Roll Call Alaska 2014

sheltieRV wrote:

sue.t wrote:
So I don't blame the RV parks. Gad, my internet at home is bad & slow. Can't imagine trying to provide a connection to a dozen or more RVers!

Why offer a service if you cannot make it work? As a consumer (RV park or not) when somebody markets a feature as part of their service I would expect that feature to work. It is clear that some parks should not advertise technology services as they are not capable of providing it.

I understand the frustration of slow or up/down WiFi. IMO, I think we have three sources involved in the slowness seen here:

1) No question about it, except in the larger cities of Alaska, the cell towers and backhaul add to slow and up/down performance. The infrastructure is improving, but still way behind. For most of the camps not in the big cities of say Fairbanks and Anchorage, it is these towers and backhaul that 'hook' the parks into the info highway. (You specifically mention Oceanfront, we were there four days leaving just three days ago. I ended up using my Verizon Hotspot feature on my droid most of the time while, as they had several days of problems. The staff were very nice, but I don't expect them to be techno geeks. I do know they go over the same 3G (3G not 4G) cellular to access the internet. I had a Sleek boosted 75-82dBm signal strength, but still had slow performance. Either the tower, with the high count of RV Parks, Hotel, and individual cell users all coming thru it, was backed up, or another problem upstream in the backhaul, was adding slowness to everyone. So, not all Oceanfront's fault.)

2) We WiFi users, are consuming more 'data' than ever before. 10 years ago, most users were doing emails, and using search engines to find info about an area. Now we're trying to stream Game of Thrones (add your movie of show here), upload not just the still pictures but the videos of that days adventure, surf, and many are skyping home to check in with the family. (Again, as above, the infrastructure has not kept up with it...)

3) ROI - Yes, many of the parks WiFi systems are simple home wifi routers, that if your lucky, has an external antenna, though I've seen many sitting behind the check in desk next to a computer. The cost of adding more robust 'park size' WiFi systems, may allow more 'in park' connections to all sites. But then your all still just standing in line at the tower, or backhaul, so not much ROI for a fancy grid. (Oceanfront, I recall had three stations, on different channels, and had pretty good 'coverage' of the park.)

I'm not trying to challenge your perception, or even defend the parks themselves. I think Sue pointed out that in the Yukon, the 'infrastructure' is even more fragile. Over the years ahead, as 4G/LTE gets replaced with the 'next best thing', I expect the used equipment will trickle down to these areas. As for Verizon, ATT, etc. - except in larger cities, their ROI is not covered by the small number of customers... That is an economic reality.

Sure does not take away from such a great trip.

Best to all, travel safe, have fun,
Smitty