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Comment by Tepix | Hacker News Reader

OK, i get what he's doing and it's cool, however i then stumbled over this:

> Yes, this setup is overkill but having functioning internet is especially important when going camping with young kids.

No, it's not. 100% no.

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On my reading I thought - no need to justify this obviously cool project! I think sometimes people feel the need to have a good reason to do something, even when they are doing it because it's just intrinsically awesome. I've totally overengineered my home network, and have spent more than I probably should have, but I don't think it's a waste at all because there is something deeply satisfying about it. But when I defend my purchases to others I am tempted to say, "I need good internet for work", or "we run many IoT devices" and those things are true, but could have been completed with much less time, money and effort.

It's a learning experience, and a hobby. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with finding joy in that, and absolutely no reason to have to explain it to others, because you're likely the only person who gets it.

Fixed: Having NO internet is especially important when going camping with young kids.

My "camping" is "your living" but in nature instead of being a slave to a circa $912,382 home loan in Sydney, Australia. When I want to go "your camping" I house-sit or stay at friends houses.

https://ghuntley.com/how-long/

"This post is for newsletter subscribers only"

Indeed

> indeed (and it's worth it)

thanks for the spam

Yikes. I was with you until this comment. It may be worth it but you're not likely to get a lot of support with that level of... hutzpah.

I don't have young kids myself, but I feel like if you are camping for long enough(like if you live in a van), it becomes less of a "escape the modern comforts to reset" kind of deal, and you'll want to start blending in modern parts of life.

BINGO.

Young kids get over poor or no internet, but it’s not instantaneous. It’s part of that whole actually being a child thing rather than simply childish behavior.

Can confirm. At 8pm every evening a cron job adds a few firewall rules that block a few devices in the house. Much better than arguing w/ the little one about stopping what they were doing and getting ready for bed.

For sure. We doing a camping family reunion every year at a site with no service and it's great. Camping for me is about particular and very useful kind of giving up. We've done things at that reunion together that never would have happened if kids (or adults) could wander off with their devices. E.g., one year I brought many cheap copies of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and over two nights we did a firelight readthrough. Many of the kids were suspicious at first and then really got into it.

Maybe for a weekend trip or just an overnight camping trip sure. But when your life is living in the camper you need internet.

It is for my family. It may not be for yours. When they reach the age where they have their own cellphones / social media media then it's different. Freshly popped popcorn from the microwave + salt + butter and introducing kiddos to "the dish" movie after _they have been to the actual dish_ is A+ and highly recommend.

You don't internet for that. The movie is available on DVD as well as Blu-Ray.

Answered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28593998

The more modern answer would be to download ahead of time.

That assumes I'm departing from a house? This is my house.

Yes, meant to add that if folks are misunderstanding, perhaps you could clarify. (But I was not yet awake.)

From the text however, its not clear how often the kids are around. Maybe they could benefit from some downtime, maybe not. Maybe it is their link to school and would therefore be even... crucial. In absence of info people tend to speculate. ;-)

Also, I have a stash of important movies that I keep for posterity. Even at a normal home with reliable internet. I don't want to pay for rental every single time, or have them go off streaming at random as they so often do. You'd be surprised what can fit on an SD card or micro usb flash these days.

> its not clear how often the kids are around

Deliberately so, this information is private and personal. Especially right now due to lockdowns in Australia. I have publically shared this recently because enough is enough:

https://twitter.com/GeoffreyHuntley/status/14335483401221857...

Sorry, not trying to pierce your privacy, it was merely a factor on the discussion. Also, I don't use twitter for various reasons, so couldn't read the blurb there.

How much dvd storage do you have in a van?

Enough to take one DVD with you plus a USB based drive. It's not that much space. And depending on your jurisdiction, it might even be legal to rip a DVD and take the ripped version with you for the trip on say a tablet's flash storage. No need for the internet.

But why bother? Its easier to bring some internet.

Well, I think he's mostly doing that, because he is actually working remotely, while camping:

> If you are going to work remotely anywhere in Australia from a van, you need damn good internet.

In that context it may not be an overkill. If you're 2-3 days away from nearest wifi enabled spot, then having a solid backup strategy might be a good idea...

I remember when HN used to discuss cool technology hacks and not incessant hand-wringing about the plague of internet-connected children at campgrounds or the deluge of fraudulent handwriting in the postal system.

I mean, as a technology minded forum, isn’t it also the place to discuss the downsides of tech as well?

I would then argue that it's that very "stick our heads in the sand and pretend nothing's wrong" attitude that contributed to the massive user-hostile mess that tech, broadly, has become.

Yea, I just thought "wat"?

OP lives in Australia. Which means that functioning telecommunication is an absolute must given the number of living lethal things that are out to kill you.

For what it's worth it's interesting (but possibly explained by the ridiculous cost of anything not SpaceX) OP doesn't have a satellite internet uplink too.

Nothing is out to kill you. It might do it by accident, or if you startle it by trying to use a toilet or wear your shoes, but there’s no malice in it.

[straya] The van has a toilet so toilet spiders don't kill me or the kids https://ghuntley.com/toilets

That's just what we Australians like you to think. Drop bears are actually not very common.

I’ve only ever seen a couple. And only one serious injury but they were silly enough to camp beneath a nest

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