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Wireless Networking Hardware

Texas State Parks Offer Wi-Fi 194

Posted by CmdrTaco from the tough-to-take-a-vacation dept.
digrieze writes "Here's a story raising a holiday ruckus. Texas has started providing free Wi-Fi service at state parks, causing friction with the 'get away from it all' crew. Looks like a nice place to vacation to me."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Texas State Parks Offer Wi-Fi More

Texas State Parks Offer Wi-Fi

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  • Everything is bigger in TX even wifi charges! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:01PM (#11193116)
    causing friction with the "get away from it all" crew

    You don't go to a state park and stay within wifi range (I assume their RV/tent sites in the main campground) if you want to "get away from it all". If you want to get away from it all you go backpacking in remote areas of the park or the State. Amenities like showers, flush toilets, electric hookups, and swimming pools doesn't exactly put you in the "roughing it" category.

    So far, the vast majority of users are conducting business, and have both the tools and the ability to pay the average daily service fee of $10 to $20, says Phillip Redman, a research vice president at Gartner. But there are also a growing number of free Wi-Fi hot spots, which make the cost of connectivity irrelevant. And with proliferating access and declining price, the user's physical location has become less important than ever before.

    I see a lot of RVs in campgrounds with DirecTV. Why not Direcwav while you're at it? It's $100 setup and $50/month and all you need is a direct view of the southern sky (in TX I doubt that would be a problem - and no, I'm not even a customer of theirs). If you're a serious "snow bird" RV fan it would sound like the best way to go. Hell, you could undercut TX State Parks and offer wifi for $5 or less. I can't see the $15/day pricetag honestly... The article mentions that they realize that putting wifi into the wilderness would be difficult due to terrain/etc and would require numerous antennae throughout the park but they mention that TX state parks have great RV/tent campsites that will have coverage... So why the high cost?

    I bring my hiptop with me when we go "camping" but I generally only check my email twice a day from it and make phone calls only when necessary. It is nice to have along but I'm more for enjoying my freedom when I'm "camping".

    I just can't see businessmen making it a regular practice of saving money on their overnight stays by using a state park campground and firing up their $15/day wifi when they can probably pay $15/night more (with parking fees, camping fees, and wifi fee) at a hotel and get it free.

    YMMV.
    • Aye. I just hope these assholes don't put antennas up all over the park. At the visitor's center only, please (even though I doubt I'll be in Texas... ever).
    • $10-$15 for 24 hours of access (which many times is the minimum amount available) seems to be the going rate at airports, and who spends 24 hours at an airport? (well, other than this past weekend)
    • I see a lot of RVs in campgrounds with DirecTV. Why not Direcwav while you?re at it?

      Because only trained technicians with the proper tools can do it. It's trivial to recieve a beam from a satellite. It's not so to transmit to a satellite.

      Imagine trying to hit a specific period on a page of printed text with a laser pointer from a quarter mile away. Now imagine that you can't see the page. You have to rely on the reading of a signal meter to get the job done. Grandma and grandpa's RV isn't the proper plat
      • I second that. We regularly have to sight 1.2M dishes and it is frequently a huge pain in the ass. Granted, we're trying to point at a single satellite, but our dish is much larger the DirecTV dishes, has a higher power output, and is comprised of much higher quality equipment.
    • I see a lot of RVs in campgrounds with DirecTV

      Are you SURE it's DirectTV? More likely it's Dish Network. DirectTV (last time I checked) does NOT provide service unless you have a land-line (yes, you can "get around" the requirement from a technical perspective, but the contract mandates being connected 24x7.)

      A huge potential userbase is retired RVers, BUT I would expect that the number of RVers willing and able to pay to be a fairly small percentage. $10 / day is rape considering you can get business DS
      • You can even get DirecTV on your boat [directv.com].
      • I agree that $15 a day seems high. $10 a day would be my maximum, while $5 a day on a managed WLAN would be ideal. On the other hand, $10 is around 5 gallons of fuel, or around 40 miles. High WiFi charges are far from the biggest obstacle for RVers these days.

