WiFi Rip-Off Pricing

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UK-RV

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Following the excellent work of JamesOne with regard Free WiFi CGs, how about another list of Rip-Off CGs ?

My first nomination would be Whistler '5 Star RV Resort' in BC, Canada.

They told me that they have wifi service, which turns out to be from an outside source.

The charge - $10cdn Per Night !!

Can anyone beat that ?

Paul
 
I've previously reported similar situations Paul, the worst of which didn't allow me to get online after paying the US$8 to a third party.
 
$10.00 CDN is better than the $9.95 US the park I am in wants, again from a third party. Their monthly rate is $29.99 so they obviosly are hitting the overnighters pretty hard.

Makes the Direcway nice, especially since their remote WIFI antenna blew away last week and they have not replaced it. ;D ;D
 
LOL Jeff. US$9.95 sure sounds llike a big ripoff.

FWIW Portal RV Park in Moab has free WiFi and the reception in various sites was far superior to last year, largely due to the placement of a new (additional) antenna. Made DW/HN appear slow  ;D  IIRC their WiFi access point is hooked to their cable modem, or at least it was last year.
 
Tom said:
LOL Jeff.

FWIW Portal RV Park in Moab has free WiFi and the reception in various sites was far superior to last year, largely due to the placement of a new (additional) antenna. Made DW/HN appear slow? ;D? ?IIRC their WiFi access point is hooked to their cable modem, or at least it was last year.

Tom:

I also use free WIFI if it is hooked up to faster broadband than D/W when it is available. Sure is great to have DW the rest of the time. I am now sharing with two neighbors who figured out the only router on the air had to be mine.
 
Jeff,

For clarification, I was using DW/HN, but did check out the iWiFi. I also had the option of using my t-Mobile air card. But, since Terry and Ron spent the time to install my roof mount, I just had to put the dish up  ;D

BTW did you see the photo of rooftop dishes I took from our coach at Moab? Doesn't include our dish. Who needs WiFi when everyone has their own dish  ;D
 
Mike was going to use the DW no matter how good the Portal's WiFi was.  And once the roof mount was good to go, how could he not use it? I was perfectly happy using the campground's free WiFi but I see by your picture that many, many preferred their own little dish. BTW, that is a great picture.
 
Tom said:
Jeff,

For clarification, I was using DW/HN, but did check out the iWiFi. I also had the option of using my t-Mobile air card. But, since Terry and Ron spent the time to install my roof mount, I just had to put the dish up? ;D

BTW did you see the photo of rooftop dishes I took from our coach at Moab? Doesn't include our dish. Who needs WiFi when everyone has their own dish? ;D

Tom:

There won't be much sharing if this keeps, everyone will have their own. :D
 
LOL Wendy, your description of Mike sounds like Chris' description of me  ;D
 
Many of you probably already know, but all rest areas in Texas are supposed to have free wi-fi in the near future. I checked the one on IH35 just south of New Braunfels with my sniffer and indeed there was a wi-fi signal. I didn't have a computer with me to see if it was free but I am confident it was.

Three weeks ago we stayed at the Johnson Creek RV Resort near Kerrville, TX, and last week at Riverbend RV Resort in Richmond, TX, and both had free wi-fi. From what I can tell, the trend will be toward RV parks with wi-fi to provide it at no cost. It's just a matter of time.
 
What options for internet connection do you guys have over there on the Camp grounds?

WiFi is obvious and I presume you receive that in the comfort of your RV.

Some of you in this thread mention DW what is that, could it be connecting the computer via an ethernet or RJ45 as its also known?

If apart from WiFi the only other means of connecting is cable do you have to go to the CG office to connect or is there a plug in along with the electric hookup?

Ta
 
How about we take the list of 500 free WiFi parks and just append it at the bottom with a list of WiFi parks that charge.  Some how the parks that charge for WiFi should be come aware that they are losing visitors because of the access charges.

Chet18013
 
Mick,

DW stands for DirecWay, now HughesNet, a two way satellite internet system. ?Equipment costs run from $1500 for a manual pointing system to $5000+ for a completely automatic pointing system installed on the RV. ?Monthly costs vary from $60/month up depending on the desired speed.

WiFi is available in many campgrounds today, some free, some overpriced. ?Many people still use their cell phones for internet access also. ?Some campgrounds will have Ethernet connections in the office, just like they may have phone jacks, but again, these are not all free. ?Eventually the industry will settle on some reasonable pricing for internet access, but right now, prices vary widely.
 
Ned,

Thanks for that.

Just for information when touring Europe (France & Spain) my planned means of connecting to the Internet for banking etc would be in this order, dictated by ease of use,access and cost.

WiFi or ethernet at Campsite, Wifi or ethernet at an Internet cafe, or 3G/GPRS card (expensive to use).

The 3G/GPRS card I have is with a company called Vodafone (haven't seen any mention of it in the States) so I'm not sure if it will work, may have to change it's data sim card?
 
I don't know the state of internet access at campgrounds in Europe so your reports will be helpful to anyone looking for that information.  Please let us know what you find.  I doubt you'll find Ethernet at the campsites, but you may find it in the office or other common building.  Internet cafes are quite common in Europe as they are here.  I would suggest contacting Vodaphone with your question about your GPRS card, unless someone here has experience with it in Europe.
 
While arriving here at PEM in Dec. I tried the Wifi bit  1500 space RV park with O/S Wifi.com is available at 29.05 month yet only about 50 or so places can recieve.  They want you to buy commercial  (They called it) card or modem for $130 bucks and up.  Hec with that so I went to cox cable. Now when I get in the RV  All I have to do is haul thousands of miles of cable wire behind me and hope noone runs over it.  Me thinks WIfi sucks from my experience with it.
 
Mick,

Check if Vodafone has an agreement with t-Mobile or one of the other U.S. carriers. A number of us use a GPRS card and I've had excellent results with my t-Mobile GPRS card across the U.S. and eastern Canada. OTOH their roaming charges in Canada are quite steep. Also beware that out in the sticks you'll come across places without coverage.

BTW Ned wrote an article for our library that you might care to review. Click the Library button above, select Newcomers need to know, then click on the article Internet access for the RVer. Of course, this stuff changes all the time as technology changes and providers leap frog each other.
 
Mick

You shouldnt have too much trouble with wifi access in the US (Canada is more of a problem, with a lack of campgrounds providing any sort of connection, free or charged).

Most CGs are low cost (or better free), but the CG I am now in at Skagway charges $20 for 4.5hrs worth of service. (you do get 1hr free).

Paul
 

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