• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Free Wifi at Texas Rest Stops

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bobby Prentice
  • Start date Start date

Bobby Prentice

Free wifi is now available at almost all of the Texas rest stops. I'm sure many of these location will quickly become popular with storm chasers. I hope other Chase Alley states follow the TxDOT lead, but I'm not holding my breath.
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/mnt/sra/map.htm
Txmap1.png
 
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Yes, this is a great idea. I was at the Texas Welcome Center back in early March, (Near Gainesville?) and it worked great. They give you a 2 hour limit per user, however (IIRC). Iowa also has it at their rest areas also, but I noticed I had to go up into the building before I could get a connectable signal.
 
For those that don't know, Iowa has free wifi access at most of it's rest areas.


Has their access policy changed? The first time I stopped at an IA rest stop earlier this year, everything was smooth. The last time I stopped, however, I could only access sites linked to / connected to the main site that loads when you log into the system. In other words, I couldn't access any site like SPC, NWS, CNN, etc; all I could see was the 'weather' data on the IA DoT page.
 
Has their access policy changed? The first time I stopped at an IA rest stop earlier this year, everything was smooth. The last time I stopped, however, I could only access sites linked to / connected to the main site that loads when you log into the system. In other words, I couldn't access any site like SPC, NWS, CNN, etc; all I could see was the 'weather' data on the IA DoT page.

Once logged in to the main homepage you should be able to go to any other site. I can't remember if there is something you need to click on to do it. I don't like the way ISPOT has it setup (requiring an account and making you goto the homepage first). I was just reading about how they are working on setting up sites across Nebraska, South Dakota and Illinois, among others. The last time I used it was in late April and I was able to get onto SPC but I couldn't get GR3 to download.

If anyone is on their chase computer, it might be worth going to the address below and quickly filling out an account.
https://secure.tcpconsulting.com/webapps/ispot/HotSpotSignup
 
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Wifi at Andrews, Crosbyton, and Knox City? It's hard to picture getting high-speed Internet around there, but maybe times are changing.

It would be interesting to see the results of wardriving while chasing remote areas. There are some interesting coverage maps at the wardriving websites, but they're mostly for urbanized areas and along Interstates.

Tim
 
Wifi at Andrews, Crosbyton, and Knox City? It's hard to picture getting high-speed Internet around there, but maybe times are changing.

It would be interesting to see the results of wardriving while chasing remote areas. There are some interesting coverage maps at the wardriving websites, but they're mostly for urbanized areas and along Interstates.

Tim

I've used the one at Crosbyton, it's in the rest area just off the caprock that they recently renovated. One of the nicest remote ones I have been to in Texas. The internet there is courtesy of a DirecWay dish on the roof of the main building, as I suspect most of these remote ones are.
 
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