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Old 10-13-2004, 12:19 AM   #1
Montana_440
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Wi Fi Cost ?

Just wondering what full timers are paying for Wi Fi access around the country? A friend payed $3 per day.Of course, that's in addition to cost of his ISP.We aren't full time, but when staying in one spot for a few mos, having a phone installed works best for us.
 
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Old 10-13-2004, 01:34 AM   #2
snowbunny
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I've used WiFi at KOAs but they charge $4.00 for one hour or $8.00 for 24 hrs. Not cheap and not great bandwidth. I prefer to use my Verizon phone for data and get better than dialup throughput.
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Old 10-13-2004, 02:18 PM   #3
Dave e Victoria
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We are at a KOA in Tucumcari NM tonight. The WiFi charge is $!,00 for an hour or 2.95 for 24 hours. I didn't ask for a monthly rate.
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Old 10-13-2004, 06:04 PM   #4
Northstar
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Thanks for the info. Nice to know. Happyrving....
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Old 10-15-2004, 04:28 PM   #5
snowbunny
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Dave and Victoria, That's odd, I stayed at two KOA, one near Pittsburgh and one at Waves in NC and they both had WiFi but via 'Hotspotzz' and sold a card that cost what I mentioned. Was your KOA also using 'Hotspotzz'?
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Old 10-16-2004, 12:58 PM   #6
sreigle
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We've had wi-fi with costs ranging from free (rare) to $10/day. Most places have discounts for longer periods of time. At one park in Texas it was $5/day or $15/week or $45/month. In another it was $2/day, iforget/week, or $20/month.

We're currently at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds CG in Goshen, IN. We're here just two days so I bought two days worth of wi-fi at the ridiculous price of $10/day. I didn't ask the weekly/monthly rates since we leave here Monday morning. They also have 24/7 central modem hookup in the office but today's high is 40 and its rainy with 40mph winds so I'll pay for the wi-fi to avoid going out.

edited - just saw in the brochure it's 10/day or 50/wk. No other options. Rather steep and I probably wouldn't do it more than a day or two. Hot Spots is the wi-fi provider here.
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Old 10-16-2004, 04:33 PM   #7
Dave e Victoria
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Snowbunny,
I believe the system at KOA in Tucumcari was Direct Link. The use Direct TV to establish the cable hookups as well.

As a furthur update, American RV Park in Albuquerque has a subscription WiFi at 5.95 per day.
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Old 10-16-2004, 04:39 PM   #8
Dave e Victoria
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Funny thing happened when we got home to our stick house (after six months on the road) I brought my trusty lap top in and found another network available besides my own in the house. I tried it and jumped right on with no password required. Makes me wonder if I should discontinue my DSL service here. Guess I will haved to ask some of the neighbors if the network belongs to them.
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Old 10-17-2004, 03:39 AM   #9
snowbunny
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Open WiFi networks are everywhere. Often because the people setting up their home wifi don't know any better, sometimes because they don't care. I have read that internet bandwidth is getting so cheap too supply that it will be available in the future like water. No one charges you to use a fountain. I work at a college and we are just now setting up wifi access points and in the process I test for open networks often and always find some. There are people who drive around with a wireless laptop looking for open networks to use or abuse. Be careful. Open networks offer no security and if you and a bad guy are on at the same time your passwords and data are open him.
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Old 10-18-2004, 08:01 AM   #10
Montana_632
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As you can see cost vary quite a bit. I use a T-mobile hot spot at Starbucks or Borders Books when one is available. The cost is 29.95 per month for unlimited use and the speed is better then DSL. At my site I have a satellite dish I use that runs 69.95 per month. The equipment including installation cost me $800.00.
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Old 10-18-2004, 12:30 PM   #11
DrivesBGM
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I'm in a Hilton Hotel in NYC (not exactly a campground, durn it!).

I'm connected via Wi-Fi at $9.95 until mid-night. Didn't get started until about 6 P.M. so hourly rate is pretty ugly!

Craig
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Old 10-19-2004, 04:34 PM   #12
sreigle
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Just to arrived today at our 'home base' RV Park where we'll stay close to the kids until after Christmas. A pleasant surprise was they've added wi-fi since we were last here in July! And the cost is the best we've seen anywhere, other than the free places. $29.95/month with a one-time $5 setup fee. I'm in heaven! We also have 'instant phone' in this park so we're keeping that, too, so both of us can be online at the same time.
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Old 10-27-2004, 01:38 PM   #13
Montana_440
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That sounds like a good price.I love instant phones....makes getting on line so easy.The park we went to last yr in Pigeon Forge was installing Wi Fi. I'm anxious to know what they charge & also, I wonder if they did away with their single modem hook up.
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Old 10-28-2004, 02:00 AM   #14
DrivesBGM
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by sreigle... We also have 'instant phone' in this park so we're keeping that, too, so both of us can be online at the same time.
Steve,

You could have (and pay for) a second WiFi access if both computers were WiFi equipped, couldn't you?

