QUOTE(lbacon @ Oct 7 2008, 01:09 PM) [snapback]13452[/snapback] We believe that wifi should be FREE. We also are doing something about it... We use the Sprint Novatel S720 broadband card (EVDO) and a Linksys wrt54g3g-st wireless mobile router since we have 2 notebook PC's that need access the Internet. The Sprint service is $59.95 per month for all you do. Hi again all: I just can't quite wrap my arms around how the above $59.95/mo. is considered free, but a park offering wifi from DSL with a very strong signal and 24 hr. tech support for $21.00/mo. can be considered a ripoff. For those of you that have read my previous postings on this subject, our rural phone coop has finally provided us with DSL service and I no longer have to rely on satellite for our inernet signal. Anyone out there need a couple of satellite dishes with internet modems? Have a good day! Doug
QUOTE(lbacon @ Oct 7 2008, 11:09 AM) [snapback]13452[/snapback] We believe that wifi should be FREE. We also are doing something about it... We use the Sprint Novatel S720 broadband card (EVDO) and a Linksys wrt54g3g-st wireless mobile router since we have 2 notebook PC's that need access the Internet. The Sprint service is $59.95 per month for all you do. There are no limits to bandwidth or any extra fees. The Sprint service has worked pretty much wherever we have been and at download speeds of up to 1.6mbps. We are currently in the Corpus Christie area and have a connection of 1.25mbps. We also have a 2nd Linksys wrt54g wireless router that we have set up (connected by wire/cable to the the broadband router) with an external 6db gain antenna (attached to the RV ladder) and the Sveasoft Hotspot firmware (http://www.sveasoft.com). We provide all of our neighbors in the park with FREE wireless connections. If you are in a park and see a wireless connection listed as "rvpctronics.com", connect to it... it's us... and it's free. Some of the parks that charge for it don't like our free site, but we really don't care. Um, are you an RV'er or a park owner? Your post sounds like you are a park owner. I stayed at a park where they didn't have it "locked down" and they didn't care if someone sat in the restaurant parking lot next door and used it. Well, when you do this, then too many people get on and the customers can't use it. One park I stay at frequently found this out, and "locked down" their wireless with a password. It's free, but password and only customers of the park get the password. It was a significant improvement in their wireless when they did that! JJ
Hi JJ, They are just campers with an unlimited air card connected to a wifi router. Only their immediate neighbors would be able to connect. This will limit bandwidth--but sure would be better than no internet connection.
Sprint does not offer an UNLIMITED Bandwidth product. I don't know of any ISP that does really. They offer ONE plan. Taken from Sprint website: This plan includes Internet access on the largest national Mobile Broadband network. (based on covered sq. miles) 5 GB/mo. in total or 300 MB/mo. while off-network roaming. (1024 kb=1MB. 1024 MB=1 GB) International data roaming may incur additional charges. Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred. *It may just seem unlimited for them for they may not use 5GB per month with average use. I'm still with the folks that say there is a cost to offer wireless internet to the campers/visitors of a park. Wether you outright charge for it or slip it into the lot fees is totally up to someone. But it does cost the owner alot more than you think. QUOTE(pianotuna @ Oct 21 2008, 11:04 PM) [snapback]13629[/snapback] There are no limits to bandwidth or any extra fees. The Sprint service has worked pretty much wherever we have been and at download speeds of up to 1.6mbps.
I think, for air cards, Sprint and Verizon are the top two choices (plus others mentioned....), but I hear more good things about Verizon. Haven't heard anything bad about Verizon air card yet. JJ
I'm not a park owner, but if I was I would consider it almost a necessity. I do carry a Sprint card for work, in case I can't get a wifi signal. I'm new to this and have only stayed at six parks so far. The wifi has varied a lot, from "resembles dialup" to wifi that was plenty fast to none at all. It is a perk that I notice, and I really don't mind if it adds a bit to the cost of my stay whether it's an add on to the price or buried in the price. Let's face it, the cost of the parks we stay in is a minor percentage compared to the costs of owning an RV.
We are sitting right now in a very nice water front county park (Fort Desota park in St. Pete Beach, Florida) that doesn't have WiFi at the sites, but does have WiFi at the ranger station. My superduper antenna would not pick it up at the site, so I had to sit in the car with the inverter at the office. Having WiFi is almost a necissitty for me now.
