Want to take some rest, but not lose positions in your work? - Think about campgrounds with free Wi-Fi!
To spend more time with family and friends, relax and reduce stress, reconnect with nature – these are the main reasons people go camping, according to a survey conducted by North-American campground association.
Traveling to a wilderness area or camping in a national park (though private campgrounds are good as well) with a company for many years has been one of the best American traditions of spending holidays. However, it exists not only in the U.S. - the today's generation in all the developed countries has also understood – it's a perfect way to have a rest! And nowadays it's getting more and more popular, leaving luxurious getaways far behind.
The group of private campgrounds, Kampgrounnds of America, having conducted the survey, found that nearly 37 millions of American households go camping at least once a year. Three times in a year and even more often campgrounds are visited by the third part of the survey respondents.
But let us not overestimate the bravery of the today's camping lovers, as the conditions for the 21st century campers are very much different from the ones which were decades ago.
Camping today is already not about spending a few days without toilets or showers. A large cot, picnic table, lounge chairs, an already set-up tent, clean bathrooms and toilets – this is how the today's campsite is maintained. Currently more than 15,000 campgrounds work in the U.S., and their number is all the time increasing.
Camping in the 21st century: campgrounds with free Wi-Fi
To be happy just of finding a campfire pit or 2 minutes' standing under hot running water is definitely not about today's campers. Luxury tents with king-size beds in them, showers, two-burner kitchen stoves, mini-fridges, kitchen tools, swimming pools, exotic places to sleep, zip lines – this list of the signs of how campgrounds are getting contaminated with the comfort is not exhaustive.
But the thing that brings most comfort of all the possible amenities is, of course, the free Wi-Fi. According to the data of the Kampgrounds of America study, most of the nearly 3000 people surveyed rank the presence of Wi-Fi higher than cabins or safety lighting, together with food stores.
Of course, campground Wi-Fi was not estimated as important as well-maintained restrooms and bathrooms (which was the most popular choice among the respondents) or whether a campground is 'kid-friendly'.
The same survey also showed that 83% of campers bring with them their phones, and 70% of respondents say they use camping Wi-Fi at least once during the trip from any of the devices havnig access to the Internet (which can be a phone, a tablet, computer etc.). For most of them, the reason of using Wi-Fi when camping was checking email or uploading photos.
The US National Park Service concluded in 2013 that the campgrounds of national parks must offer all the amenities that the today's campers need, including the free Wi-Fi service. Today in every state, from Alabama to Wyoming you can find parks with high-speed free Wi-Fi.
Specifics of free Wi-Fi work in campgrounds
To have an ability to upload your photos from the trip not after your arrival at home, but just during the experience is great. As well as having the opportunity to work right from the camp. And the key to such a happiness for the today's camper is the free Wi-Fi in campgrounds, which many of the today's campsites provide.
Still, its quality is not constantly good and depends on many factors. And if using Wi-Fi at your campsite is not just about uploading your trip photos on the social media, and you hang your hat on Wi-Fi because you have some serious work to accomplish, you should know about some of the specifics of Wi-Fi work while camping:
- State or county parks are closer to municipalities so they usually have better signal. If you prioritize work and free Wi-Fi in the campground is your only hope, you'd better choose the parks of this kind;
- Heavy building constructions, steel, concrete and trees slow down the Wi-Fi signal quite much;
- The more people settle in the park and try to use free Wi-Fi for campers, the worse is the quality. This means a small county park is your perfect choise;
- The farther you are from the router, the worse is the quality.
How not to let your project die if Wi-Fi ceases to work
When you have plans to work, but see that your campground Wi-Fi systems are hardly accessible, it's very much frustrating. Still, the situation is not hopeless, and below are listed the tips on how to help it:
- Use your smartphone. You can rely on the capacities of your smartphone, which in most cases can be connected to the powerful 4G/5G Internet, according to the plan with your cell operator. This Internet is absolutely reliable, but it works only when there's the good coverage of your cell operator in the area you settled for camping. Thus, it is recommended to choose a reliable cell operator.
- Use your smartphone as a hotspot. Most of the smartphones are now provided with the feature to turn routers and share Internet with other devices. In this case you will be able to work with your laptop, and, again, the quality will fully depend on the coverage of your cell operator in the area. And you will also have to care about your cellphone battery, as such a use tears it out fast.
- Set up your own Wi-Fi hotspot. This will be the best choice for you if you need the Internet connection to work on your laptop heavily. The quality won't differ much from the one you get with your smartphone, but in this case, you won't have to tear your smartphone battery off;
- Wiffinity, Avast Wi-Fi Finder, Wifimap and many other apps you can find on Play Market or AppStore can find for you free Wi-Fi spots. Such a scenario would be like from a fairytale and it's little probability it will work, but it's worth trying...
- Go to town. When you have absolutely no right for the failure and need your work to be done fine, go to the nearest town, find a co-working space, coffee shop or library, connect to their Wi-Fi spot and stay there until you get everything done.
Setting up Wi-Fi spot
If you choose this way to provide yourself with the stable Internet connection, below you will find the helpful tips on how to set it up. However, the first thing you should be aware of, the thing, without which it doesn't make any sense – is actually the presence of the wired Internet, which can be shared on multiple routers. The rest is about a couple of details:
- Wi-Fi router, also functioning as the 'Wireless Access Point' (WAP);
- Wi-Fi range extender. Plug it into any wall outlet, and it will extend your router's signal.
