[echo]

For those of you who have been there, is there wi fi in Canada and Alaska? If its not in the motel are there places you can find it?


Thanks!

 

[Jimm]

what's wi fi?

 

[tmcgee]

McDonalds has it.

 

[griffin800]

wi-fi

Depends on where you are in either place. 100 miles from the nearest town the odds are about what you expect.

Bill H.

 

[Christopher Ryan]

Wi-Fi is being blocked in Canada because it is thought that it will decimate the messenger bear industry.

No matter, our Internet machines are all publicly owned, made of wood and use a sonic system instead of electro- magnetic.

 

[echo]

OK I get the message.


Now...will I stand out if I wear clothes or should I bring animal skins to wear?

 

[gsinpei]

I was just checking with my ipod touch and using an app called free wifi I found quite a few hotspots, the cities usually have many.

 

[slt824]

OK I get the message.


Now...will I stand out if I wear clothes or should I bring animal skins to wear?

I would wear Hi-Viz animal skin. If you wear regular color, you will probably get shot. We all have gun mounts on top of our igloos.

 

[chicago]

In small towns I have found it at the library/coffee house. Rural areas watch for the blue '@' sign which means public wifi access. Also have found it at some provincial campgrounds in Nova Scotia.

 

[Craig Jackman]

Now that hockey season is over, it's time to restock the ice cave with meat for winter, which starts in 6 weeks. You must be wearing hi viz animal skins ... if not, we'll know you're a tourist, then you are on your own.

To answer the original question, wifi is not as prevelant in Canada as most places in the US, but it's getting better quickly. Small towns are more miss than hit, but it's easier to find in the medium sized places.

 

[footloose]

OK I get the message.


Now...will I stand out if I wear clothes or should I bring animal skins to wear?

:biggrinjester:

As mentioned, McDonalds plus Starbucks and there is a chain called Coffee Lodge that has it but needs a pass word. Don't know if they are on the west coast though. Every motel/hotel. Try siddling up to a library etc etc.

I think Tim Hortons should be convinced to get wifi! (Chain of coffee/light meal shops that are on EVERY street corner in Canada, for those that don't know!)

 

[echo]

OK! SOunds like its o go!

 

[rconti]

Tis a fair question. I'm headed out in a few hours for Alaska. We'll probably be without cell service for days in northern BC and YT, based on the carrier coverage maps, but hope to find wifi here and there.

 

[tmcgee]

Every motel/hotel. Try siddling up to a library etc etc.

Yeah, I've parked in more than a few hotel parking lots over the years, just long enough to get mail. Some have passwords, but more and more they don't bother.

It used to be that data service on your phone was mostly restricted to the larger cities, but that's no longer true. If I went north of Freeport, Maine, until about five years ago, I couldn't even get into voicemail, but driving south towards Portland after 4 or 5 days on the road, the phone would start dinging up a storm.

If I really go back to the mid 80's, I used the 300 baud modem in the TRS-100 to check mail on the road. Talk about a project! No hotels had data ports, you had to take the jack apart and I carried connection cables with clip leads.

Never tried RTTY with amateur radio -- that was even more convoluted, but it was possible.

Easiest way now is ipad.

 

[footloose]

Easiest way now is ipad.

:thumbup::hurray:

(sent from my IPad)

 

[SittingDuck]

For those of you who have been there, is there wi fi in Canada and Alaska? If its not in the motel are there places you can find it?


Thanks!

You've never been to Canada, have you?

We are in fact a thirld world country, and while we have (some) computers, they are only available in big cities like Montreal and Toronto; you have to go to the library to use one, and the lineups are quite long.

 

[V-Strom Ry]

Yeah, I've parked in more than a few hotel parking lots over the years, just long enough to get mail. Some have passwords, but more and more they don't bother.

Funny thing I've found is that the chances of a hotel having free wi-fi are inversely proportional to the cost of the rooms. Places like Sheratons will hose you for $12/day (or something like that) every time for wi-fi or cabled internet connectivity, but the $75 Super 8 (or similar) will have free wi-fi.

From personal observation, I don't know if most of the patrons of Tim Hortons would have any use for wi-fi, or even know what it is. And no, I'm not a coffee snob - I don't even drink the stuff - but around here their clientele is definitely lower-end. Of course, I live in Hamilton, which has more Tim Hortons per capita than any other place on earth.

 

[p38arover]

Funny thing I've found is that the chances of a hotel having free wi-fi are inversely proportional to the cost of the rooms. Places like Sheratons will hose you for $12/day (or something like that) every time for wi-fi or cabled internet connectivity, but the $75 Super 8 (or similar) will have free wi-fi.

Same here in Australia - except they charge even more. The usual cost is A$27/day (US$28). Low cost places usually give it free.

When I stayed in Bothell (Seattle), the hotel charged $5 for the whole period of my stay (a little over 2 weeks).

 

[jeems]

If I really go back to the mid 80's, I used the 300 baud modem in the TRS-100 to check mail on the road.

Haha, kids don't even know what baud rate is!

Funny thing I've found is that the chances of a hotel having free wi-fi are inversely proportional to the cost of the rooms. Places like Sheratons will hose you for $12/day (or something like that) every time for wi-fi or cabled internet connectivity, but the $75 Super 8 (or similar) will have free wi-fi.

They figure if you are staying there you don't care about money.

 

[Jimm]

In rural areas that actually have high speed coverage, volunteer fire departments. Something about how they receive their info from 911.