Internet
Hi everyone, I was wondering what everyone is using for internet while camping?
Forum Discussion
While a direct line of sight between a phone and a cell tower is ideal for a strong signal, cellular signals don't strictly require it. Radio waves can bounce off buildings, hills, and other structures, allowing signals to propagate even when there's no direct path. I can't see the tower(s) nearest my house about a mile away and through trees and houses and yet I get a very strong signal.
Satellite and cellular both use radio waves and if you work with ratio installations, they are considered line of sight. But once there is significant blockage of the fresnel zone, you lose the signal. If it's close and the signal is strong enough, some of the signal can leak past an obstruction.
Bouncing off buildings can occasionally happen. Bouncing off hills and other natural formations is much less common as trees, grass and other organic items tend to absorb/scatter the signal. Maybe if there is a nicely placed cliff with nothing growing on it.
But again, it's still quite common to find areas with no cell coverage when camping, so the OP should look at where he plans to camp and compare that to some of the easily searched coverage maps.
