Agentbolt

So I'm 2 days into my cross country tour, and I started on the Southern Tier route from San Diego. Once I left San Diego proper, however, I've had horrible problems finding a WiFi connection. I'm typing from a Starbucks I found just outside Alpine, but for the 30 miles before this there was nothin'. I'm just curious if most people who've toured a pre-done route or figured out their own route have been able to consistently find a WiFi connection every day, or are there big multi-day gaps? I mostly care because I have a blog I'm trying to update and it's much easier to do Crazy Guy updates every day as opposed to once or twice a week.

On a different note, where the heck are all the campgrounds? That's another thing I'm running into problems with on the Southern Tier. It doesn't help that the ACA map simply shows a picture of a tent without anything useful like a name or a specific location of said camping facility.

staehpj1

If you are using WiFi you are using some kind of computer, so why not just save text files daily and upload them along with some pictures when you get a chance. Another option for Crazy Guy journals is updating by email. You can do offline emails and send them whenever you get a chance or use an email enabled cell phone if you have one.

FWIW: During my recent tour from KC to Santa Fe I was surprised how frequently I was able to find unlocked WiFi even in small towns. Sometimes it was a motel, sometimes a private home, sometimes even a small business like a auto parts place or whatever. It wasn't every single day, but it was every couple days or so.

I don't have the southern tier maps but the AC maps I have seen all list not only name and location, but phone numbers as well in the text portion of the map.

Machka 

+1

But now Rowan and I have gone wireless, and it's a rarely place so far that we have not had a connection. We can connect anywhere that gets mobile phone reception.

However in those places where we don't get reception, we can still type emails and load photos from the camera etc. it preparation for a place where there is reception.


As for maps and campgrounds ... go to a Tourist Information place and get the info. Most towns should have one, and in the US they are also often located just outside a town on the main highway. But I'm guessing you're from the US so you know that already.

John Nelson

Turn the map over.

Boudicca

From Crazy Guy journals it looks like cafes and the like usually have wi fi, and they keep it running even when the cafe is closed. I remember in post-Katrina New Orleans watching someone using a laptop from his truck outside a closed-up coffee shop. He said the reception was perfect.

Tentacle Master

+1 lol

lookin at them now

avatarworf

Libraries almost always have free wifi connections. We have found wifi just about everywhere in North America.

stokell

Sadly much of it is locked, meaning I have to use McDonald's and coffee shops mostly. In Europe there is a movement to get rid of free WiFi. Many places want you to buy it, including Starbucks. In Paris the McDonald's made me watch a commercial before I could access it.

Agentbolt

*cough* yeah, I don't see how I missed that, but there's all the info I was just whining about not having. Sorry.

avatarworf

I don't get it... go in library, ask for password, surf away. Or are you showing up after hours? We almost exclusively use libraries. Tourist bureaus and chambers of commerce also frequently have free internet access.

staehpj1

WRT to library computers... It seems that often libraries have limited hours and are seldom open when I am ready to stop for the day. In these times of budget cuts the hours seem to be often getting even shorter. In many towns they seem to only be open a few days a week and on those days may have short hours. Additionally we found that there was often a 20 minute limit, a slow connection, and a waiting list to get on.

As far as WiFi they may or may not leave the WiFi on when they are closed. I far more often found some other WiFi that was open on my last trip which was the only one where I carried a WiFi capable device (a little 7 ounce N800 tablet).

For those who are willing to spend for an email enabled cell phone service, they would seem like a good solution.

4000Miles

Another good place to sniff out wifi is any modern looking church (United Methodist Churches often have unlocked wifi connections). Many of the churches my group stayed at this summer had wifi, and if you're near one, you might be able to pick up a connection.

lighthorse

Agent,
The best method I found to use the internet while on tour was to find local libraries. Even small towns have a library with internet access. They may not have WiFi and you might need to use their computers but it works. You can upload photos etc. to Crazy Guy, surf the net to check out routing information, etc. It also gets you connected to local folks when you enter a library. They can tell you whatever you want to know about the local area. If you are carrying a computer and want to use your own, good luck, you aren't going to find Starbucks in most small towns.
Have a good tour.

staehpj1

True, but on my last tour, I still found unlocked WiFi in most towns with a population of about a thousand plus or minus a few hundred. Interestingly enough I found only one library open in 11 days on the road and I didn't see any computers in it (Dudley Township Public Library in Satanta KS). Perhaps I just missed the computers. Still if you looks them up on line the list of services does not mention computers. That said I was able to get a WiFi signal while sitting in the library and uploaded some text entries to my journal. it was from a nearby retail business that probably did not intend to leave their wireless open, but also didn't bother to lock it down.

I did have a pleasant chat with the very nice librarian who made a number of calls to help me find a place to camp since the town park was posted "no camping". I wound up camping in a local church yard. There was a pleasant little gazebo next to the library where I sat later in the evening after the library was closed and uploaded some pictures to my site.

I am not sure how typical these experiences are of the rest of the country, but they were in rural Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.