Preface

This document is a step-by-step guide to accessing the internet while mobile. It will specifically detail everything needed to use wireless networking to be able to access the internet from thousands of locations. It isn’t perfect, and is meant to grow with time, as I become more aware of the needs of my readers.

I spend a good portion of my life on the road. I love the freedom of travel and the joy of meeting new people, in new places, every day.  I’m also a consummate computer geek. Being away from the net when I first started traveling was one of the things that stopped me from extending my trips even more. One of the hardest things for many of us who are on the road for long periods, or who travel often, is figuring out ways to access the Internet while we're traveling. For several years now I've spent time searching, reading and studying all the alternatives, and most of the choices left much to be desired. Overall it was either very expensive or very inconvenient. But the last two extended trips I was on were quite different. I had the Internet almost every day, either from the comfort of our truck, or the comfort of our trailer. Now, I want to help everyone else out there do the same. This guide is intended to help all those who want access to everything they would normally have available at home, and with comparable speed. First and foremost, we're looking for convenience and affordability. Not only am I going to give step-by-step instruction here, but I’m also going to give you the opportunity to help make the future of being on the road a fully connected experience.

I don’t normally write in a stuffy and technical way, but in the manner I speak. I will try to fill in all the technical gaps as well, and will include an appendix with links for the more technically minded. The scope of this document is to get you up and running with a connection, and to help you to get broadband internet on a daily basis in almost every situation and place you might find yourself. This booklet intends to “do miracles” but there are some places where connecting is just not going to happen without huge expense. In other words, this booklet is not for those who can afford an auto-tracking satellite system (usually priced in the multiple thousands of dollars), but for those who wish to connect and get access to the Internet on a reasonable budget. That said, there might be days where one is in the middle of the desert, or deep in the “boondocks”, where you may not get connection, and creativity and a short drive to “civilization” may be required.

So far one of the biggest lacks for RVers is the lack of wireless service in most campgrounds. Our company intends to remedy that.  We will be actively seeking and installing campgrounds for wireless access. We encourage our users to submit campgrounds they would recommend for wireless, and to write e-mails to these campgrounds recommending us. In short, we’re hoping to bring mobile computing for long-term travelers into focus in the wireless revolution.

I’ve been a “computer geek” for 22 years, since age 16, and have done network consulting, taught classes, and built computers for many years. My wife and I also “hit the road” for several months each year, and have for quite some time. So the subject matter, and frustration at the lack of options available to travelers, is one with which I’m intimately familiar.

I’m also a firm believer that the Internet should be for everyone, and that wireless technology can change and revolutionize the way we live in ways currently unimagined. I envision, and hope to help bring to fruition, a wireless network that is freely available and stretches nationwide. It may sound like a dream, but you might be very surprised how close we are today. I hope to get you ‘fired up’ and that maybe you’ll join me in bringing this wonderful technology to every corner of our beautiful land.