Cell Tower Overload

chrisadmin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:44:48 +0000

RV Rallies present major issues for Internet Access. Rarely is Wi-Fi provided throughout the rally grounds, and, when you try to use your Cellular provider for data, you may find it doesn’t work so well. That was our experience at the FMCA SE Area rally last week in Brooksville, FL. At times like these I wish we had our Satellite Dish back.

If you doubt that cell tower overload is a factor, check out this article on AT&Ts troubles due to all the iPhone users out there. Actually, this article has me a little worried about Verizon as well, once the Droid (Verizon’s answer to the iPhone) catches on. You see, once you have Internet browsing capabilities on your cell phone, you use it a lot more. When I use my phone to make a voice call, I’m on for 5 – 20 minutes. When Jim uses his new Droid to browse the web, he’s on for hours. Both usages connect to the Cellular Tower, but the data usage represents a quantum leap in loading the Tower’s connections.

We like RV Parks with Wi-Fi!

chris — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:33:38 +0000

It seems like most of our ‘Internet on the Road’ articles lately have been about cellular technology. Although cellular is getting to be more popular with travelers – we sure like RV parks with good Wi-Fi. Absence makes the heart grow fonder … we did not find any parks with Wi-Fi during our travels in June.

Last month was the first month that we used our Verizon service exclusively for all Internet access. Although we were very happy to see that we could comfortably stay under our 5GB bandwidth allotment, it wasn’t particularly fun. We had to constantly be aware of our bandwidth usage. We like watching Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on his website. We didn’t dare do that more than a few times because of Verizon’s limit of 5GB/month. And, downloading a movie was definitely out of the question – most of them are close to 2GB.

We also turned off the automatic updates on our Windows Vista systems. One update (SP2) was 350MB! If both Jim and I had downloaded that using our Verizon connection, that would have been 15% of our monthly allotment right there! So, we held off on that.

Finally, last week, we were in a campground with good Wi-Fi. Yeah!! No limits here. We downloaded our updates and had a Jon Stewart marathon! (we don’t have a TiVo – or even a TV for that matter!)

Our bottom line, as always … If you need the Internet wherever you travel, you need to use all three ways: Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Satellite. I’m looking forward to having our Satellite service back operational … Jim’s working on that right now!

Now, if I could just find a park with a working Hot Tub!

Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com

p.s. If you happen to be at the FMCA Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio this week, we will be giving our High Speed Internet on the Road seminar on Monday, 7/20/09 at 11:45 in Seminar room #12.

Computer Tips for Travelers » Verizon Broadband

Cell Tower Overload

We like RV Parks with Wi-Fi!