        I'd be willing to bet that private campgrounds will quickly go to free WiFi. It's a cheap feature to offer, and as more RVers re-evaluate their operation costs a lot will be parking/selling their rigs. $60k for a new class C and 10-12 mpg. Gas prices
    • > Why not Direcwav while you're at it? It's $100
      > setup and $50/month and all you need is a direct
      > view of the southern sky (in TX I doubt that would
      > be a problem - and no, I'm not even a customer of
      > theirs).

      FWIW, from the URL: http://hns.getdway.com/faqs.html#twentythree [getdway.com]

      Q: Can I put this system on a boat or in an RV?
      A: No. The DIRECWAY system as supplied by HUGHES is for fixed installs only. Third-party providers do offer customized solutions for this requirement.

      Do able, but not from

  • Free? (Score:5, Informative)

    by AlexTheBeast ( 809587 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:02PM (#11193122)
    The service will be free in the five Texas parks for three months; then TengoInternet, the wireless provider, will charge about $15 a day.

    Err... doesn't exactly sound all that "free" to me.

    "Hence, in order to have good coverage, you need to put antennas all over the park."

    Just to prevent the future fires that the spelling police will start.

    Antennas is correct when talking electronics.
    Antennae is correct when talking biology.
    - Source [reference.com]

    AlexTheBeast
    --
    Tech-Recipes - Leave Your Computer Knowledge for Future Generations [tech-recipes.com]
    • At that price I don't really need the Internet that bad.

    • Re:Free? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Davak ( 526912 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:10PM (#11193188) Homepage
      "Hence, in order to have good coverage, you need to put antennas all over the park."

      Great! That's exactly what I want...

      "Hey, dad, is that a long-necked gray glacksmale hawk on that wi-fi tower over there?"

      Honestly though, you know what will really happen?

      a- Spammers will hit the open access points to flood their product onto the net.
      b- Kids will steal as many access points as possible.
      c- Tax payers will wonder what the hell they are doing putting wi-fi out in the middle of nowhere instead of giving wi-fi to rural Texas... where it might actually improve quality of life.

      I am a wi-fi fan-boy... but what the hell?
      • Spammers will hit the open access points to flood their product onto the net.

        Exactly how will this be any different from open access points in neighborhoods, coffee shops and airports now? Seems a bit silly for a spammer to trample upon federal or state territory to send spam when they can do it from the comfort of their car in any decent sized neighborhood. I imagine they wouldn't have a prayer with the lawsuit that would ensue from that.

        Kids will steal as many access points as possible.

        It is not d

        • Re:Free? (Score:2, Insightful)

          by sixide ( 643991 )
          I wonder how many people will go to a state park on the condition that it has wi-fi. Frankly, I don't think this service would exist except for the profit this company will be making, and I'm sure the state will take a cut of that. Operating costs will be next to nil (a meager connection and maintenance checks), and the charges are sizable.
      • I'm working with my friend who just moved from a broadband rich area to an area with no broadband and no likelihood of it anytime soon. He's a reasonable distance from a CO, so a DS-1 or DS-3 is very possible and he's looking to bring WiFi or WiMax access from his area and to the north of him. We're at the business plan stage right now, but it's looking good for us to finance it ourselves or to get the government to give us a loan or a grant to make it happen even better and quicker than we could do it ot

      • Re:Free? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Lucidwray ( 300955 )
        c- Tax payers will wonder what the hell they are doing putting wi-fi out in the middle of nowhere instead of giving wi-fi to rural Texas... where it might actually improve quality of life.

        There are only a few problems.

        1) Do you have any idea how big the state of Texas is? Come drive around in central (rural) Texas for a few days and you'll start to get a sense of it. Providing WiFi to the 'Middle-of-Nowhere' Texas would be a monumental task to say the least. The majority of the time in 'Middle-of-Nowhere
    • The service will be free in the five Texas parks for three months; then TengoInternet, the wireless provider, will charge about $15 a day.

      Err... doesn't exactly sound all that "free" to me. It doesn't say it'll be free forever, it says it'll be free for three months and be a pay system after that. A fairly expensive pay system.

      Of course, those three months are January, February, and March, hardly the best camping weather.

  • Free? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TrollBridge ( 550878 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:03PM (#11193130) Homepage Journal
    I hate to be a spelling Nazi, but I believe you misspelled "taxpayer-funded".

