WiFi

[Tony_B]

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.

[doxiemom11]

We have found many campground with good wifi and most were available at each site and was free. I read reviews on rv park reviews and it is usually mentioned. I have used those comments to select campgrounds that were reported to have good wifi when there is a choice of campgrounds in the area.

[Tom_Mary_Lou]

Just took a six week trip last Oct and stayed in several CGs that list free wi-fi. I am guilty of wanting to stream video & found I had to stay up way late to do this. As for news etc I can get enough of that on my cell phone and besides I am on vacation, I don't need to be up to the minute. I figure if disaster happens someone will let me know. In the good old days before all this we would go two weeks totally oblivious & loved it.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

paulcardoza wrote:
With 5g cellular service on the horizon, the days of wired based internet access are numbered, IMO.

No matter what type wireless link, internet access always goes to a wire to reach the routers and data centers.

Wired service to a static location will always be faster, cheaper and more reliable than wireless service.

But we don't have a static location, so our hotspot is our link to the internet.

I've worked on a corporate setup that would handle 500 live video streams. We could have about 100 of those wireless in the building, and the others had to be wired. It is doable - if the wire to the head of the wireless system exists.

They do an over 500 hundred person WiFi system that can handle live video every year for a couple of the big computer electronics shows. But it is expensive. In the low seven figures to setup such a system. Most of the money is to setup the wired end of the WiFi network. Thus those shows are at the same location for several years to pay for the infrastructure costs.

[2gypsies1]

paulcardoza wrote:
The internet world is changing at a rate that infrastructure struggles to keep up with. With 5g cellular service on the horizon, the days of wired based internet access are numbered, IMO. Obviously rural locations will always be a challenge.

However, even wired based internet service is experiencing bandwidth offerings that were absolutely unheard of, just a few years ago. My company is in an area served by Fios and we pay a mere $450/mo for 500/500 service!

Campground wifi systems would have to be updated frequently to handle these changes, even assuming the CG resides in an area served by these high-speed offerings. Even then, at 500/500, I can't imagine even that would service a hundred streaming connections or more, simultaneously.

Exactly!!! People nowadays need to supply their own hot spot.

[paulcardoza]

The internet world is changing at a rate that infrastructure struggles to keep up with. With 5g cellular service on the horizon, the days of wired based internet access are numbered, IMO. Obviously rural locations will always be a challenge.

However, even wired based internet service is experiencing bandwidth offerings that were absolutely unheard of, just a few years ago. My company is in an area served by Fios and we pay a mere $450/mo for 500/500 service!

Campground wifi systems would have to be updated frequently to handle these changes, even assuming the CG resides in an area served by these high-speed offerings. Even then, at 500/500, I can't imagine even that would service a hundred streaming connections or more, simultaneously.

[paulcardoza]

Tony --

Your first challenge will be to find a plan with unlimited data. Tough to come by these days. If you do find one, investigate what speeds it offers, as it MAY be limited to 3g speeds. 3g may or may not give you usable streaming of video, especially in HD.

Tony B wrote:
OK, RV parks generally do not provide WiFi.
So, If I went the AT&T route with unlimited data, how well is that working out in general. I do understand that there will be lots of dead zones, but, in general, how well is working out for streaming video?

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

We have both Verizon and AT&T.

We found AT&T had better 4G or LTE coveage up the east coast and in New England last year. We found Verizon was limited to 3G most places.

In Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas this year, we've had great Verizon LTE and 4G coverage, and consistently good AT&T coverage.

There are places, and sometimes there is no understanding why, that one will not work or work very poorly, and the other will work.

We have also found that once you get west of I-35, you start hitting areas where there is no cell phone coverage of any kinds, or if there is cell coverage, there is no data coverage available.

[drsteve]

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.