I do not have access to the internet through Verizon or a similar which requires at least a years contract & needs you to have a SSN. Not being US citizens I am one of a growing number who own a RV in the US, spend less than 6 months a year traveling, & rely heavily on the internet to maintain contact with home & to plan our trips as we go. WIFI availability is often a deciding factor in choice of CG.These days WIFI is almost as expected, at no extra charge, as a phone & internet access is in a hotel. I don't mind the price being buried in the base rate. Having it as an add on is an irritation. Finding out that WIFI does not work, usually with the excuse of "Oh, it just quit yesterday", is unacceptable.
Hi Spinsister1, Sasktel does offer unlimited data on cell modems for $75.00 per month. Roaming is allowed in Canada. The catch is USA--where the fee becomes a whopping $3.00 per meg. I just got my cell modem 50 hours ago. I'm using it as I drive for streaming audio--and for email and all my usual tasks. It does drop down to 1xrtt in most of Saskatchewan--but it is so far very reliable. (and yes I signed up for 3 years!) I maintain that the cost of Wi-Fi in campgrounds is one of the lower costs to the owner--compared to many other items. They probably spend more on the pool (if they have one) than they do on Wi-Fi. I posted earlier about this and listed various items. No park owner replied. QUOTE(Spinsister1 @ Oct 22 2008, 11:05 AM) [snapback]13640[/snapback] Sprint does not offer an UNLIMITED Bandwidth product. I don't know of any ISP that does really. They offer ONE plan. Taken from Sprint website: This plan includes Internet access on the largest national Mobile Broadband network. (based on covered sq. miles) 5 GB/mo. in total or 300 MB/mo. while off-network roaming. (1024 kb=1MB. 1024 MB=1 GB) International data roaming may incur additional charges. Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred. *It may just seem unlimited for them for they may not use 5GB per month with average use. I'm still with the folks that say there is a cost to offer wireless internet to the campers/visitors of a park. Wether you outright charge for it or slip it into the lot fees is totally up to someone. But it does cost the owner alot more than you think.
QUOTE(lbacon @ Oct 7 2008, 02:09 PM) [snapback]13452[/snapback] We use the Sprint Novatel S720 broadband card (EVDO) and a Linksys wrt54g3g-st wireless mobile router since we have 2 notebook PC's that need access the Internet. As posted earlier, I use the Verizon Network. I pay $45/mo for unlimited usage. The drawback for me is that the connection is software based which means I have to have an application loaded on my computer to connect. I can therefor, only use one computer per connection. Does anyone use Verizon and a wireless mobile router like the one mentioned in the above quote? That router is for Sprint only. Any suggestions would be great and I would DEFINITELY allow my fellow neighboring campers to access my connection. Wouldn't cost me any more.
Hi, Look at cradlepoint routers: http://www.cradlepoint.com/index.php Good luck! QUOTE(drmcleod @ Nov 24 2008, 12:46 PM) [snapback]14097[/snapback] As posted earlier, I use the Verizon Network. I pay $45/mo for unlimited usage. The drawback for me is that the connection is software based which means I have to have an application loaded on my computer to connect. I can therefor, only use one computer per connection. Does anyone use Verizon and a wireless mobile router like the one mentioned in the above quote? That router is for Sprint only. Any suggestions would be great and I would DEFINITELY allow my fellow neighboring campers to access my connection. Wouldn't cost me any more.
Just a minor note, if you use a wireless router in your coach, you may be broadcasting on the same frequency as the campground WiFi system and coaches near yours may be prevented by the interference from using the campground system. It is similar to a walkie talkie if there are several people on the same channel, it doesn't really work for anyone. Be aware there are only 12 channels available for wifi transmission, and only 3 are recommended for hotspot usage. It is very common to have multiple routers in the campground all transmitting on the same frequency. When this happens, we often find no one has acceptable service.
I have stayed at parks with free Wifi and horrible service. The one park I paid for, 3 bucks for a 24 hour period, had a very strong connection. I would prefer free, but if paying means you get an outstanding connection then I would pay a few bucks.
Hi Western, Well why not change your campground wife to do Channel 1 and/or Channel 12. Most of your visitors will have defaulted to Channel 6. QUOTE(westernrvparkowner @ Nov 26 2008, 03:17 PM) [snapback]14145[/snapback] Just a minor note, if you use a wireless router in your coach, you may be broadcasting on the same frequency as the campground WiFi system and coaches near yours may be prevented by the interference from using the campground system. It is similar to a walkie talkie if there are several people on the same channel, it doesn't really work for anyone. Be aware there are only 12 channels available for wifi transmission, and only 3 are recommended for hotspot usage. It is very common to have multiple routers in the campground all transmitting on the same frequency. When this happens, we often find no one has acceptable service.
