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Sun Jun 28, 2015 12:54 pm

how do you folks get wifi access while in out of the way places?

are there fast food chains or hotel chains that allow public wifi access if you are in their parking lot?

Sun Jun 28, 2015 1:16 pm

Starbucks is my go-to, but pretty much all the major fast food chains have free wifi you can pick up from the parking lot.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 1:24 pm

If you have a Comcast account, or can abscond with someone’s credentials, you can connect to any “xfinitiwifi” access point anywhere.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:09 pm

McDonalds, Starbucks, Tim Hortons (Canada), Subway, Dunkin Donuts.... most large chains offer wifi free but some throttle it after 30 minutes so if you are gaming it is an issue then.

My son and I are in the midst of a long trip and wifi is critical to my son. In most remote areas there is no good solution if you need fast uploads for gaming. Satellite internet is OK for downloads but is not fast enough for interactive gaming...

Sun Jun 28, 2015 3:23 pm

http://lifehacker.com/all-the-national-chains-that-offer-free-wi-fi-1646148637

Sun Jun 28, 2015 3:33 pm

In addition to free Wi-Fi hotspots around the globe, a lot of folks pay for 3G/4G mobile broadband hotspot service through Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Virgin, etc. (many offer no contract & prepaid services).

Sun Jun 28, 2015 4:03 pm

Usually when we travel, wifi is not something we need very often and mostly just go without. Neither my wife or I have smartphones. Sometimes we travel with a tablet just in case we need to be connected occasionally.

If we need internet we usually just hit up a library as most have wifi or at least free computer use. Especially around remote parts of yukon and alaska, where we tend travel most, wifi can be slow and hard to find. Libraries most of the time are easier to find than a wifi signal.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 4:46 pm

I got a Verizon tablet that has 3g and 4g just for that reason. Most don't offer 3g anymore iPad maybe only current model that does.

The Verizon service is superior and there are not many places where I can't get coverage. I can hotspot my laptop with it too but I usually just use the tablet. I don't need a lot of data so just having this one device with Verizon isn't too expensive. Their tablet only plans aren't bad.

Point is going to a McD or Starbucks sucks. Connecting through a phone sucks too. My tablet is just always on like my home internet. Once you have a tablet with cell service you don't go back to tethering.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:27 pm

Moved to a tablet almost 2 yrs ago,all i ever use, does all i ever need, only miss a couple games on old box, never got around to dn loading them, my2cts, as usual no warranty offered at this time.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:29 pm

kamzcab86 wrote: In addition to free Wi-Fi hotspots around the globe, a lot of folks pay for 3G/4G mobile broadband hotspot service through Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Virgin, etc. (many offer no contract & prepaid services).

That's what I'm considering

http://www.att.com/devices/netgear/unite-pro.html#sku=sku6910270

Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:38 pm

Could get expensive for gaming, but for e-mail/web Karma Go is fantastic. Very inexpensive if you use it only when you need it. Much cheaper than paying for unused data on an unlimited cellular plan.

https://yourkarma.com/

Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:45 pm

noganav wrote: Could get expensive for gaming, but for e-mail/web Karma Go is fantastic. Very inexpensive if you use it only when you need it. Much cheaper than paying for unused data on an unlimited cellular plan.

https://yourkarma.com/

That's perfect - thx

Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:24 pm

I'm back now, but my original post was from traveling down the mid- & south coasts of Oregon. I saw one McD's and a Red Lion Hotel. Those were the only chains other than gas stations.

Nice to not have franchises everywhere, even on the major hwy, but it was hard for me to get wifi to check my Email.

I could get a cell signal at least 1/3 of the time...

Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:38 pm

This was my solution for helping to grab wifi form nearby sources. Works well for me.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=459822&start=40

Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:31 am

As others have said, those little wifi hotspot devices are pretty nice. I bought a Verizon one a few years ago from Best Buy for $100 with no contract. I was able to buy a pay-as-you-go data card for it that I think was roughly $20 for 3 gigabites. We used that thing for almost 2 months driving up the California and Oregon coasts on Hwy 1 and even though there are some pretty remote areas around there, I don't ever recall a spot we didn't have service. The big advantage for us was that once the trip was over, we put the device away for over a year and it didn't cost us anything, and the next time we needed it for a trip, bought another data card and fired it up. It's especially handy for Canadians like us who don't have a US phone carrier to add a data plan to.

Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:52 am

Dustin's suggestion for wifi hotspot devices is excellent...

another idea is using your iPhone/smartphone as wifi hotspot... may be a bit slower than a dedicated wifi hotspot device...

Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:06 pm

I thought you could not use an iPhone as wifi hotspot on a mac laptop??

Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:15 pm

yes... I tried and it works...

http://ipod.about.com/od/iphonehowtos/ss/Use-Iphone-Personal-Hotspot.htm

Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:36 pm

I have tethered my laptop to my iPhone when on the road. It hammers the phone's battery, but not a deal breaker. I have no provision on my cell service with ATT. I just enable "Personal Hotspot" laptop finds it as a wireless network, connect and you are good to go. I needed to email a file that was saved local to my laptop last time I did this. If you just need email and internet, phones and tablets are pretty handy when traveling.

Mon Jun 29, 2015 2:44 pm

I use my iphone 6 to tether with my laptop... works great. I have Verizon and that's a big factor... I was trying to use a pay-as-you-go mobile hotspot (AT&T I think) and it was terrible.
The signal that I get out on some remote-ish property of ours works great under the Verizon umbrella and is reasonable if you do some light/quick surfing. Can't imagine how much data it would gobble if I was streaming youtube stuff, etc!