# Wifi and 3G?



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

I am at the end of a 9 day camping trip in OR and WA. I have had very little and very slow wifi connection. I can connect a little bit with my iPhone. If I buy a FireHD with 3 G will I get a better connection when I am remote?  Or will it be similar to my scanty connection on my iPhone?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It's hard to say.  The 3G is via ATT. . . . .so it would be dependent on ATT coverage in the area where you are.  And it would have to be the larger Fire as they don't, currently, offer the 3G plan on the 7" model.


----------



## NicoleSwan (Oct 2, 2011)

Likely it'll be just as good/bad as the iPhone.  Just hotspot via the iPhone and use the wifi


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Simple answer for 3G to work, you must be in an area with a 3G tower.  In your case it must be an ATT tower.
As per the wi-fi you do have be near a hot spot.
Now as far as camping goes, will you be in the campground for the entire time, never leaving to go into town or will you be making trips into town to get supplies?
If you will be going into town, there are many places with free wi-fi.

I ask this because when we go on vacation, we stay in state parks but we do not "camp" per se.  We use the camper like one would use a motel room.  Except it doesn't have a microwave.
We eat a few meals at the campsite but mostly go into the nearest town or towns for food, museums, etc.


----------



## Seamonkey (Dec 2, 2008)

Actually the Fire HD 8.9" is 4G/wifi though I guess it would drop to 3G if necessary.

I find the 4G is slow to start and at times the bars will drop for no apparent reason, but it works.  I'm only using in an urban area (Orange County, CA) so far.

But, for me, the battery life isn't all that great (compared to a regular Kindle), so for camping it wouldn't last all that long  ESPECIALLY using WIFI and/or 4G.


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Seamonkey said:


> Actually the Fire HD 8.9" is 4G/wifi though I guess it would drop to 3G if necessary.
> 
> I find the 4G is slow to start and at times the bars will drop for no apparent reason, but it works. I'm only using in an urban area (Orange County, CA) so far.
> 
> But, for me, the battery life isn't all that great (compared to a regular Kindle), so for camping it wouldn't last all that long ESPECIALLY using WIFI and/or 4G.


Possible dumb question but here goes anyway.
What is the difference between 3G and 4G?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

cinisajoy said:


> Possible dumb question but here goes anyway.
> What is the difference between 3G and 4G?


They're basically two different, but sometimes overlapping, networks. Arguably with 4G you'll get better data transfer. . . .so web pages, etc will work better. For texts or phone calls you won't see much difference. That's been my experience anyway. Devices that have a 4G receiver will drop to 3G if there's no 4G network available.


----------



## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

cinisajoy said:


> Simple answer for 3G to work, you must be in an area with a 3G tower. In your case it must be an ATT tower.
> As per the wi-fi you do have be near a hot spot.
> Now as far as camping goes, will you be in the campground for the entire time, never leaving to go into town or will you be making trips into town to get supplies?
> If you will be going into town, there are many places with free wi-fi.
> ...


We are home now, but on our trip we stayed mostly in state parks that are not really near a town. Our days were spent hiking, swimming, beaching, etc. We were in one private RV park that had wifi (though it was the weakest I have ever seen). State Parks don't have wifi. I don't have ATT, so I guess that would be a problem too. I think my best bet is to update to the Fire HD, but just rely on wifi, and to forget about good internet connection for the days I am camping.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jane917 said:


> We are home now, but on our trip we stayed mostly in state parks that are not really near a town. Our days were spent hiking, swimming, beaching, etc. We were in one private RV park that had wifi (though it was the weakest I have ever seen). State Parks don't have wifi. *I don't have ATT,* so I guess that would be a problem too. I think my best bet is to update to the Fire HD, but just rely on wifi, and to forget about good internet connection for the days I am camping.


Well. . . no. . . .if you get the 8.9 Fire that has the cell radio, you would buy a plan from ATT specifically for it. When they were first released, it was something like $40 for the year with a badwidth limit per month. It really has nothing to do with whether or not your current cell plan is ATT or something else.

The Fire HD does have a bit better WiFi receiver, I think, than the non-HD version.


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Jane917 said:


> We are home now, but on our trip we stayed mostly in state parks that are not really near a town. Our days were spent hiking, swimming, beaching, etc. We were in one private RV park that had wifi (though it was the weakest I have ever seen). State Parks don't have wifi. I don't have ATT, so I guess that would be a problem too. I think my best bet is to update to the Fire HD, but just rely on wifi, and to forget about good internet connection for the days I am camping.


Some Texas State Parks do have wifi in certain locations. But you have to be close to the transmitter to even get any internet and in at least one park, do not try to download anything. So yea I understand weak wifi.


----------