    • Re:Free? (Score:3, Informative)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )
      Oh, yes. An "insightful" post that is completely wrong. This is not taxpayer funded. It is funded by TengoInternet.

      But don't let facts get in the way of your karma whoring.
      • Oh, yes. An "insightful" post that is completely wrong. This is not taxpayer funded. It is funded by TengoInternet.

        I think you're probably right, and deserve +Informative modding.

        However, the article is not entirely clear about funding:

        "The service will be free in the five Texas parks for three months; then TengoInternet, the wireless provider, will charge about $15 a day."

        I take this to mean that the service will be free to all park visitors for the next three months: presumably Tengo is giving

  • Why does this cause friction? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by tyleroar ( 614054 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:04PM (#11193137) Homepage
    Why does this cause friction? Can't they simply NOT use the WiFi service?
    • I think its a combination of not wanting to see antennas and yuppies with laptops while trying to enjoy the great outdoors.
    • You misunderstand the environmentalist/earth first mentality.

      It's not enough that they choose not to do something. YOU shouldn't have the choice to do it, either.

      • Yes I have heard them wanting Airliners banned from over flying the parks as well as all light aircraft even medavac aircraft. They do not want their "natural" experience spoiled.
        If they are going to have to plow the place up to put towers every where then Yes I am not for it. If they are going to offer it in the campgrounds. Well that is fine by me.
      • But they only choose not to do it by taking it away from everyone. If the choice is there, then they'll do it, too.

        How many rich environmentalists drive SUV's? Even their presidential candidate drove one!

        It's also like the "paying higher taxes" debate... liberals are free to give more money to the government, but do they? Of course not! They'll only feel good about giving if they force you to empty YOUR wallet first!
        • most liberial I knwo want certian service to be provided for all. Yes, that means there must be taxes to pay for it.
          pretty simple, actually.

          Of course the current 'republican' candidate has a much better policy, spend more, give rebates, and lower taxes.

          By the way, This administration is not very republican in the traditional sense. why this doesn't piss off republicans is beyond me.

          finally, I vote on an issue by issue, and candidate by candidate, not by party.

          you may now return to genuflecting towards R
      • because people do things that effect those others.
        I would never dump thousands of gallons of toxic waste into a river, and I want laws to prevent others from doing the same.

        this goes for most thing that effect people who do not wish to participate in the activity.

    • For the same reason that many straight people object to gay marriage: it challenges, or is an affront to their view of the world and their thoughts on how a life should be lived.

    • Re:Why does this cause friction? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Jeff DeMaagd ( 2015 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:19PM (#11193262) Homepage Journal
      If you had read the article (yeah, I know, too much to expect from a typical slashdotter), it requires putting up a lot of antennas everywhere to get good coverage.
    • If I go to a park, state or otherwise, it's because I want to look at trees, water. etc., and not at other dweebs banging on their laptops.

      Geez, people, unplug once in a while.
      • There's nothing new here. There have been portable TVs and boomboxes for decades. And I'm sure all the national parks have pretty good cell phone coverage.

        There is no law that requires people to be courteous, and these days it's not part of our culture. Fortunately, the people who are going to be annoying are also too lazy to walk anywhere, so any trail more than a mile long is going to be fairly gadget free.
    • ...Can't they simply NOT use the WiFi service?

      But you don't understand, simply not doing something themselves that they disagree with is not enough for a lot of people. Busybodies, they feel a great need to make sure that no one else can do it either.

      I agree with one of the earlier posters who stated that "...I find the RV generators a lot more disruptive then some guy with a laptop..."

    • Speaking as someone not opposed to this, but definitely not enthusiastic, I would say people are probably against this because they perceive that people who will use this service will probably be the same kinds of inconsiderate folks who play loud obnoxious music in family tent-camping areas, race ATVs up and down hiking paths, and bring other intrusive and obnoxious technology-related habits to the campgrounds.

      It's not about controlling what other people do; it's about personal space. A lot of people who
    • Puritanism (adj) 1: The gnawing, fearful sensation that someone, somewhere, is happy.

      Same thing here.
  • ...and there is an unprotected AP within about 5 miles, you can get free wifi in many state parks.
  • Sheesh. If you want to get away from it all, why not try leaving your computers at home?
    • Some of us have clients that depend on us and don't have a replacement, but we still want to go camping.