QUOTE(pianotuna @ Nov 29 2008, 11:40 PM) [snapback]14211[/snapback] Hi Western, Well why not change your campground wife to do Channel 1 and/or Channel 12. Most of your visitors will have defaulted to Channel 6. Actually, we run a site survey weekly and change to an unused channel. That doesn't prevent a coach from coming in a running a router broadcasting on the channel we just changed to. Changing a channel takes about 30 minutes, I have to reroute cabling from the router to a laptop, sign in, run a site survey, make any changes, confirm the changes, reboot the access point, reconnect everything, reboot the system etc. During this time, the system must be down. Almost without fail, someone will complain about the system being down while this is being done. I could get up at 3AM, but with my luck someone would still be on the system and lose some 10 gigabit movie download or I will mess up their Swiss Banking transactions or whatever. I did a site survey before responding to this post. I am closed for the season, There are 8 channels being used in my area without any RVs in the park. Some are over 2 miles away, but still are broadcasting a fairly strong signal into the park. I mention all this to re-iterate how much time WiFi takes up. Those thirty minutes a week over a 24 week season means I spend a day and a half just changing channels. It adds up.
Hi Western, Why not run the site survey before hand using something like an Alfa 500? That would possibly obviate the need to change the channel. I don't understand why the cabling must be rerouted, for it is quite possible to log in wirelessly, but if it must be a wired connection leaving an ethernet cable connected at the router ready to plug into the laptop would change rerouting into a task of not more than a few seconds. QUOTE(westernrvparkowner @ Nov 30 2008, 01:08 AM) [snapback]14217[/snapback] Actually, we run a site survey weekly and change to an unused channel. That doesn't prevent a coach from coming in a running a router broadcasting on the channel we just changed to. Changing a channel takes about 30 minutes, I have to reroute cabling from the router to a laptop, sign in, run a site survey, make any changes, confirm the changes, reboot the access point, reconnect everything, reboot the system etc. During this time, the system must be down. Almost without fail, someone will complain about the system being down while this is being done. I could get up at 3AM, but with my luck someone would still be on the system and lose some 10 gigabit movie download or I will mess up their Swiss Banking transactions or whatever. I did a site survey before responding to this post. I am closed for the season, There are 8 channels being used in my area without any RVs in the park. Some are over 2 miles away, but still are broadcasting a fairly strong signal into the park. I mention all this to re-iterate how much time WiFi takes up. Those thirty minutes a week over a 24 week season means I spend a day and a half just changing channels. It adds up.
QUOTE(pianotuna @ Nov 30 2008, 03:41 AM) [snapback]14220[/snapback] Hi Western, Why not run the site survey before hand using something like an Alfa 500? That would possibly obviate the need to change the channel. I don't understand why the cabling must be rerouted, for it is quite possible to log in wirelessly, but if it must be a wired connection leaving an ethernet cable connected at the router ready to plug into the laptop would change rerouting into a task of not more than a few seconds. I am changing the channel on the Access Points. They must be accessed directly over the ethernet cable, not through the router and the router must be disconnected. Why I don't know, but then again, I didn't make the equipment. Truth be known, it is probably the same reason you shouldn't use your cell phone at a gas station. There is probably a theoretical reason, but I haven't seen that many exploded gas stations across the country. I don't have a remote site survey device. I use the Access point. Might be a good investment, never thought about it. Thanks
Buy about 10 cheap used laptops. Advertise that free wi-fi may be available, guaranteed wi-fi $10/month with $500 refundable deposit. Configure all the laptops the same, locked down so they automatically login and connect to wi-fi, and only have a browser available. If someone really needs the internet and can't connect their's, they rent one of yours - then you pray they forget to return them for the deposit
Hello, we just installed satellite Wifi system in our park 2 summers ago. It is amazing how many people use it!. We don't charge extra for it, nor did we up our rates because of it. We are a very Natural R.V. Park, and we find that it is an incentive for people to stop and give us a try. We went for the top of the line, and our entire 8 acres receives the wireless signal, and we are heavily treed also. People are really impressed that they don't have to come up close to the building to receive the signal, but are able to stay in their R.V. Before we bought this park, we used to camp alot too, so we know the expectations of our customers. Martina, McLure B.C.
