Campground Internet Service - Montana Owners Club

Jim and Marcia · 08-28-2005, 04:09 PM

I'm sure this topic has been discussed at length, SOMEWHERE, but when I did a search, all I found was info on wireless service.
We are going to be taking our first big trip, using our new laptop to keep connected with family and friends. How does one connect to the internet using the service provided by the campground? Do you have to "install" on your computer, whatever internet service is available at that particular campground? Seems like you could end up with a lot of internet providers programs on your computer. We are not very "computer savvy" so have been wondering how this works.
Any info you can provide will be appreciated.

carlson · 08-28-2005, 04:29 PM

Does your new laptop have wireless internet capabilities??
If it does and the campground has wireless service availability, you can sign-up at the office and they will give you a sign in and password.
The campground we are at in MN, has wireless, it cost $10.00 per week.
It is neat, I am on it answering your post.
If your lap=top does not have wireless capabilites, you can get a wireless card for it at any computer place.

Kathi · 08-28-2005, 04:44 PM

Wireless is the ticket!!!!

Take the laptop with you to a computer store if you do not have wireless already. They can get you all set up. Some places have free wireless and some you have to pay for. My wireless card is internal. There are external cards also. It is just what it sounds like. WIRELESS! There are no wires like on a desktop that connects via the phone line. The only thing you need is the card, cord or battery and your fingers. I think the range is somewhere around 200' for an excellent connection. I take mine outside with just the battery. Works great. There are some guys here that are really experts with this stuff. One that I know for sure is FredG....Look him up and PM (private Message) him. He can answer any of your other questions. Kathi

Jim and Marcia · 08-28-2005, 05:31 PM

Thanks for the info but we understood that wireless is not readily available at most campgrounds. Our laptop is wireless capable and I'm not too worried about using that, it's just the old, phone line, dial 'em up service that we're wondering about.

vickir · 08-28-2005, 05:52 PM

Jim and Marcia ... when we first started full-timing in March of '03 the RV parks with wi-fi were few and far between. However, over the course of the last 29 months we are finding more and more parks are adding this service. In fact, the park we're presently in installed wi-fi about two weeks before we arrived. Not all the parks will note wi-fi in their listings in Trailer Life/Woodalls, etc., and many may have added it since the directories were printed, so it never hurts to ask about it.

If I'm reading your questions correctly, you're concerned about using the central modem at RV parks? All I know about dial-up (besides it being horribly slow) is that you need to have an ISP. Hopefully, someone who knows what they're talking about will come along and give you the skinny on that. However, if there's a choice between using a park's central modem or using the park's wi-fi, I'd certainly go for the wi-fi ... IMHO.

rames14 · 08-28-2005, 06:04 PM

Jim and Marcia -

None of the options really require you to have a lot of software to install for each site. If you currently have an internet provider at home with dial up service, you will be able to use that with your computer and modem from the campground. Just find the local number. For instance, AOL has an (800) number that you can dial in to find the local number. I used to keep an AOL account with minimal monthly access time (6 hours/mo) for about $5.00 a month for just traveling.

However, I now use my cell phone with simple software that I bought over the internet (Mobile Office from Verizon) for $19.95. This plugs between your phone and the computer network card. For Verizon, after 9:00 pm and Weekends is free. If you do not have an internet provider, it doesn't matter with Verizon, it automatically logs you onto their network. Then get a Yahoo or Hotmail mail account and you're set.

Trailer Life is now deducting a full point from their rating if a campground doesn't have WIFI, according to the campground where we seasonal. This is prompting many campgrounds to install wireless. Another option is Flying J, Barnes and Noble, etc. - places that have wirless access for a fee. Flying J has it for a day, week or month I believe. These are just some of the options that people use. Also available are the new aircards that plug into the PCMIA slot in your laptop and give you wireless access via the cellular provider. This runs about $80/mo, I think. I know some members also have this. Hope this helps.