      If I go camping for the weekend and my clients web site goes down, costing them $25,000 a day in sales, that makes it harder for them to pay me $50 / hour to maintain it.

      If I go camping and my laptop can alert me if their site goes down, I'm able to relax completely without having to worry about my clients in the back of my head, and if there is a problem I'm able to solve it and get back to relaxing.
      • If I go camping for the weekend and my clients web site goes down, costing them $25,000 a day in sales, that makes it harder for them to pay me $50 / hour to maintain it.

        You're not the only guy that can do it, are you? You really should have someone else that can do it. It's better for your clients that way. What happens to your client when you have to have surgery, or you have a new child (don't tell me you'll work from the hospital, cause I'll call you a dick), or when you have a mid-life crisis and

  • The list (Score:5, Informative)

    by sh00z ( 206503 ) <sh00z.yahoo@com> on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:06PM (#11193150) Journal
    The article doesn't mention it, but the parks are: Choke Canyon State Park (Calliham) near Three Rivers, Blanco State Park near Blanco, Balmorhea State Park near Toyahvale, Goose Island State Park near Rockport, and Ray Roberts Lake State Park (Isle du Bois) near Pilot Point. Reference: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/news/news/041220b.phtm l [state.tx.us]

  • that's fine and all but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by the_pooh_experience ( 596177 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:06PM (#11193157)
    what I want to know is when are they going to add AC outlets to all of the trees?

  • Complaints about it already (Score:5, Informative)

    by moofdaddy ( 570503 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:06PM (#11193159) Homepage
    I work for the texas state park and let me tell you how not happy people really are about this new service. What the article did not report was that we recieved a petition from 500 "naturalists" saying how strongly they object to this.

    Naturally, we did what any good goverment body would do when handed a petition, we threw it away.

    Bottem line is that technology is good and that this is going to make our lives and everyone else who uses the park but is not crazy, lives easier.

    Progress is a good thing!!

    • Re:Complaints about it already (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Naturally, we did what any good goverment body would do when handed a petition, we threw it away.

      Yep, you're a Texan alright!
    • Thanks for the info. Now I'm sure I'll never want to visit Texas.

    • Re:Complaints about it already (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ostrich2 ( 128240 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:36PM (#11193366)
      Bottem line is that technology is good and that this is going to make our lives and everyone else who uses the park but is not crazy, lives easier.


      Technology is not good. Technology is also not bad. Technology is, and that's probably the most you can say about it.

      I think the part people are very nervous about (myself included) is that while they are out trying to enjoy the seclusion and serenity of the outdoors, someone else will be enjoying it while loudly playing Doom with the accompanying noise and such. I admit I'm a lot more negative on the possibility of cell towers than I am wifi, but it's basically the same thing.

      What I can't understand is why would someone go so far away from their homes just to reproduce their home environment? Maybe I'm too sensitive, but I was in Utah a few months ago in an area positively reknown for its night-time views, and it upset me that the first thing some people would do when it got dark was turn on a 1M candle-power unhooded flood light at their campsite.

      Believe it or not, many people actually dislike the confinements of their city lives and are weary of making their escape location just another tourist spot. I know I am.

      • They have more to fear of me cranking up the BOSE stereo in my car then those itty bitty speakers that come installed in my XPS laptop - which I conveniently have some very nice SONY headsets. Laptops, while generating light, I highly doubt would ruin someones experience unless they were right next to it. The persons body is probably blocking it, they just might be in a tent, and the laptop screen would have to face you. People compalin to complain - I cannot see how this would infringe on someones pursu
        • I'm glad to know that when you're settled in to play a networked game of UT, you're as quiet as a mouse in a field. When I do it, I know I tend to yell at the guy next to me, and him at me.

          Your other point is smack-on, though. I imagine a group of people camping and the wives wanting to go on a nature walk while all the guys are huddled around the laptop, checking their fantasy football scores.
          • Romantic walk with the ball and chain - or screaming kids - or some major ars kicking with the boys n a brew....You know which one wins in my book (not that i have a wife or kids) :D

            When i am with my friends we do go flipping crazy on the games - especially when drunk - but self control is not the hardest....sides battary life is still a problem - except for RV sites, I have not been to any that had an electrical outlet sticking out of the tree (would be nice though)...

