5 Easy Ways To Get Internet Access While Camping

We all know you are not going to survive in the modern-day without the internet. It is easy to think that you are going to go the whole camping period with nature and disconnect from technology, but do you feel like at the end of the day you need internet access to either browse through social media or go through the news before going to bed?

Why Need The Internet While Camping?

The Internet has developed from being a luxury to being a necessity in the last 30 years. 20 years ago, mobile phones were just a part of luxury for people who could afford it but in today’s world, even kids need a mobile phone to operate.

It has taken over all the industry in no time at all and now we can’t even imagine our lives without the use of the internet.

From listening to music to paying for stuff, everything we can imagine is digital and need the internet to operate.

Further, with the world currently facing the effects of Coronavirus, the world has come to a standstill and is only operating through the digital medium.

So, in a time like this, the internet is an absolute necessity and it will be a handy friend to you in camping.

What Can You Do With The Internet While Camping?

Not having internet for even a day means that you stay behind the world these days. Suppose you are in the middle of a camp and a sudden storm is approaching your camping area.

With the internet, this is a situation you can avoid. You get news from every corner of the world at your palms with the internet.

You can catch up with others about how they are doing while you are at camp through the internet. What if you come across a beautiful flower but you don’t know its name, won’t the internet come in handy then?

The Internet has so much influence, it can fill both your boredom and curiosity, which is why you have got to think of accessing the internet during a camp.

Get Internet Access While Camping: 5 Easy Ways

1. Mobile Data And Tethering

The easiest and most obvious way of accessing the internet while on a camping trip is through mobile data. You can just turn on your data services on your smartphone and get connected to the world.

You will need to have an active data plan for accessing the internet though. Make sure to check on the best offers provided by your telecom operator and keep your plan active for enjoying a good camping trip.

This will come in handy in every step of your camp. If you get lost in your campsite, you can use the map service on your phone to navigate your way through it. That is why it is highly advised to have the internet at least on your mobile phone.

The plan you have will determine how much internet you have available with you and beyond that will cost you money.

You may want to binge-watch a lot of movies and TV shows in your peacetime at camp and for that, you will need more internet.

If you carry a laptop with you and want to access the internet through it, you can just connect your phone to it via the USB cable and turn on the tethering feature available in the Settings of your mobile phone.

Turn on the tethering and enjoy the internet on your laptop.

2. USB Dongle

Camping is all about dealing with problems and you want things to go wrong in camping. So, in the case of the internet, there can be quite a few such problems as well.

If you are a binge-watcher and like to finish shows in one go, you will exhaust your mobile internet pretty quickly. In such a case you have no internet but your desire for watching remains.

Similarly, your mobile just got damaged and is sent for repairing (because that is the only scenario in which you can be without a phone) and you are going camping with just your laptop.

In both cases, the tethering of the mobile data option is out of the question. What do you do then? Well, there is the USB Dongle that you can use.

You can just put your SIM card inside the dongle and plug it through either the USB 3.0 port or the USB 2.0 port. You will have to recharge with a data plan on that network for the internet to work.

The speed of the internet is dongle is faster than the mobile data and you can watch it for streaming videos, be it on YouTube, Netflix, or Facebook.

Another benefit of a USB dongle is that it is very small similar in size to a pen drive and can be carried easily. But laptops on which dongles work are quite large in themselves and you need a bag to carry it.

3. Campground WiFi

Wireless Fidelity or WiFi has been one of the games changing inventions of the modern world. They provide you with large bandwidth and the ability of multiple users of the internet from a common point.

WiFi has been made available in malls, metros, and even in restaurants. So, why should the campground be different?

Across many of the camping grounds here in the US, WiFi is made available to the public and can be accessed through your phone or laptop.

But as you know, for connecting to a Wifi you need its password, right. So, for that, you can ask for the charge of the campground from whom you booked the slot. It is usually given when you register for a spot in the campground.

4. Modern Modems

Campground WiFi is good and all considering it is complementary with the campground but like all other public WiFi, it is quite slow and sometimes it takes too much time to load a web page or too much buffering if you are streaming a video. For that, it is better to carry your WiFi wherever you are going to the camp.

And for that, you will need a modem. The modern ones are wireless and it enables you to carry them anywhere. You will need to have access to the internet by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for connecting to the web.

If you are going camping as a family or a friend’s group, Modems are the best option because they will provide you with high-speed internet and for a bigger size of data. They are also easy to carry around and set up. But they will require electricity access for transmission.

Also, keep in mind that modems are expensive and slight damage is enough for it to stop working completely.

5. Satellite Internet

So, there are so many ways of accessing the internet that we have discussed, but in every case, you will need your area to have good network signals.

For mobile internet and USB dongle, you will need the signal of your telecom operator. For WiFi, you the source itself need a signal. For the modems, you need a signal of your Internet Service Provider.

But what if you are going camping in someplace secluded. Some far-off places where there is no signal of a telecom operator or internet provider. What then? Well then, you will need to use the Satellite Internet for connecting to the web.

Satellite Internet can reach you at any place at any time and it is also very easy to setup. You can just set up a wireless router that you can purchase, connect it to a power source, configure the network by the details provided by the service provider, log in to the network and enjoy high-speed internet.

Satellite Internet is very fast because there is usually no barrier in transmission and it can reach you almost anywhere. You can carry a wireless router for getting the internet and watch videos at good quality without buffering.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Final Say

So, there are so many ways of getting internet in camps, from obvious and simple ones like mobile data & tethering, and USB Dongles to a little bit complex one like Modems and satellite Internet.

The simple ones are also cheaper but the speed is low, while for the complex ones you need to spend more but you get high-speed internet. But one thing is for sure, we all will need one or the other because we can’t imagine our lives without the internet.

You can use the ones to your liking and though we advise you to go camping and disconnect from the technologies for a short while, you will get the most satisfaction from Satellite Internet regardless of its cost.

Do enjoy your camping and tell us your stories and how the internet helped you in the camp through the comment section below.

And as per usual, Happy Camping Everyone!