RVLogon.com is an offshoot of a Washington State company, Willadune Communications LLC. Willadune Communications LLC was formed in August of 2003 by Tom Anderson and Cindy Decker for the purpose of installing wireless Internet access in RV parks in Southwest Washington/Northwest Oregon. This was not an easy task, given all the trees and hills.
On August 22, 2003 Tom was installing a system at the Thousand Trails RV Preserve in Ilwaco, Washington. There, we met Garry and Bert Day, who suggested going to Quartzsite. We'd never heard of it, so they gave us "the postcards". We did websearches on the area and decided to visit. Wow - a broad, relatively flat valley with no huge evergreens! Space for all those RV's! A hotel employee who confirmed the lack of broadband Internet availability! And we found the names of retired friends, Patt and Toby Anderson, in the phone book. So in late October we packed up and moved, with our cats Misty and Boots, to a small RV at Rice Ranch.
After getting help with our first tower from the folks at Rice Ranch and Town Hall, coordinating multiple technology vendors in three countries, luckily finding Michael and Cindy Clegg to help put together the antenna's solar power and finally luring the satellite setter from Mesa on a Sunday morning, Tom was able to log onto the Internet on December 23, 2003. Throughout the 2003-04 season, we sold Internet service from a booth at Rice Ranch between vendors of mosquito repellent and country music and there we talked with over a thousand folks about the possibilities of WiFi.
Since then, the system has grown. By May of 2004, we were broadcasting from three additional locations and we're able to offer broadband Internet access throughout Quartzsite, most of the surrounding BLM areas, Rainbow Acres and Brenda. We have changed our connection to the Internet backbone from slower satellite feed to a faster T1 data line and then microwaves. We've started to serve folks who use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for their telephone service. And we're on track for meeting Tom's goal of being one of the biggest - sizewise - WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider) in the world. By late-December 2005, we more than doubled the available bandwidth, installed additional access points in Quartzsite, the Rambling Roads RV Park in Hope and in Salome, using both solar and wind power to broadcast there. And we're working with folks in Wenden to access our signal there.
Tom Anderson
Perhaps inadvertently, Tom has the perfect background to put together and run this business. An Air Force brat raised in the South and Hawaii, he started out selling newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias and insurance, did military service in Korea and Germany, spent 18 years in the Far East where he added construction and hospitality business management to his experiences, landing back in Hawaii where he got hooked on computers. Then he went to the Pacific Northwest where he designed websites and became a cable guy who installed cable modems and learned wireless idiosyncracies from William Rose, the guru who set up Seaside, Oregon's wireless system for North Coast Phone Center. Tom can talk technology and pricing with the largest telecommunications companies on one phone call and, five minutes later, help a computer neophyte discover what the Caps Lock key does. He genuinely cares cared that his customers get good service. He left the business and the area without notice on 4/26/07.
Cindy Decker
Cindy spent many years as a CPA wishing for more excitement in her life. Meeting Tom (on-line) in 2002 fixed that. Her 18 years of experience trying to balance the books with the needs of Washington State school districts prepared her for the administrative aspects of this business and taught her how to enjoy getting along with "interesting" people (see above). She enjoys sharing what she knows about wireless Internet with customers, often shortly after she learns it. And after 4/26/07, she's trying to keep the service going while finding a new owner. Stay tuned...
