Wandering WiFi RANT!

I had subscribed to Flying J for a year before Pilot bought them . No complaints with Flying J .
I got a Verizon Mifi and service has been great .
When in Canada I have to use Wifi . In the past I used the Wifi at Flying J in London , ON and T/A in Woodstock .
Both were satisfactory until they switched to Wandering WiFi . My laptop would log on to Wandering WiFi but would not get and internet signal even 45 minutes or more later .
I started stopping at the 5th Wheel which has free WiFi and e-mailed Flying J and T/A and told them they lost my business due to the Wandering WiFi ripoff .
No excuses . Don't even try to use it . They have ripped too many drivers off .

 

You can get a US map showing the areas covered with verizon and att. Probably Sprint also. Available where you get your service.

 

I learned long time that those hotspots r a joke. I bought a 4g mifi a couple months ago when in 4g area my speeds put most wifi spots to shame.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

Ya......at one time; Flying J's Wifi signal was so obnoxiously powerful, it would boot you off other Wifi services miles away.

 

this service is total garbage at the Flying J and Pilot.
I have 2 laptops and both get full signal but it takes all day to load a page.
This is a waste of money I spent 25(maybe less) dollars for a months service and cannot even watch youtube, check my bills, load google.

yes is loads the page but it should take 35 seconds to 90 seconds to fully load.

give me a refund on this because I travel all over and get nothing but horrible speeds at every J and Pilot in the country
you are better off connecting your wifi to a baked potato

both my laptops are 2010 or newer with a cost of around 2000 each. I run the best and pay for the best.... yet you deliver (hold on its still loading).....NOTHING

 

Let's all be friends.

 

Though I agree their service is terrible, you can do certain things to help yourself out in some situations.

Many places are broke. 90% of them problems can be resolved with the manager resetting the modem and router by unplugging and plugging them back up. Most of them are clueless. I taught many how to do a simple reset so I could get online. You are also at the mercy of their ISP. I've seen some remote truck stops on satellite. You suffer latency issues then. Then deal with some truckers downloading movies and you ain't surfing anywhere quick.

The signal will bounce all over a truck environment. The closer you are to the external antenna the better off you are. I would park within 100' plain view if you can. There are two type antenna's that are easily identifiable when you enter the parking lot. One is a small 12" whip antenna and more popular is a plastic box about 4"x8". Find it and park as close as you can. Many Pilots and Flying J's it's near the satellite dishes, but I've seen a few on TA garages and on the end of fuel islands.

Flying J use to have their own setup which was better than the rest until the merger. You'll still get a better signal there. If you park on the far end of the parking lot with heavy traffic you won't get squat no matter where you are.

Wandering Wifi went bankrupt and someone else bought them out I think around 2008? They were suppose to improve things but I guess they never did.

But for $20 a month it was worth the occasional usage.

 

Thanks Condo, there is some helpful information in there.

I believe the company you were referencing that went bankrupt was IdleAir, we are not related. Sirricom also had wireless at these locations and went bankrupt prior to us taking over.

If you are having issues at any location you can always call us to work with the management, if necessary, or perform any troubleshooting with you. We are your best point of contact to successfully getting online and are available 24/7 by email or phone, both available here.

The advice about parking is good. Being in direct view of the antenna on the roof will get you the best signal and connection. The further you are the further the information has to travel and the greater the chance of interference. Parking with your cab facing the building also helps.

Thanks again for the good information Condo and as I mentioned if anyone has any issues, questions, or comments please feel free to contact us from our website or by phone.

http://www.wanderingwifi.com/contact.html

 

I'm a tech and this whole concept is just infuriating...what a gross misallocation of resources. My advice is get another air card that isn't sprint. Their service sucks in most places due to then investing so heavily in wimax and then going under. They are rebuilding their infrastructure but that will take time.

There is so much these companies could do to improve the situation but sadly they settle. A few dozen air cards and smarter routing with properly setup qos comes to mind...just as a basic extension of what they have.

The logistics of a truckstop is painful but a sorry were doing the best we can....park closer is just sad...