California State Parks with WiFi Access- Guide to WiFi Access in California State Parks

Wi-Fi in the Park
California State Parks and AT&T Wi-Fi have partnered to bring high-speed wireless Internet access -- better known as Wi-Fi to the picnic tables, tents, RV spaces and cabins of more than 85 million visitors who enjoy the State Park system every year.

Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity, and it enables park visitors with wireless enabled laptop computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) to access the Internet at speeds of 50 to 100 times as fast as a dial-up connection. Park visitors will be able to gain Wi-Fi access when they use a wireless device within about 150 to 200 feet of an AT&T hot spot located in the park.

Improving Wi-Fi Range in the Park
There are a number of things you can do to try to improve the range of a wi-fi connection within our parks. For example, at least one networking vendor offers an external USB-based wi-fi adapter that includes a built-in high gain antenna. Since you can typically extend a USB cable up to 15 feet in length, the use of such a USB adapter/antenna may give you enough flexibility to locate the USB adapter/antenna in a location that has better line-of-sight to the FreedomLink antenna than you can get with the internal wi-fi adapter built into your computer. Moreover, the extra gain provided by the adapter's high gain antenna will also dramatically improve the range of a wi-fi connection.

Another solution to improving the range of a wi-fi connection involves the use of a high-power wi-fi adapter that slides into the PC Card or Cardbus slot that is often found on most laptop computers. A number of networking companies offer high power PC Card wi-fi adapters that operate at up to 200 mw of power and that also include a connector to attach an external antenna. Since wi-fi equipment is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), please be sure that the vendor you purchase the equipment from is able to certify that the card and antenna you buy meets FCC requirements.

The following is a list of park units that offer AT&T Wi-Fi Service:
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve
Auburn State Recreation Area
Brannan Island State Recreation Area
Bolsa Chica State Beach
Clear Lake State Park
Columbia State Historic Park
Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area
Crystal Cove State Park
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
Doheny State Beach
Ed Z'berg - Sugar Pine Point State Park
Folsom Lake State Recreation Area
Half Moon Bay State Beach
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
Huntington State Beach
Lake Oroville State Recreation Area
Lake Perris State Recreation Area
Leo Carrillo State Park
MacKerricher State Park
Malibu Lagoon State Beach
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park
Monterey State Historic Park
Morro Bay State Park
Mount San Jacinto State Park
Mount Tamalpais State Park
Natural Bridges State Beach
Old Sacramento State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego SHP
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Pismo State Beach
Point Mugu State Park
Richardson Grove State Park
Salton Sea State Recreation Area
Samuel P. Taylor State Park
San Buenaventura State Beach
San Clemente State Beach
San Elijo State Beach
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park
Silver Strand State Beach
Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area
Sonoma State Historic Park
South Carlsbad State Beach
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park
Torrey Pines State Beach
Van Damme State Park
Will Rogers State Historic Park
William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park

Here is a complete list of California State Beaches.