      • Escape (Score:2)

        by bluGill ( 862 )

        Then don't bring your @#$%*& computer with you. If you don't have a computer, then wi-fi won't affect you at all. If you do, then you have already negated your intent to escape from the city life by bringing it with.

        Personally, I go to the state parks because there is good fishing there. (other than just after sunrise and just before sunset fish don't bite) I need something to do. Normally that means talk to friends I'm camping with, but "a game of doom"[1] sounds like a good way to pass the tim

      • Technology is not good. Technology is also not bad. Technology is, and that's probably the most you can say about it.

        I have to disagree. Technology is not always an ideologically neutral tool. Tools are usually created with a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is good, sometimes it is benign or neutral, sometimes it for something bad. Sometimes a tool can have uses not foreseen by it's inventor, and those tools (whether good or bad) will become the predominate use of the tool. But there is always some re
    • Progress is a good thing!!

      Why not make progress in educating children about plants and animals instead of making progress in helping them to be able to play Half Life anywhere they are? People should be pissed off. You're wasting parks money that could be used for something to educate people.
      • First, as has been pointed out in earlier threads, it looks like this is going to be a privately funded, for-profit venture.

        Second, who says this can't help children learn about plants and animals? Contrary to popular belief, there is more to the internet than porn and spam.
    • So my question: Other then the "we do not like this idea" did these morons, with too much time on their hands, give a logical reason as to WHY there shouldn't be wifi available? I mean I take my laptop with me when I go camping (unless I am doing the true camping which means I am not lugging a 12+ lb computer + accessories for 2 hours of connectivity), how does this affect the neighboring campsites?
    • Bottem line is that technology is good and that this is going to make our lives and everyone else who uses the park but is not crazy, lives easier.

      Progress is a good thing!!

      Let me explain this in the simplest terms possible so that you might understand:

      Technology != Progress

      Or more correctly, sometimes it is and somtimes it isn't.

      Technology has had both good and bad effects upon society. Ignoring that fact puts you in the same tinfoil hat wearing crowd as the "technology is bad" people. You need to

    • "that this is going to make our lives and everyone else who uses the park but is not crazy, lives easier."

      haha, easier? you will become tech support for hundreds of campers. you're life will not be easier.

      Do not feed the bears.
      Do not DDOS the ranger.

  • Cool! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by natron 2.0 ( 615149 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `97sretepdn'> on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:06PM (#11193161) Homepage Journal
    As a Texas resident and an avid camper, I think this is great! There has been many time I have been camping and wondered what else there is to see and do in the local area. Sure one would argue that you could go to the lodge and collect a bunch of tourist pamphlets, or you could sit in your tent or at the picnic table and check the local weather and current fishing and river conditions or even post first on /.

  • Trancendentalist, indeed (Score:3, Funny)

    by Olaserov ( 785074 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:08PM (#11193177) Homepage
    But what about those who just want to get back to nature - and shudder at the thought of a woods where Thoreau could go online?

    "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not remembered to check my email."
    --Thoreau (almost)

    • I've never been in a state park remote enough that you could consider it a place to get away from civilization.

      Sure you sleep in a tent, but your neighbor's tent is not more than 20 feet away. You might cook over an open fire, but only because you didn't bother to light the cookstove that everyone has on the picnic table. It is just a short walk to flush toilets and showers. You are not allowed to camp anyplace else.

      Sure there are trails through the woods. Your going to meet a lot of other people u

  • Think of all the advantages (Score:3, Insightful)

    by moofdaddy ( 570503 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:09PM (#11193181) Homepage
    I don't understand why the "get away from it all" types would be so upset about this, it greatly enhanses the experience of a park. Think of how much more intereactive it makes the whole experience. You see a deer, you take a picture, upload it to your friends so they can check it out. You see some other form of wildlife...or plant and you pull up wikipedia to try and figure otu what it is.

    I say bravo to texas!

  • Location irrelevant? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by drewzhrodague ( 606182 ) <drew@nOsPaM.zhrodague.net> on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:13PM (#11193209) Homepage Journal
    From the article:

    And with proliferating access and declining price, the user's physical location has become less important than ever before.

