Third Party Wi-fi Providers Options

[olivercamper]

As a campground owner, wi-fi has been a real headache over the past 5 years. We have struggled, purchased new equipment, sought different avenues of providing the service...and guess what!

We now know why were having all the problems. Our campers were downloading movies, etc. ( must likely not legally) and pulling our signal strength down due to the "streaming". (We are not savey in the language!)

However, we finally found someone who identified the problem and we lowered the "download rate" to stop the downloading of movies ( although our signal is still plenty strong for surfing and emails) and we have no more problems...when I think of all the time and money we spent trying to find the "right" system when we most likely had the right one to begin with it is upsetting.

If you want to download movies, stay home and do it...oh yeah! It is not legal so I guess thats why you don't want to do it at home!

[Lindsay Richards]

If you want to download movies, stay home and do it...oh yeah! It is not legal so I guess thats why you don't want to do it at home!

Ever figure that many of your campers ARE at home will they are at your campground? Downloading “movie’s” depends on how you define movies I guess. I download many, many videos probably averaging 2 or 3 minutes each during a normal surfing session. I just downloaded a 28 minute video on the upcoming Florida/GA football game. These are available free and legal on many sites. It is just a regular part of using the internet and WiFi. They range from political, news, humor, and the like. This is the way we keep up to date while we are away from home and deliberately slowing down your WiFi speeds seems to be, if you will excuse an old Southern expression, “cutting off your nose to spite your face”. I think the person who informed you about this illegality is way off base (at least in my experience).

[campingoliver]

As a campground owner I take offense when "campers" think they are getting ripped off at every turn. In respects to wi-fi we provide it FREE...we did not increase our rates. We have taken the view cable and wi-fi are both a part of the "hookup" package.

We spent about $3000.00 in equipment and pay $85.00 per month to our local phone company which allows us to redistribute their cable signal. For this small amount why would I increase rates when this ammenity has paid for itself over and over in people coming to the park then extending the stay because we have wi-fi and cable!

Unfortunately, many campground owners, like myself, do not understand the technology of wi-fi and are easily "convinced" that any given system is the best in the industry. I paid for 3 different "systems and services" before I talked with my local telephone company which set me up at a minimum of cost for excellent service and signal!

Now, as for cable....it costs me $1044.00 a MONTH for 70 channels, however, again, I did not increase my rates for the reasons outlined above.


Come on guys, give the campground owners a break.....most of us provide a pleasant, clean , safe environment for your family camping needs. After all, really is $35.00 a night too much for a family of 4 to spent 24 hours enjoying each other while camping?

Then they were overcharging to begin with - they are not going to keep the park open if it is at a loss. If they are paying for it, they are not going to "give" it away.

Unless some wifi provider is giving it to the CG for free - which I doubt.

[Lindsay Richards]

After all, really is $35.00 a night too much for a family of 4 to spent 24 hours enjoying each other while camping?

Many of us (including me) are only spending 8 or 10 hours and using none of the ammenities except electricity. How much for that?

[campNout]

Parkview this is not about WIFI, I just wanted to say you have a FANTASTIC WEB SITE. One of the best I have seen. I love the 360 view of the park. I need to find out how to add that.
Lovely park.

[Lindsay Richards]

As times change, I think WiFi technology and others will be vastly improving. I can now tether my new Android phone to my laptop and use it for checking the Internet.

[MelindaK]

I know the original post was last year, but I just left Garner State Park a day early because of the lack of WiFi. For me to obtain wifi in the park I had to go to the office. In addition, because of the poor wifi I was not able to download emails into outlook. Unfortunately, when I travel I have to have access to internet because of my business. My Verizon PC card does not work in the Concan area. It made my trip very frustrating. I am usually able to access some wifi and do my work late in the evening or early in the morning from the comfort of my TT so it does not interrupt my fun. This year I was not able to do that. We like going to Garner State Park as some of our friends still tent camp and we all like to be together and enjoy the trails in the park. But wifi is a big issue for me. I was at a point where I would have paid for WiFi.

[kcmoedoe]

I know the original post was last year, but I just left Garner State Park a day early because of the lack of WiFi. For me to obtain wifi in the park I had to go to the office. In addition, because of the poor wifi I was not able to download emails into outlook. Unfortunately, when I travel I have to have access to internet because of my business. My Verizon PC card does not work in the Concan area. It made my trip very frustrating. I am usually able to access some wifi and do my work late in the evening or early in the morning from the comfort of my TT so it does not interrupt my fun. This year I was not able to do that. We like going to Garner State Park as some of our friends still tent camp and we all like to be together and enjoy the trails in the park. But wifi is a big issue for me. I was at a point where I would have paid for WiFi.

The park may only have a dial up connection available to them. If it is so far out that Verizon doesn't have service, they may not have any broadband available to them. There are many rural areas of the country that you cannot get anything faster than a dialup connection. For DSL lines, there is a maximum distance between central switches beyond which DSL is not available. The only other option would be satellite internet which is crap for multiple users, has severe usage restrictions and is very expensive, especially for a state park system. The third party systems I am aware of require the Park owner to pay for the trunk line access, the third party company provides the repeaters, access points, support and billing services. They wouldn't help in a situation where there is nothing but dialup to start with.

