Wireless Phone Service for Campers

[papapop]

What wireless service do most campers use to hook up to the internet while on the road, especially traveling to remote places?  Who offers the best deal and widest coverage?  Do campsites provide free wireless, DSL, or regular modem service or a per-use fee?  What is the cheapest way to go?  What's the best way to go?

 

[Tom]

Here's an article from our library that might provide some answers. Of course, this stuff gets out of date in a hurry and I'm sure others will join in with more up to date information.  *

 

[Six Pack]

We use a cell card for the laptop, if campground has WiFi we try it first.  Contact wireless provider in your area for pricing.

Jeff

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Verizon, Cinglar and Sprint all offer similar services at similar pricing. Look at their various plans to see if any of the minor features of one suits you better than the others, but the major features are essentially identical (but described with different words and matching hype)

Each provides coverage to about the same number of people nationwide, but there are minor differences in just where each has coverage. In any given location outside of the top 150-200 or so metropolitan areas, you may find that  two of the three has coverage and th third does not. Go some other place and it will be a different two carriers serving the area. In other words, it depends on exactly where you travel.  Quite afew of us have phones from two carriers so that the odds are that one always has service. If you get two separate phones with modest "minutes", it's about the same cost as one phone with a lot of minutes.

As for getting online (data services), Verizon & Sprint seem to have the best coverage and services. Cingular is behind but catching up.

Check out the Internet By Cell Phone Yahoo Group, which is dedicated to this subject.