How important is having Internet access in your choice of where to camp? Do you absolutely need it, or maybe just want to be as far from technology as possible. Please let us know. We’ll post the results in the June 24, 2017 RV Travel newsletter.
How important is having Internet access in your choice of where to camp? Do you absolutely need it, or maybe just want to be as far from technology as possible. Please let us know. We’ll post the results in the June 24, 2017 RV Travel newsletter.
Based on the promises of Verizon, I thought I was ready for our trip through British Columbia and on to Alaska. What I find is theVerizon “unlimited” plan provides 500KB per day! I can barely get my email…forget Netflix, etc! The Verizon Router that promised to put the world at my door doesn’t work at all…. Called Verizon…they blame Canada. It just never seems to fail, Verizon rarely seems to rise to the level of performance they present. There is always some excuse why things just aren’t their fault…but would you like to uggrade while we’re talking, sir????
The internet is very important as I am still full time employed. I have just stretched the “mobile” to the max. That said, I always bring my own internet with me. I use a Verizon USB modem with a Cradlepoint router. These are permanently mounted in the front closet of the fifth wheel. The modem is connected to an omni antenna attached to the standard TV antenna. I also carry a cellular repeater that I can set up if needed.
Connectivity is very important to me as a full time RVer. We have Verizon, ATT and T Mobile to connect through cell data and a cell booster. That is great for most transmissions but some downloads and updates require Wi-Fi. Even with a Wi-Fi antenna, booster and router for security most of the time I find campground Wi-fi woefully lacking in reliability and speed. Just because I can pick it up, doesn’t mean it has enough power to be usable, particularly if divided among many hungry internet users. My request to all is to use cell data for streaming and leave the Wi-Fi open if possible.
I’ve been full-timing since 2007 so internet access is necessary not only to keep in touch with friends, but for finding places to camp and for paying bills, ordering supplies, etc. Although I can use my personal hotspot for activity requiring security, it’s nice to be able to post on my blog and locate services on campground wifi.
This is a mixed bag. On the one hand, being able to contact friends is nice. On the other hand, I hate this being connected stuff. I long for the “old days” when you took off on a trip and nobody could interrupt it. You could call THEM if you found a phone booth (remember those?) but it was totally up to YOU. Sigh.
I use a Verizon HotSpot for my internet use. Being in IT, I do not trust the connectivity at campgrounds, let alone the security. Unless you are using a VPN, I would avoid connecting to a campground’s WiFi.
My husband and I like to stay in touch with friends and family and so good internet is important to us. We also volunteer with railroad restoration groups and so keeping current and being able to get schedules and such ranks right up there…but we do know how to turn it off also.
Carry an AT&T hot spot and use local business Wi-fi when available. If a camp has it and it is solid that is a plus. Most campgrounds do not understand the meaning of solid Wi-fi so we rarely bother with them.
I never use campground wifi. It seldom works well and lacks security. I just use my phone’s data plan. If I’m out of cell range for a few days I just look at it as a little vacation from technology. I think we’ve become too dependent on our technology and it’s good to take a break occasionally. After all we somehow managed to survive and even thrive prior to the internet.
We have a Verizon hotspot (provided by my employer) and very rarely are in a place where we do not have coverage and very rarely is the campground wifi better than the hotspot, plus the hotspot is more secure. So, it’s not important if the campground has it since we are self-contained.
How on Earth did we manage to camp back before the turn of the century? Can you imagine camping and being forced to actually interact with your family or other campers? No cell phones, no TV in the 40 foot monster $300,000 bus, no gaming, OH – THE HORROR!! I’m surprised that anyone actually made it out alive!!
If I’m somewhere with wifi coverage, fine – I’ll send out a report to my family. If not, that’s fine, too – everybody back in the “world” will just have to deal with not hearing from me for a few days!
I increase my data coverage when away from home and with the hotspot on my I phone I don’t worry about wifi when stopped for the night. If there is free wifi then I use that. For two extra gigs of data it costs me 25.00 CDN.
LES.
I voted “very important” and that means I need either functioning campground wifi for my laptop, or a good cell phone signal for AT&T so I can use my data plan for Internet on my smartphone. I need to be able to rely on at least one of these to see weather forecasts, check e-mail, pay bills or shop online, and use the Internet for route mapping and campground research.
We now have Verizon unlimited so it’s not always as important as it was. But campgrounds in low cell areas need to have good wifi. We have stayed recently at several because they advertised wifi just to find out we could not even download an email. We once stayed at a hotel advertising wifi that didn’t work well and we complained. They cut our bill in half for the inconvenience.
Wi-Fi for Internet access is important only if we are staying somewhere longer than 4 days.
I enjoy WiFi to read Sports News, emails.
Wife has unlimited data on her cell so she only uses that. I had satellite phone for international oilfield business use a decade prior to retirement so the 1st thing hit the trash when I retired was a phone.
I sell art on ebay and rather than go dark, I would bring my inventory, packing materials, printer for postage labels. Then I had to find a PO. I decided that was crazy and quit. But I still like to stay connected.
We just returned from 3 weeks traveling from Vancouver, BC to Whitehorse. We don’t expect the provincial cg to have wifi, though a few do. Most of the private cg SAID they had wifi. In some we couldn’t get on even to check email (the cg had maybe a half dozen rigs since it was mid May). We wouldn’t mind if the cg didn’t have Internet, but saying it’s available and not being able to use it seems inappropriate. I’m sure our next trip we’ll opt for a “hot spot” too.
I work on line, so it is mandatory to have internet access. I use a WiFi card from Verizon and have had wonderful luck using it. Some parks I have to drive around a bit to locate a good spot, but it works super and i get my work done! I’m 80 this summer and sure would love to quit working!
I was thinking of campground wi-fi when I voted somewhat important. I do carry a Sprint hotspot and can create an Xfinity hotspot. If neither would work, I would want the campground wi-fi
I have the same situation, I only use the park WiFi to supplement my Hotspot data. The park I winter at in Arizona has month to month DSL thru Century Link.
I agree with Todd. I was thinking Campground provided internet so I said Not Important. I don’t use Campground provided internet EVER. I use the hot spot on my phone. Clarification on the question might change my answer.