I’ve been using my own mobile internet connection in Canada for years now and am in my second bout of using it in the US. When I have access to a safe, reliable, and fast wifi connection (such as at a friend’s or family member’s), I’ll go with that since mobile internet can be slow and the bandwidth is limited. But when I’m traveling or staying in a campground, my own connection is preferable.

In no particular order, here are the reasons I pay the high prices for mobile internet instead of relying on public wif:

– I need access to do business. My mobile connection doesn’t always work, but I can pretty much rely on having internet access anywhere there is cell service. I don’t have to hope that I find a wifi hotspot with a good signal and I can do my own troubleshooting. It really sucks to be relying on someone’s wifi and have that person’s router fail and need a reboot when you don’t have access to the device.

– Using public wifi for anything more than checking email and doing very light surfing is stealing. I didn’t understand that when I hit the road. I thought that access to wifi meant access to unlimited bandwidth. That is not the case. If you start downloading massive files or go on a streaming marathon, you’re reducing usage availability for everyone else by slowing down the network. In some regions, you can even incur huge bandwidth overages for your hosts to pay.

– My connection is secure. I have no idea who is monitoring a public network.

– My cellular connection tends to be faster than most park wifi.

– I can go anywhere on the web with my connection. I was having trouble getting my computer to recognize the handset this morning so I used the the park wifi for a short while. I could not access several sites because the state of Louisiana has blocked them.

– It’s a tax deductible expense.