What's the story with the free WiFi in Avalon ?

In Avalon there is a WiFi network that shows up as "Avalon_Free_WiFi". The network is real and we have used it with great results.

There is also a network that shows up as "Avalon_Free_WiFi_Is_Fake". That network is not anything but that message.

The last time we were in Avalon we could not get any data through the free network during the whole time we were there. The network was up and we connected but the network did not go past the gateway. The people in the harbor department said (pretended ?) that they didn't know anything about a free network.

So, does anyone know what the story is ? Is the free network being interfered with by the commercial $10/day Catalina network or its supporters ? Given the false "Avalon_Free_WiFi_Is_Fake" network we did not feel comfortable paying for connectivity using a credit card since there seemed to be some strange dealings going on (don't know how you can find out who is behind it) so the last time we were connectionless throughout.

I'm just curious if anyone here happens to know what the story is ?

[BTW, we always connect via private VPN]



-Sven

I've only used the $10/day wifi connection and never had a problem. That was only once though. I don't remember seeing any "free" connections but it should be interesting to see what I pull up when I'm there later this summer. Hopefully my wifi antenna can pull some more (stronger) connections.

How long are you guys going to be out at Catalina?

McGinnis said:

I've only used the $10/day wifi connection and never had a problem. That was only once though. I don't remember seeing any "free" connections but it should be interesting to see what I pull up when I'm there later this summer. Hopefully my wifi antenna can pull some more (stronger) connections.

How long are you guys going to be out at Catalina?

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We cove hopped between Catalina and Dana Point and Avalon for two months before deciding the shakedown was good enough.

There was a period of several weeks where we had no connectivity other than Iridium phone e-mail and Kindle web browsing.

Now we're back in Cabrillo for a week (Cabrillo Marina gave us too good a deal so we stayed more than the planned 4 days). On Monday we'll probably head to Dana Point for two days and then if the GRIB files look promising we'll head west before swinging up north.



-Sven