    I beg to differ on this point. Since we can change our location -- Wi-Fi allows us to unchain ourselves from our desks -- location can now be used to provide a richer computing experience, as in applications like Placelab [placelab.org], and Plazes [plazes.com].

    Chalk another site up on the list to wardrive.
  • I'm off tommorrow morning with laptop and camera into the "great outdoors" and would love nothing more than to be connected while out there.

    The simple fact is, if you want to leave your "gear" behind, heck, do it ! - nobody is forcing you to hook onto the net in the middle-of-nowhere and so long as those that do being connected are polite and discreet, what's the problem ?

  • Wait till Verizon catches wind of this! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jocknerd ( 29758 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:15PM (#11193229)
    They'll be calling George up as soon as they hear this. After all, they probably were already "planning" to implement this themselves.

  • Camper: "What was that ruckus?"

    Ranger: "What ruckus?"

    Camper: "I was just in my office^W tent and I heard a ruckus!"

    Ranger: "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"
  • Online picnic basket ordering.

    From the comfort of his cave, Yogi will never be hungry again!
    • whats to stop that sort of thing from happening? Some body trapes aroung at sunset trying to make deliveries to a camp site. that would certian;y hav a negative impact on the esperience for those who don't participate.
  • Ever vacation in a Texas park in July or August when it's so hot your car leaves tread marks in the aspault and the night breeze is that of 1,000,000 cricket breaths? Now Austin and SA have some nice areas so don't get me wrong...there are *some* nice places to visit, but wifi won't make TX parks my first vacation destination.

  • If I don't have WiFi in teh park (Score:5, Funny)

    by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @03:24PM (#11193297)
    How am I supposed to google for information on how to set up the tent, use a fishing rod, etc.?
  • The write indicated that the pilot program would be free, but would incurr a daily fee with the full roll out.

    The thing is that Texas has gobs of money. There was a time when it used the money to fund all sorts of free and cheap cultural opportunities. The quality may not be up to standards set by the pompous elite, but then these opportunities were not for the elite, they were for the average joe.

    But now we feel more divided, and less willing to give up resources to benifit everyone. The state parks

    • This WiFi service is a wonderful way for the family to experience the stars, the birds, the other animals, the lakes, the trees, in a contemporary relevent fashion. A kid is not neccesarily going to trudge through a book when he or she can search the web.

      Or, of course, the kid could just look up and enjoy the sights of the stars, birds, et cetera without necessarily having to know right then what that particular bird's migration path might be. They can always take a picture and look it up later, for exam

  • Actually away (Score:2, Interesting)

    by psychoandy ( 797773 )
    I really enjoy going camping AND NOT being within range of everyone. I like to take that time when I"m "Unplugged" to relax and not have to worry about my servers going down or something like that. Well, I'm still worried but I don't have a viable way of checking...with wifi I would be checking every few minutes.
    Luckily it's in Texas and I usually don't camp there so I'll just have to not think about it.
    But on a positive note, at least kids will have something to do when their parents drag them away f
  • I don't see what all the brouhaha is about. Provided they make the antennae subtle, or even better, only install them in the more "touristy" areas (as opposed to the "primitive camping" areas), I can't imagine how this could take away from the camping experience.

    If you don't take your laptop, it doesn't affect your "be one with nature" goal...also, at least WiFi usage is a quiet activity (assuming it isn't used to blast streaming music). I imagine I'd be more irritated with loud, obnoxious, drunk campe
    • If you don't take your laptop, it doesn't affect your "be one with nature" goal.

      I wonder just how many of the "be one with nature" crowd are wearing man-made fabrics, sleeping in tents held up by poles made of metal processed from ores and held closed by zippers, or even cooking canned or dried produce??

  • One word for the people who are protesting - Wah! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jht ( 5006 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @04:38PM (#11193978) Homepage Journal
    If you don't like wifi in the park, don't use it. Simple answer.

    That said, I think if the folks who manage the parks want to put antennas in the campground areas, fine. Or where there's public amenities. That makes perfect sense - it's a potential revenue stream, it's cheap to provide, and a lot of "campers" (which here in the U.S. often mean RV owners who want all the comforts of home wherever they travel) may take advantage of it. Even after reading the article, I really doubt they are referring to putting antennas everywhere in the parks - just in the areas that are developed. I don't think folks who go off into the wilderness with their sleeping bags and a pup tent are the target for wifi in the park.

