Wireless Internet Service

Wi-Fi at State Parks

Wi-Fi in the Park
California State Parks and AT&T Wi-Fi have partnered to bring high-speed wireless Internet access -- better known as Wi-Fi to the picnic tables, tents, RV spaces and cabins of more than 85 million visitors who enjoy the State Park system every year.

Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity, and it enables park visitors with wireless enabled laptop computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) to access the Internet at speeds of 50 to 100 times as fast as a dial-up connection.  Park visitors will be able to gain Wi-Fi access when they use a wireless device within about 150 to 200 feet of an AT&T hot spot located in the park.

Improving Wi-Fi Range in the Park
There are a number of things you can do to try to improve the range of a wi-fi connection within our parks.  For example, at least one networking vendor offers an external USB-based wi-fi adapter that includes a built-in high gain antenna.  Since you can typically extend a USB cable up to 15 feet in length, the use of such a USB adapter/antenna may give you enough flexibility to locate the USB adapter/antenna in a location that has better line-of-sight to the FreedomLink antenna than you can get with the internal wi-fi adapter built into your computer.   Moreover, the extra gain provided by the adapter’s high gain antenna will also dramatically improve the range of a wi-fi connection.

Another solution to improving the range of a wi-fi connection involves the use of a high-power wi-fi adapter that slides into the PC Card or Cardbus slot that is often found on most laptop computers.   A number of networking companies offer high power PC Card wi-fi adapters that operate at up to 200 mw of power and that also include a connector to attach an external antenna.    Since wi-fi equipment is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), please be sure that the vendor you purchase the equipment from is able to certify that the card and antenna you buy meets FCC requirements.