Jim and Marcia · 08-29-2005, 03:05 AM

Thanks everyone for the info---it will be helpful when we are traveling. We do have an ISP provider on our home computer which has local numbers for many areas---so we can access our e-mail while traveling with our new 3295RK.
Thanks again.
Jim and Marcia

Sunshine · 08-29-2005, 04:39 AM

We have WIFI capabilities on our lap top, but I'm not computer savy enough to have figured it out yet. Our cell provider doesn't provide the capability yet to connect to the cell phone, although I believe there is a way to check e-mail with the phone. So, we just check our mail the old fashioned way - use the modem at the park office, go into the connection settings for our ISP, put in the local area code and number needed for the ISP to find its local connection numbers, and we're off! One of these days I'm going to have to move into the 21st century!

jrgwdenner · 08-29-2005, 05:35 AM

We have had wonderful WiFi service on most of our trip through Alaska. It is becoming more and more common. Otherwise, Verizon has given us a good connection most of the time in the United States. In Canada, we stopped at Visitors Centers to use their computers which are free or ask for a small donation. And then there are internet cafes where you can use their computers or connect your own. It's really easy to get online nowadays.

Kathi · 08-29-2005, 07:51 AM

Just a FYI! When I purchased my Dell they told me it was internet ready. For the life of me I could not get connected. I finally took it to a computer guy and he clued me in on the DELL secret. There is a F2 button at the top left and a Fn (Function) key on the bottom left. They both have to be pressed at the same time in order to turn on the WiFi function. Couldn't believe that after about 20 hours on the phone to Dell that not one person told me of this. I wonder if they even knew about it.......LOL

Jim and Marcia · 08-29-2005, 10:58 AM

Thanks, Kathi for the heads-up on connecting to wireless with a Dell computer. Our computer is Dell too, but have not had an opportunity to utilize the wireless connection yet. Hopefully, we won't have any trouble.
Thanks again everyone for the input.

Chuck and Carol · 08-29-2005, 02:03 PM

I too use that program from Verizon. Works great. I have been using it all summer to keep track of my e-mail. Just don't know how secure it is so I don't go into our bank accounts.

Carol

ronstan · 08-29-2005, 02:42 PM

Found this weekend that not all campgrounds tell you they have WI-fi. We were at a campground at Souders Village and I was teasing the clerk about having cable and wifi. She said we do. Do you want the password. I said sure. It was not the greatest but it worked to check email and browse moc. This is a nice campground with water and electric and three full hookups. If your ever in the area look the place up. The village is open from 10 - 5 and we still ran out of time.
Here is the link
http://www.saudervillage.com/home/default.asp

sreigle · 08-29-2005, 02:59 PM

Jim and Marcia, if you have any trouble connecting to the wireless post back here soon as you can and we'll try to help you out. There are numerous knowledgeable people here willing to try to help. As others said, wifi is spreading like crazy. We also have a dialup isp but have not dialed in to them since last October. More than 10 months ago. We keep the dialup isp just in case, plus we receive a lot of email through them. With wifi we can gather our email from highstream, our dialup isp, and our yahoo addresses and send out the same way.

Enjoy the 3295RK. We sure like ours.

DarMar · 08-30-2005, 05:13 AM

I have just installed an external card and I note it scans and states signal strength. What signal strength does one need to operate? The seasonal site that we are in has just installed WIFI and strength is variable from 35 to 65%.

ronstan · 08-30-2005, 05:32 AM

Even a low signal will get you connected just not as fast. I had a low signal last weekend and it still worked.

azstar · 08-30-2005, 02:31 PM

Jim & Marcia,

Sounds like you are in about the same boat as we are. We do have Wi-Fi but wind up using dial up a lot at Campgrounds. We have MSN which gives us Local numbers for almost everywhere we go, but we also use BAMnet.net which is a pay as you go service. We get an 800# that's good anywhere. They have great software that you simply load up on your Lap Top. It's something you may find usefull. Have a look at it at www.bamnet.net

Happy Camping

You may also like: