wifi

[djgwilly]

Does anyone know about wifi in an RV park. Do you need to purchase an extender to get a good signal on the wifi. Also wondering about TV reception and receiving channels. Thought of buying a roku for the TV then use my net flix account. Is this possible. Thank you

[wa8yxm]

My take. park Wi-Fi is a variable. Where I'm at is one of the best Park Wi-Fi's I have seen and still.. It strugles to keep up with demand.

And folks who buy Rouku's or other streaming devices.. DO NOT HELP ONE BIT.

Most parks it sucks even if you are the only user!!!! though some parks

Well one park I know of has at least 3 Cable accounts, the fastest possible speed and it is STILL not enough, even with nanny gates so not all devices connect it's not enough...

So do not rely on it.. Many parks (Public parks, city, county, state, federal) do not have any.

[Nolan]

In the last two years of summer traveling, staying at 15 to 20 campgrounds per summer, only had two campgrounds with worthless internet, with the use of our Alfa Network Antenna.

As for the TV antenna just use the one that came with the trailer. if we didn't get anything didn't care. We don't watch much TV anymore.

[Allworth]

Although we should be able to assume by now that everybody knows this rule, I will repeat:

Do not EVER transmit sensitive data over a CG wifi system!

That means Banking, Bill Paying, Medical or other personal identifying material (even your home address). Assume everything you transmit is being recorded (by bad people).

[doxiemom11]

We also have been at some campgrounds that had great wifi and cable. Some charge extra, but the ones we found it was included in the rate. We use only our antenna for television unless the campground has included cable. Many areas we have had as many as 20 channels. We even had a large selection of over the air channels out in the forest 24 miles from a small town in AL where we hosted. Depends on location, trees and signal strength. Where we host in the summer, we only get FOX network after the leaves pop out on the trees, so just depends. We do have our own mobile jetpack thru verizon that we use when campgrounds do not have wifi, or it's a useless wifi .

I also agree that many times it's someone in the park streaming movies, video or tv programs that uses the available bandwidth and ruins the wifi for the other campers not even allowing them to get to their e-mail. It's very selfish as far as I am concerned. We do not stream - ever- except without own mifi.

[mgirardo]

We've been to campgrounds with good and really good WiFi, but they seem to be few and far between. Fortunately, our seasonal campground has very good WiFi. I have a 4 GB/month plan on Verizon with my smartphone that is used as a Hot Spot when campground WiFi is not available or isn't reliable. We don't usually stream video when camping, even seasonally. The WiFi at our seasonal site has enough bandwidth and is reliable enough to stream video, but we usually don't. We use about 6 GB/Month without streaming.

Streaming video at 720p resolution will use about 4GB of data for a 13 episode, 30 minute show. Watching the occasional show on Netflix might be okay, but if you try to use it often, most likely you will not be satisfied. We've been to campgrounds where they actively monitor usage. At parks like this, you would probably be blocked from accessing their WiFi after watching a few shows.

We don't expect good WiFi when we are camping and we don't expect to stream video reliably. Someone mentioned getting a Cell Provider that offers free video streaming, I think AT&T and T-Mobile offer it. Going with Unlimited Data from say AT&T or Verizon will only get you so far. Both companies claim they throttle speeds after using 22 GB/month.

-Michael

[cmcdar]

For anyone interested in Broadcast TV while RVing, I found two sites.

This one will tell you what direction you need to point your antenna in your current location -
https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

This one will tell you the scheduled programming for your location -
http://www.tvtv.us

[Ivylog]

Often it's people streaming video that makes CG WiFi useless.

[RoyB]

Same thing here - We carry out own hotspot with us being the Verizon MIFI account... Also have hotspot on cellphone which is also Verizon...

Can not depend on the WIFI from the camp grounds... Too many folks using it loads it down big time...

The AT&T and DIRECTV being owned by the same folks have started a SAT TV downstream over the internet now where you can watch SAT TV without a dish setup. But here again you will need a large data plan...

We just settle for checking in with the kids, paying some bills, and very little of surfing the internet...

Have a great DVD player and bring along lots of movies with us...

We also do very good using the BATWING antenna picking up OTA full blown HDTV signals from the local towns... This is all free... I'd work on that routine first and get proficient doing that... We get 6-36 HDTV stations just about everywhere we go using our BATWING antenna...

Roy Ken

[cmcdar]

I do have my own wifi hotspot (am on it now). I also have ROKU and Netflix.

However, the price of data for internet makes using it for TV cost prohibitive.

Some plans do offer unlimited data but they will usually will throttle your speed after you use a certain amount of data.

We use antenna if you want more, Satellite is the way to go.

[DutchmenSport]

If you absolutely must have reliable WIFI, you cannot depend on any campground. For all the reasons stated above, some places may work, others may not. If you "absolutely" need it, you can only depend upon your own, like your mobile phone hotspot. But that is still restricted based upon your mobile phone coverage.

About television reception? If you are using your RV antenna (over the air), you are subject to only what is available at whatever geographical location you may be at. Even withing the same campground, one campsite might receive 40 over-the-air stations and the one right down the road from it may receive only 2. Any number of "geographical" factors can cause a signal to reach your antenna.

Cable television at campgrounds? Well, there again, every campground is different. If you are depending on campground cable, well, face it, you won't be able to depend on it. Maybe if you are staying at a long-term campsite, RV Park, or an RV Resort, they may have working functioning cable television. But if you are transient traveling, you never know what your going to get when you land into a never before visited campground.

The best assurance is to have your own satellite television system. But there again, once you are out of your local (home) area, you most likely will not get your local stations. You'll need to contact your provider and have the "local" stations switch to your current location. But the main satellite stations will continue to work.

But there again, unless you do good planning and selecting your campsite, if you end up under trees or parked by some kind of tall object, you satellite dish will be blocked and you end up with no signals at all.

Basically, if you really need and really need to "depend" upon WIFI or television viewing, you really need to provide your own resources. The only assurance is your own resources, not someone else's.

[KansasRV]

yea, I would agree with a hotspot or satellite connection. It really depends on the park.

[Alabama_Jim]

I have to agree with all the other experienced campers; campground wifi is useless. If you need to get on wifi it is safer to tether through your smartphone. Television has not been a major problem for us, we spend most of our time outside the TT. Most campground cable tv has served us adequately. If we are in a place with no tv, a dvd meets our needs. If you do a lot of boon docking or plan to live in your TT then a satellite system may be for you.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Our experience is that *IF* you can even get logged into wifi, it often will cut out every 5 to 10 minutes, I'm guessing to stop people from filling the bandwidth by streaming TV?? We found that needing to get hooked into wifi worked best if you got up around 5 AM....

Your best bet is to provide your own hotspot, or satellite connection? Relying on a RV park's wifi is a real ****shoot.

[JoeGood988]

wifi in a campground depends on how many wifi towers the campground puts out. Many have a signal around the office area but the further you get from that office the weaker it gets.
As far as television...the further you are from a major town, the less likely you'll get a signal...no matter how strong an antenna you have, hills, mountains & trees all block the signal. I travel with a satellite dish...get television anywhere I'm parked...even way out in the desert

[donn0128]

No! Park wifi is basically useless. Too many people, too little bandwidth make it useless 90% of the time. Roku or any of the other streaming products are generally not allowed.
If you have an AT&T phone account, you can apparently stream Directv from your Direct account at no data cost. Probably your best option.