I’m not going to say that finding WiFi while traveling is difficult. Wait, yes I am. I’m used to living in Phoenix, one of the largest cities in the US where connecting to the WiFi was no big deal. I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to find that quite a bit of the US and the world don’t have easy access when it comes to finding the Internet. So how do full time travelers find the Internet… you have to be very proactive.
Coffee Shops
Ok, this is a no brainer, or so you would think. Major coffee chains like Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee have free WiFi for their customers. Smaller, local coffee shops in small country towns typically do not. No, I’m not kidding. The look on their faces when you ask for the WiFi passcode is typically priceless. I love to shop local whenever I can, but more often than not, you will find me in a corporate coffee shop when traveling just for the ease of use of their strong WiFi.
Hot Spots
Most cell phone companies offer external hot spots and the majority of smartphones can have their hot spots enabled. Most charge between $15-75 for the extra data, so make sure you know what you are getting. These hot spots won’t work if you don’t have cell service, by the way. If you guessed that a lot of places are also without cell service, you would be correct. Seriously, there are many parts of the contiguous US that don’t have WiFi or cell service. That was hard to understand for this digital girl.
HooToo Wireless Travel Router & USB Port
Shopping
Places like grocery stores have started to build out an area for you to grab a meal on the go, eat it there in a cafe area, and also provide free WiFi. If I need to send a quick email or want to check Facebook, I will hop onto their WiFi and do a little surfing while I’m grabbing groceries.
RV Parks
Most RV Parks like KOAs and private RV parks now offer free WiFi. Grab a spot closest to the office as that is where the signal will be the strongest. Many Federal and State Parks will have very limited WiFi near the entry points, but won’t have it once you are at your campground.
Netgear N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender
Karma
Danielle has recently started using Karma for internet. It runs off the sprint network and you can choose between 2 plans. One you buy internet as needed by the GB or you can choose the unlimited on where you pay $50 a month and get unlimited internet. That is the plan Danielle is on. You buy your Karma Go device and then select your plan and go. There is a coverage map so you can see down tot eh detail if the area you will be in has coverage. So far Danielle has all good things to say about it!