Does "free WiFi" ever work?

Farm Camp wrote:
Just visited two different KOAs, two days, in a row, both offered "free" WiFi... I hate to say it like a complaint because it's not exactly something I'm going to loose sleep about... I'm just wondering what others experiences are/have been, not naming parks specifically, just generally, does it work for you generally, or are you generally better off just sticking to your own connections like a Hotspot (as I'm doing now.). Sorry, not wanting to start a rant fest, just taking a gauge of others experiences..

we keep our expectations low. for us, the park wifi usually works ok. if you're trying to stream video then you will be disappointed. some parks have taken to throttling your download speed when ANY streaming is detected and that would include audio, youtube videos and even software updates. remember, you're not home using your broadband connection. you're sharing a connection with dozens of others. if you restrict yourself to e-mail and light browsing you should be fine. anything more than that you should bring your own hotspot with you.