WiFi

The purpose of this blog is to share my WiFi experience during the past 2 months while traveling the west in my Airstream (AS).  Not surprisingly, WiFi in small western towns and campgrounds ranges from not available to marginal. Granted, my experience is limited to 4 states (NM, AZ, UT, CO) and about a dozen campgrounds; hopefully, I'll have better luck in the future but I also hope someone out there may have helpful suggestions for improving my experience.

First - most private and a few (e.g., Chatfield State Park) public campgrounds advertise free WiFi service for campers; however, my experience has been disappointing. The reasons given by the campground managers for poor/slow WiFi connections range from - too many people using it (not enough bandwidth) or “your campsite is too far removed from the base router”. 

After disappointing WiFi experience at campgrounds, I've tried on several occasions to find WiFi in nearby towns. For example, I discovered that McDonalds no longer has WiFi service and have gone a step further by covering or removing all electrical outlets in their restaurants so customers can no longer even plug in, let alone connect to the Internet. Most towns I camp near don't have Starbucks but when they do, my WiFi experience has been disappointing (e.g., slow or non-existent).

I purchased a Verizon Hotspot before starting my journey; this hotspot provides connection to the internet where there is cell service. In general, Verizon’s coverage in the west is pretty good and this hotspot works better than any free WiFi service I’ve found; however, there are many dead spots.  When service does exist, the downside is cost - $40/month for the hotspot plus about $10/GB of data down/upload. Given that I down/upload a lot of photos for this blog, the cost can be very high; currently, I’m paying about $90/month for the hotspot and 5GB which is not even close to adequate for the capacity I’d like. BTW this is in addition to my monthly cell phone charges (about $110).

One of the best workarounds I’ve found to date are libraries (when available); they typically have free WiFi although it is often slow. The best solution is when libraries have public computers with a hard wire Internet connection.  I’m not the only person to discover the benefit of libraries; they are often crowded with senior citizens and others who likely don’t have good/any Internet connection at home. Of course, libraries are few and far between in my travels; and who wants to drive to town to check email or post a blog.

Based on asking around and searching the Internet, I have yet to find a technical solution to this problem (e.g., boosting they signal). Providing/improving Internet service to rural areas has been a government priority (at least politicians talk a lot about it:) for several years; maybe it is/will be getting better.  Regardless, now you know why my response time to calls/emails may be slow and why my blog postings may sometimes be irregular:) Thanks for your patience.

My Verizon Hotspot