# Good Internet access around Syracuse, NY?



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

I missed booking vacation to join the relatives camping in the Finger Lakes area by about two weeks.
If I can find reasonable internet access in the Syracuse, New York area, staying at the camp overnight and working remotely is an option.

Anyone know what's available or has suggestions of options to investigate?


Worst case, I can book a hotel for Friday night to make the most of the weekend.


Cheers


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

mcDonalds  I was there a few weeks ago, stopped in the mcDonalds for a burger and surfed the web for awhile.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Pretty much everywhere has free WiFi in the States but I'm not sure how you'd work in a public place

There exists 3G pay as you go for maybe $20. You just need an unlocked smartphone/device that can make a hotspot or tether your laptop...

You have to Google where to find 3G pay as you go sim cards and what phones work... because the big telcos prefer you pay roaming


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

What a coincidence. I'll be in the Geneva, Finger Lakes area as well, this weekend. 

I guess it depends what camping your relatives are doing.
NY State Parks do not have wifi.
However, many private campgrounds now provide wifi.

For example, I was looking at this KOA Campground with wifi before eventually settling on a NY State Park.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

jamesbe said:


> mcDonalds  I was there a few weeks ago, stopped in the mcDonalds for a burger and surfed the web for awhile.





m3s said:


> Pretty much everywhere has free WiFi in the States but I'm not sure how you'd work in a public place.


I'm not sure McD's would be okay with me parking myself for four hours ... maybe a coffee shop would be okay with it.

As for working from a public place - I'm migrating code, bouncing servers, reading log files so compared to the lawyer on the airplane reading a confidential brief - there's not much that isn't already available over the internet. As long as no one is bumping into me or spilling something on my laptop, headphones should suffice to keep my focus.

Then too - as long as I can connect in a short time span for any emergencies, I can work on admin stuff or read up on new versions of software offline. A lot of people are off on vacation at this time of the year so it's the ideal time for working remotely. Only the Christmas to New Years timeframe has fewer needs for me to be online. 




m3s said:


> There exists 3G pay as you go for maybe $20. You just need an unlocked smartphone/device that can make a hotspot or tether your laptop ...


Hmmm ... if 3G will work, I wonder if my in-laws air stick will also work. Or would it have roaming charges as well?




avrex said:


> What a coincidence. I'll be in the Geneva, Finger Lakes area as well, this weekend.
> 
> I guess it depends what camping your relatives are doing.
> NY State Parks do not have wifi.
> However, many private campgrounds now provide wifi ...


Cool ... it's a great area to visit. I'll search for campgrounds as well as the closer towns to the state park had almost zero hotel rooms so I suspect there's either a festival in the area or a race at Watkins Glen.

The more I think about it, a private campground might be the ticket. I don't believe there will be an extra charge for me at the State park site and I'm betting the private campground will be far cheaper per day than a hotel plus be a closer drive.

Cheers


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

Parking lot of mcdonalds? LOL 

3G will certainly cost you in roaming like crazy. Usually it's 1 cent a kilobyte, highway robbery.

If you have a plan check your provider they offer travel packs $10-$30 for a set amount of data for a few days in the US.

or check roammobility.ca


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

jamesbe said:


> 3G will certainly cost you in roaming like crazy. Usually it's 1 cent a kilobyte, highway robbery.
> 
> If you have a plan check your provider they offer travel packs $10-$30 for a set amount of data for a few days in the US.
> 
> or check roammobility.ca


I'll check it out ... but as indicated up thread, an unlocked phone plus a local sim is likely a better option.


Cheers


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

I have an unlocked phone.

The last time that I went to the USA, I went to a T-Mobile store and purchased a SIM card and swapped it into my phone.
I then purchased one of their Prepaid - Pay by the Day plans

I chose the $2/day plan.
It has the unlimited talk/text (just within the USA).
But, the main reason I got it was for the *Unlimited Data*. It is only 2G speed, but is good enough for the basic web stuff that I was doing.
They also have a $3/day option that gives you a capped amount of 4G speed.

For this trip, I'm going to experiment with tethering my laptop to my phone, so that I can surf on my laptop instead.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

jamesbe said:


> Parking lot of mcdonalds? LOL


:hopelessness: I've done this before...


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

MMM talks about lots of deals in the US for anywhere from $10-20/month with unlimited everything (they basically throttle you if you really abuse it) You'd be crazy to pay Canadian rates in the US! But yea, most private campgrounds now have free WiFi too. I usually look for the antennas and pull out my phone to check the signal before setting up... Camping of the 21st century is hardly that :tongue-new:


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## Belguy (May 24, 2010)

I am from the old school and, when I go on a vacation, I leave my electronic gadgets behind. Don't even use a GPS!

I like my vacations to be totally restful. I'll be out of touch until I get back so don't even try contacting me!!

It's amazing to me how the young folks are tied to their gizmos pretty much 24/7 and yet we were able to function just fine without them up until a few years ago.

Are we really better off now? Cell phones and computers in camp grounds--what next!!


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Belguy said:


> I am from the old school and, when I go on a vacation, I leave my electronic gadgets behind ...
> I like my vacations to be totally restful ...


Problem is - as much as I'd like to skip the remote work and book the time off as vacation, I can't.

This means the options are:

1) To work set hours via the internet, have the evenings free plus most of the weekend, with zero travel time.

2) To work from the office for the week then spend over five hours driving for one full day plus whatever time on the second say isn't spent packing up.

3) To work from the office and stay home. 




Belguy said:


> It's amazing to me how the young folks are tied to their gizmos pretty much 24/7 and yet we were able to function just fine without them up until a few years ago ...


Different question better suited to a separate thread for the full discussion.




Belguy said:


> Are we really better off now? ...


Getting to spend an extra twenty hours + with my family, with travel at a better time makes me much better off, IMO.


Cheers


*P. S.*

If I end up going the campground route - this will be the first time in forty + years I've taken a computer camping.
Cell phone is left in the car for emergencies.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Thought I'd provide an update.

It turned out there was no need to go Syracuse. While the McD's five minutes from Sampson State Park did not have wifi, the one in Geneva (19 minutes away) had good wiki & wasn't crowded all day.

My sister's friends had checked out village of Ovid library, which offered a table plus good wifi as well (though it only opened at 1pm on the Thursday, hence the McD's visit).

On the Saturday, my brother-in-law mentioned that he'd used the wifi in the Lowe's parking lot of all places!


Cheers


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