Campgrounds are very different than marinas. Many public campgrounds can't afford basic upkeep, much less Wi-Fi. Private ones can afford it but many are too spread out, with trees and terrain changes that marinas do not have to deal with. So even if they have it, it may not cover everywhere, and the bandwidth is likely to be limited. I suspect too that a large number of the boats at a marina are simply sitting there unoccupied, whereas in a campground this is not the case, especially in the evening.

[Aron]

I can't speak to AT&T, but I have unlimited data on Verizon, and it works pretty well. Depending on your destinations, the signal may be weak or non-existent, but assuming that you can get the signal, you should be good. Also be aware that phone apps don't always work as well as a computer when trying to do things like streaming video, but that's mostly an issue with poor app design, not the service itself.

I'm also thinking of buying an adapter to send my phone's signal to the TV, but I haven't tried it yet.

[NYCgrrl]

Tony B wrote:
OK, RV parks generally do not provide WiFi.
So, If I went the AT&T route with unlimited data, how well is that working out in general. I do understand that there will be lots of dead zones, but, in general, how well is working out for streaming video?

Works fine for me but I so far I've only camped in the NE. What you need to do is check the coverage map for AT+T to see how well it covers the area you are traveling w/i. You can find it on AT+T's website; same for the other big carriers.

I know when I start my cross country trip one of us will have a Verizon plan and the other, AT+T, to cover as many bases as possible. I need more data than many as I need to keep in contact w/ my business.

[Tony_B]

OK, RV parks generally do not provide WiFi.
So, If I went the AT&T route with unlimited data, how well is that working out in general. I do understand that there will be lots of dead zones, but, in general, how well is working out for streaming video?

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Several Texas State Parks offer WiFi.

The best I've seen was at Inks Lake which was a good reliable connection in most parts of the RV campground.

I've used WiFi at several others. However, TSP WiFi is run through a gateway in Austin that filters out many sites/ types of data. It will not allow streaming video, it will not allow 'adult' sites, it will not allow large data downloads.

[wbwood]

Campfire Time wrote:
One note about public CGs, not one I have ever been to offers WiFi. Most state and county parks departments can barely afford their staff.

Topsail Beach state Park in Florida has it. You have to be close to the store/pool to get it, bu they do offer it there.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Tony B wrote:
What I dont get is that marinas have to be more expensive to maintain than campgrounds. Thay are usually just as remote and maintaining docks with water and electricity has got to be more expensive than maintaining dirt with water and electricity.

I disagree that campgrounds and marina's are just as remote. Areas like Galveston Bay are ringed by very high quality data carriers. If you are visiting a campground out 10 miles from the edges of town - it is often impossible to have high-speed internet.

The wiring to support it from the trunk side simply doesn't exist. My brother lives 5 1/2 miles from the phone switch via the phone wiring run in the small town where we grew up. He will never have DSL/ high speed internet - with currently available technology. Yes, he still uses dial-up. There are hundreds of small towns across the country which still only have dial-up service available.

That distance from the city and businesses is a large part of why campgrounds exist.

Also campgrounds tend to be more spread out physically than marina's one a per site basis. A 'tight' campground is 20-30 feet between rigs. A 'good' RV campground is 60 feet or more between rigs.

Also - it is much easier to install/ update/ maintain service runs on marina docks than a campground. You can get to the wiring runs in a marina, you have to dig in a campground.

One last issue is consumer demand.

At this point in time, people are not refusing to stay at campgrounds because the WiFi is not usable. That might change.

My perception is that the average person staying in a marina has quite a bit more money in their boat than the average person staying in a campground. Folks with better economic resources demand better services. The marina's probably lost business to the first marina that put in a highly reliable WiFi system. So the others had to upgrade to compete.

Bandera Texas is the only place I know of this kind of happening in campgrounds, where two new campgrounds were built with the WiFi infrastructure done right. Several of the older campgrounds have seen some of their regular yearly customers move to the new CG because of WiFi access. A couple have decided it is worth the money to upgrade.

One has decided it isn't worth the money, and if the business keeps dropping off, they will just shut down and sell to real estate housing developers.