    And I don't see why it's an issue. Most campgrounds that would have this sort of service are designed for the vehicular set. The "back-to-the-woods" folks already stay far away from them. I could see how wifi in the deep woods would detract from the park experience, but that's not what this appears to be.

    Then again, my idea of camping is staying in a hotel that doesn't offer room service. As much as I like the outdoors, I see it as a rather poor choice for sleeping. And RV's aren't much better in my eyes. So maybe my perspective is a tad skewed ;-)
  • Add remote-control hunting [bbc.co.uk] and you have one interesting park to visit (or not). Texas, the state that innovates. I could be sitting in this park, and remotely hunt in another part of Texas.

  • but how will all of the increased radio effect the wildlife?

    do any animals (not joking) use frequencies in that range? will there be a significant increase in radiation, doing harm in a 'natural' setting?
    • The wildlife will be fine.

      As I genuine treehugger, I really don't see a problem with providing wireless into state parks.

      Hell, with a satellite dish you can get anything you need, and we are already bombarded with enough excess radio to render us all infertile.

      The WiFi Pandora is out of the box so to speak- bitching about it as akin to bitching about cell phones there. 'caus with a cell phone you could already find out about that blue-green warbler anyway.

      The real reason I'm sure is that the sta

  • The reality of campgrounds... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jpellino ( 202698 ) on Monday December 27, 2004 @05:20PM (#11194388)
    (and we travel to campground for about 90% of our three-season travel here in the NE)

    is that in the well-equipped private CGs you have a post or a tree that feeds you water, main power, phone and cable TV. Granted the phone is hardly used anymore with cell service being what it is, but they need to accommodate the campers, and with many of them being pop-ups and smaller vans, the line is blurred between a tent and vehicle site.

    The state CGs are somewhere in the middle, and the feds are a patch of land, a painted number on a stone or post and a fire ring. They often do not have even showers (Acadia for instance has none - there are several well known shower services on your way back to camp).

    There are times when I want to be at Seawall, lock the car for the week, and go without the bare minimum. Ride, splash, walk, eat, sleep. Then there's times when we'll bring everything including the laptop, digital camera, iPod, hole up in a private CG with free hot showers, power at the site and now I can't wait to use the new peltier fridge and not have to toss a coin about the safety of the food after five days.

    Network access is just like the other things - but now they can deploy them without running yet another wire that can break to each site. And the states and feds who had few or no wire services to sites can add this without digging trenches to each site.

    And here here on the generator issue - this is far down on the scale of annoying things in a campground - its way below generators and way WAY below 2AM returns on Harleys. In many campgrounds the most annoying things tend to be alcohol-fueled, and I don't mean sterno stoves.

    A lot of campers believe they can simply replace their house with thin nylon walls and carry on like they were still inside an opaque, soundproof dwelling. How wrong they are. I'd swap laptops for boom boxes any day.

    People camp for many reasons. To 'get a way from it all' (you never really do) to be in a more beautiful place (Passaconaway looks a bit better than RT 93 Exit 8) to live more simply but with some smarts. Each camper dials in the amount of those things they need. Good. We already bring a little / lot of our world with us when we camp - the technology in the stoves and GPS and NOAA and EPIRBs and watches we need isn't deemed terrible - they help. If my laptop doesn't disturb anyone else, and it helps me stay in touch and know about weather and going-on, great. There's a big difference between listening to the 90-min frequency NOAA voicecasts and seeing 15-min old color doppler radar. You'd be a fool to go to sea without weatherfax and several kinds of radio capabilities - ditto land nowadays.

    Just don't pee on the wired tree. ;-)
  • honestly I think it ruins the point as far as state parks are concerned (connecting with nature and blah blah), but being from Houston I think it would ROCK for Houston's CITY parks. There have been many a nice days (fall/spring have perfect weather usually) where I wish I could go do my work at one of the city parks -- gorgeous setting if you ask me and great for wi-fi since it's not very forresty.
  • I figured out why the naturalists hates this thing. The park rangers went with pringle cans as their antennas. Imagine hundreds of pringle cans everywhere on trees, rocks, animals! :)

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