INTERNET ACCESS ON THE ROAD(Updated Oct. 2009)

WI-FI:

Of late, more and more RV parks across the country are installing Wi-Fi access points throughout their parks due to demand and competition. If the RV parks install it themselves, the service usually is free and all you may need a security code to access the internet. About 30-50% of the RV parks do not have that skill or money to set up a Wi-Fi system, instead they contract with an internet provider and they come in, set up and wire the entire Wi-Fi operation. They charge the Wi-Fi user a fee ($12-25 a week) and give a kick back to the RV Park. In addition, there are numerous locations where free Wi-Fi can be found and used.



CELLULAR BROADBAMD MODEM:

Several new technology cellular telephones that are available (PDA/Smart Phones/Windows type) can be tethered to a laptop via a USB cable where their software will dial the nearest cellular tower and put you on the internet at 3-4G speeds on your browser.



USB BROADBAND CARD:

This is a small card that plugs into your laptops USB port, with software it dials the the nearest cellular tower and put you on the internet at 3-4G speeds on your browser. The costs about $60 a months and it is not pro-rated and you must have a 1-2 year contract for this service.



CONCLUSIONS:

Clearly, I had to go with the cellular broadband modem option since it is the most flexible. First of all, Verizon Wireless has the best cellular coverage across the entire 48 states (Check Consumers Report). Second of all, Verizon Wireless has 10-15 cellular (Broadband Modem) telephones, packaged with VZAccess Manager Software, cables. Etc. You then call the Verizon Representative to activate/deactivate the Broadband feature which is pro-rated. It costs $49.95 a month for transfers of 5 GB or less or data, with $0.05 for 1Mb in excess of 5 GB. For the 2 whole months I had it activated, I only used less than 600Mb of data the entire time. So between this and free Wi-Fi usage at the RV parks. The combination of both of these made it perfect, unless you were in a TOTAL DEAD ZONE location where there was no cellular telephone or Wi-Fi coverage, and there is a lot of that out west.

Here's some very helpful web sites. Cut and paste into your favorites or bookmarks

Best place to search for camping places and prices.....
http://www.woodalls.com/

Find the lowest gas prices.....
http://www.gasbuddy.com/

Best truck stops on the road (Get an RV Saver Card for 1 cent of each gallon)
http://www.flyingj.com/

Nationwide Free Wi-Fi Hot Spot Directory
http://www.wififreespot.com/

The Surface Wind Forecast, kinda hard to read, but necessary to avoid a hassle on the road.....
http://www.intellicast.com/IcastPage/LoadPage.aspx?loc=usa&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=Forecasts&product=WINDcast&prodnav=d1_00

The best nationwide weather radar picture.....
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

Looking for a neat seasonal job while on-the-road.....
http://www.coolworks.com/

The best bank to have with the most nationwide locations and ATM's.....
http://www.bankofamerica.com

Wal*Mart Store Locator.....
http://www.walmart.com/cservice/ca_storefinder.gsp

Nationwide events, activities, attractions and festivals.....
http://www.partyguideonline.com/

Best source for all camping supplies.....
http://www.campmor.com/

Best source for RV supplies.....
http://www.campingworld.com/

Nationwide RV Dump Locations.....
http://www.rvdumps.com/

Full-Time Rv'ing.....
http://www.movinon.net/
http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/index.htm

Neatest RV'ing web site.....
https://twofortheroad.tripod.com/

Enjoy!