[Parkview]

I know the original post was last year, but I just left Garner State Park a day early because of the lack of WiFi. For me to obtain wifi in the park I had to go to the office. In addition, because of the poor wifi I was not able to download emails into outlook. Unfortunately, when I travel I have to have access to internet because of my business. My Verizon PC card does not work in the Concan area. It made my trip very frustrating. I am usually able to access some wifi and do my work late in the evening or early in the morning from the comfort of my TT so it does not interrupt my fun. This year I was not able to do that. We like going to Garner State Park as some of our friends still tent camp and we all like to be together and enjoy the trails in the park. But wifi is a big issue for me. I was at a point where I would have paid for WiFi.

Melinda, there is Wifi available in some parts of Garner State Park, particularly the "old Garner" section in the vicinity of rock beach. I know because we provide it. We have a special antenna beamed into Garner from our location on a bluff across the river from Garner. Unfortunately, we cannot reach the entire state park from our location. This is all done with the permission and blessing of the Garner Park manager. Our Wifi signal also is provided to each of the privately owned parks on both sides of us. There is a charge for it if you sign up with a credit card on-line, or you can purchase a coupon from us for about half of the on-line price. Our monthly campers get the coupons free. I agree with you that Garner is great State Park, the nicest in Texas.

Doug

[MelindaK]

Melinda, there is Wifi available in some parts of Garner State Park, particularly the "old Garner" section in the vicinity of rock beach. I know because we provide it. We have a special antenna beamed into Garner from our location on a bluff across the river from Garner. Unfortunately, we cannot reach the entire state park from our location. This is all done with the permission and blessing of the Garner Park manager. Our Wifi signal also is provided to each of the privately owned parks on both sides of us. There is a charge for it if you sign up with a credit card on-line, or you can purchase a coupon from us for about half of the on-line price. Our monthly campers get the coupons free. I agree with you that Garner is great State Park, the nicest in Texas.

Doug

Doug,

The next time I am in the State Park I will come purchase a coupon from you. I would like to check out your campground too for future trips.

Melinda

[Seawolf]

We are currently staying at a wonderful RV park in Yuma. I signed up with thewirelessweb.com for one week. We had just used it in Bullhead AZ and it was great. WELL NOT HERE!!! The first day was OK, next marginal and from then on +(*(T)(*^&&^%$#*(*!!!! Disconnects every few minutes, taking up to 30 minutes to just sign on, pages loading so slow it's like watching grass grow. I have talked with both the park staff and the provider with no results. Basically, in has worked acceptably 10% of the time and the other 90%, as useless as tits on a boar hog. I consider it fraud to take peoples money and not deliver on service. I will do an fair review on the RV park but this " internet service deserves a -20 out of a possible 10.

[Texasrvers]

Sounds like the one we ran into in Florida in April last year. That one was called WiFiRV. Totally unacceptable service. The first time we tried we were able to get logged on for about 45 min. After that we were never able to get logged on again. Calls to their technical service and customer went unanswered. I wrote them a letter and requested a refund. Never heard a word from them. I was going to file a complaint with my credit card company, but some of their restrictions kept me from doing so. I am still so mad at the company that I use every chance I can get to let others know about them. Now I wonder if they have a cousin in Yuma.

[B. Kidd]

I can empathize with CG owners when it comes to Wi-Fi. I full-time and use my Mi-Fi Verizon wireless. Weekenders and part-timers should be able to live without their computer unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary for 'em. And if it is, then they should pay for it, or stay the hell home if they're so darn-ganged tied to that technology.
Thatz my first and final word on this issue!

[Texasrvers]

We are somewhere in between full timers and weekenders but are not really part timers. We take extended trips (4-6 weeks) 2-3 times a year. I can go without being connected for a weekend, but when we are gone for several weeks, I want to be able to get my email and surf for information that might be valuable or necessary for the trip, for instant locating RV parks and information about local attractions. I think that for many travelers mi-fi is a very good solution, but after checking on prices, we cannot justify the cost for the short period of time we would use it. So our best option is to stay at parks that provide a wi-fi service.

Also, I do not mind paying for wi-fi, but I do mind paying for it (or any service) when it does not work as it should (or not at all). I think what made me the maddest about WiFiRV is that they never answered their phone or returned my 6 calls or responded to my email. In this case I did not blame the RV park. This was a third party vendor, and the entire problem was their responsibility. I did mention it to the park office, and even they admitted it was a terrible service. They said they had been unable to get the wi-fi company to fix the problems, and even the park was very dissatisfied with their service. They said they had even tried to cancel the service, but their contract prevented them from doing so (without a huge cancellation fee), and they also could not contract with any other wi-fi provider until the WiFiRV contract ran out. They said they could not wait to get rid of the service.

So yes I, too, can empathize with the park involved in this case, but I still have no good words for the wi-fi company due to their total lack of service.

[Lindsay Richards]

We have an Android and can tether the laptop to it on 3 G service. Kinda slow, but works anywhere. I think this sort of Smart Phone technology is going to make WiFi go away.