time (to my way of thinking) is just for that!! (My GPS once put me on a dead-end road up a mountain - I had to disconnect the toad just to turn around and get back - It is not always reliable!!) (And some maps are really bad too!!) My point is that to just take your everyday 'connected' life with you when you go 'camping', does not really provide the R&R that could be happening.
Now if your R&R is to chat with the folks at the office and do business, you live a different lifestyle.(Yes, I understand that there are many folks that live in their rigs and conduct business from there.) But for most of us (I cannot relate a percentage, but I am quite sure it is well over 50%) time in the RV is time away from the 'sticks & bricks' for a bit of R&R.
So my ONLY point is: with the limited time in your RV, forget about the connected & hectic everyday life for just awhile - enjoy the RV and get to know yourself (and your family - unless you are solo) better, listen to the quiet and wind in the trees, watch the birds in the trees (instead of the screen of the PC) and enjoy a few minutes of life - it is soooo short!!
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jan 19, 2016
2oldman wrote:
fj12ryder wrote:
I was waiting for the "Get back to basics" campers to sound off. Why does everyone have to do what you do?
Sounds like the anti-technology rants I heard years ago from the grumpiest old men who couldn't use a computer if their lives depended on it.

I can read a map just fine, I prefer GPS.
Amen. I traveled throughout the US on my bikes over the last 45 years using maps under the clear plastic of a map cover mounted on the gas tank, until the GPS became widely available. Now, instead of stopping or trying to read without running under another vehicle, I just glance down and instantly see that I need to turn left at the next intersection. Love it, love it, love it!!!
2oldman
Explorer II
Jan 19, 2016
fj12ryder wrote:
I was waiting for the "Get back to basics" campers to sound off. Why does everyone have to do what you do?
Sounds like the anti-technology rants I heard years ago from the grumpiest old men who couldn't use a computer if their lives depended on it.

I can read a map just fine, I prefer GPS.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jan 19, 2016
ccxnola wrote:
OK - I have read all of the posts up to this point.
I am TOTALLY blown away by so many folks that cannot take a day or two without being 'connected!!
I take the pleasant time away to use my RV to get away from all of the on-line nonsense!!
Heck, when I first started in my first RV (more years ago than I care to admit) it was fortunate if the 'campground' had a pay phone where you put in a nickle to get to the operator and then needed a bunch of quarters to talk with someone back home.

On-line banking from your RV over an open WiFi connection??
You MUST be kidding!! (Unless you don;t have much money in the bank and don't care who get's to it.)

Folks - STOP!! Enjoy the ride - smell the roses - enjoy the Sunsets (I'm too old for the Sunrise trick) and make your RV time really special - not just another day away from home.
JMHO - call me an 'Old Guy'!!
PS - and while I'm on a 'roll' - GIVE-UP the GPS!! Learn to read a MAP - you know the paper kind. A national Atlas will get you anywhere you want to go - especially if your Internet / telephone connection is shot!!
I was waiting for the "Get back to basics" campers to sound off. Why does everyone have to do what you do? I don't mind if you want to "make your RV time really special", but I do mind that you think I should have to do that. I use my RV to travel from place to place, and why I want WiFi access while I'm traveling is really my business. I don't care if you don't, why should you care if I do.

And as far as paper maps, I've probably been using paper maps longer than you've been driving around, and I love the convenience of a GPS. Whip out that national Atlas and find that dirt road that circles around where I am and comes back out on the blacktop. Very tough to zoom into those roads like that with a national Atlas.
navegator
Explorer
Jan 19, 2016
Been full timing for more than 8 years, we have had the AT&T dedicated internet connection via a dedicated phone line to the computer, wife does the bank thing and we do our taxes with the accountant by e-mailing the 1099 forms to her, we do use the cg wifi if it is provided, but we do not depend on them, we have total access via our phones and my tablet, we do not need to be on the net there are to many things to do otherwise.

As for a law, there is one

You are on your own out there, do not relay on any one but you.

navegator
K9Sailors
Explorer
Jan 19, 2016
ccxnola wrote:
OK - I have read all of the posts up to this point.
I am TOTALLY blown away by so many folks that cannot take a day or two without being 'connected!!
I take the pleasant time away to use my RV to get away from all of the on-line nonsense!!
Heck, when I first started in my first RV (more years ago than I care to admit) it was fortunate if the 'campground' had a pay phone where you put in a nickle to get to the operator and then needed a bunch of quarters to talk with someone back home.

On-line banking from your RV over an open WiFi connection??
You MUST be kidding!! (Unless you don;t have much money in the bank and don't care who get's to it.)

Folks - STOP!! Enjoy the ride - smell the roses - enjoy the Sunsets (I'm too old for the Sunrise trick) and make your RV time really special - not just another day away from home.
JMHO - call me an 'Old Guy'!!
PS - and while I'm on a 'roll' - GIVE-UP the GPS!! Learn to read a MAP - you know the paper kind. A national Atlas will get you anywhere you want to go - especially if your Internet / telephone connection is shot!!

DITTO!!
2oldman
Explorer II
Jan 19, 2016
dyb wrote:
Is public wifi safe for banking ?
I've done that on occasion, but I don't make a habit of it.

It's a question of odds. What are the odds you will be unlucky enough to have someone sniffing your activities in a campground? In reality, almost too small to measure. Everyone warns not to do it, but that still doesn't mean it IS statistically unsafe.
ccxnola
Explorer
Jan 19, 2016
OK - I have read all of the posts up to this point.
I am TOTALLY blown away by so many folks that cannot take a day or two without being 'connected!!
I take the pleasant time away to use my RV to get away from all of the on-line nonsense!!
Heck, when I first started in my first RV (more years ago than I care to admit) it was fortunate if the 'campground' had a pay phone where you put in a nickle to get to the operator and then needed a bunch of quarters to talk with someone back home.

On-line banking from your RV over an open WiFi connection??
You MUST be kidding!! (Unless you don;t have much money in the bank and don't care who get's to it.)

Folks - STOP!! Enjoy the ride - smell the roses - enjoy the Sunsets (I'm too old for the Sunrise trick) and make your RV time really special - not just another day away from home.
JMHO - call me an 'Old Guy'!!
PS - and while I'm on a 'roll' - GIVE-UP the GPS!! Learn to read a MAP - you know the paper kind. A national Atlas will get you anywhere you want to go - especially if your Internet / telephone connection is shot!!
qchunter
Explorer
Jan 19, 2016
I like to look up reviews of the campground before we stay. I use yelp on my phone a lot for researching what others have said about places we visit. You get the good and the bad of the campground which could include Internet service.

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There should be a law

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