Course if you have instant phone, it make sense to use that for dialup as needed and save $30 a month for the second access.

Instant phone is really neat! We had it at a campground in near Bar Harbor where we stayed for over a week. Was neat to be able to get 'land line" calls from family in the evening. In fact, if I were full-timing, I think I'd carry an el-cheapo answering machine I could put on the line to catch all the calls that come in while I was out having fun!

Enjoy you family!

Craig
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Old 10-28-2004, 01:34 PM   #15
sreigle
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Craig, both laptops are wi-fi enabled but we'd already paid for instant phone before we found out about the wi-fi. The instant phone payment goes to the rv park. The owners/managers here are super people who have become friends so this is helping to pay their costs of having the phones. Since our children live in this area this has become our "home park". Vicki said she's fine with the dialup speed (usually 52k) so we're currently going with the current setup. I think the instant phone is actually costing a bit more than the wi-fi. We also could have just one wi-fi or one instant phone and take turns using it. Nah, I like not having to share.
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Old 11-12-2004, 03:34 AM   #16
Montana_1985
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we, too, have had wifi access in various c/grounds.
LinkSpot was 5.95/hr, or 6.95/day, 10.95/wk. in Winchester VA.
We are currently in Daytona Beach (new smyrna beach, actually) and the internet wifi service is FREE..(can't beat that!!). And with 3 available hotspots to boot!
Also, most Flying J truckstops have wifi access as well...($).

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Old 11-12-2004, 04:08 AM   #17
sreigle
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Tedd & Lillian mentioned free wi-fi. Recently I've noticed some advertising free wi-fi. We have a reservation for Jan/Feb near Savannah, GA (Tybee Island). That park also has free wi-fi and free cable. Normally I'd expect "free" is embedded in the rate but I think the monthly CG rate is very reasonable in and of itself. The park advertises wi-fi while lounging in your rig so I'm taking that to mean I don't have to go to their lounge to use it. Some free wi-fi has that requirement. Even that's still a good deal.
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Old 11-12-2004, 07:21 AM   #18
Joyce H
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When we were at RiverEdge in Pigeon Forge, TN WiFi was free of charge. Was my first experience using it and was great being able to sit in the Montana or at the picnic table outside and read the forum and catch up on email. We are now in Crystal River, FL. Our first two nights we were at Rock Crusher Canyon which also had free WiFi. For the next few months we have settled into a site at Encore here in Crystal River. They do have WiFi available at some sights but there is a charge. The service is through tengoInternet. I am currently using the modem here in the clubhouse but am seriously considering subscribing to their WiFi service after the holidays. They have a daily, weekly, monthly, and 3 month rate available. I believe the 3 mth rate was $105 but need to do some further checking. Even though our site is right ou the border of signal service I do currently get a signal when checking, but want to make sure I still have a signal when we get neighbors on either side before making a 3 month commitment.
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Old 11-12-2004, 02:56 PM   #19
sreigle
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JoyceH, we had tengointernet in two or three parks in Texas last winter. When in Austin we had the problem you are worried about. Decent signal when no neighbor but almost none when a big class A was right up against us. We were at the extreme end of the park. Eric Stumbaugh, the owner of TengoInternet, lives in Austin and spent a number of hours in our rig getting this worked out. He said the wi-fi was pretty new there. It had been installed when they were at the non-peak season. Now that they're full the far ends of the park were having this trouble. He said they'd be rearranging antennas before long but it was after we left. He did get us up and running though. I think you're right to make sure you'll have the signal before you pay for it.

I'll usually ask how new the wi-fi setup is and whether the antenna array has ever been reconfigured. Then I look to see where the antenna is.

In this park, the antenna is on the office roof. We're in the first site south of the office but there's a huge tree between us. We're on a down slope so that tree trunk is a significant signal blocker. We just backed into the site to where it appeared the tree would not be a problem. And it seems to be fine.
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Old 11-16-2004, 07:56 AM   #20
Montana_440
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Creekside in Pigeon Forge decided against Wi Fi.The owner said there wasn't enough interest in it.I still think some campers will choose a park with internet access, given a choice. We'll be stopping in Perry,Ga & both parks listed there have instant ph hook ups.Then on to a Fl park, where we'll have a phone.
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