Communication on the road seems important to most people. Recent surveys indicate that 60-70 % of travelling RVers who use the internet do so with Wi-Fi. And why not! In most instances, the service is free as more and more RV parks and campgrounds now offer free Wi-Fi. And if it's not free there, pard, come on over!

Wi-Fi is a term that was originally defined as well as licenced by the Wi-Fi Alliance . It 's a technology that is based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. Not that this necessarily means much to you and me except that the developing technologies are largely based on the 802.11x set of standards. Of couse, there is no single 802.11x standard. Go figure!

Currently the two most popular standards for RVers are the 802.11b and the 802.11g standards and both operate on the 2.4 GHz operation frequency, just like microwave ovens and cell phones. Most RV parks are equipped with the b standard because the b routers have been inexpensive. Unfortunately, the b standard is also slow at 11 Mbit/s. The g standard currently in use at FCRV Park transmits data up to 5 times faster at 54 Mbit/s!

An incredibly fast new 802.11n standard (540 Mbit/sec) is being developed that will be 50 times faster than the b standard and 10 times faster than the g standard. We can hardly wait for the n standard! Of course FCRV Park will adopt the new standard when it is approved. However, the release date for the n standard is not until approximately April 2008. N routers are appearing on the market already, but they are based on a draft version only and there is no guaranty that the final standard will not change. So best to wait, pard!