park wifi woes

[beetle1]

We are new at full-time vacationing (2months)and must report that the three parks we have been in so far have virtually no wifi even when they advertise it free or with a charge. We now just use our at&t phone as our hotspot. Anybody have ideas on this??

[paulcardoza]

Interesting thought. Can't say if that's the situation or not, but I'm guessing there was a significant investment made. No matter where I am in the CG, I can easily get 3 - 4 very strong wifi signals to choose from. Unfortunately, with Tengo as the provider, those connections do me little good.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:

paulcardoza wrote:
Our favorite CG has a terrific wifi infrastructure AND would have access to multiple boradband service options, YET they continue to offer only TengoInternet. They have already sunk the cost into the outdoor wifi equipment.

Normally in such a situation, TengoInternet provided the internet equipment / infrastructure - and the CG has minimal investment. There will be a contract setting a minimum time period that the CG has to offer only TengoInternet.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

paulcardoza wrote:
Our favorite CG has a terrific wifi infrastructure AND would have access to multiple boradband service options, YET they continue to offer only TengoInternet. They have already sunk the cost into the outdoor wifi equipment.

Normally in such a situation, TengoInternet provided the internet equipment / infrastructure - and the CG has minimal investment. There will be a contract setting a minimum time period that the CG has to offer only TengoInternet.

[paulcardoza]

You certainly CAN do that, if you are willing and able to live with the data caps that come along with those plans. For many people, it's plenty good enough. For larger families or fulltimers who my do some sort of online work or business from their RV, it may not.

Bumpyroad wrote:
just curious but I have previously checked on firm's providing what I guess was my own wifi hot spot for about $60 a month. if one really needed/wanted wifi couldn't they just spring for one of those?
bumpy

[Bumpyroad]

just curious but I have previously checked on firm's providing what I guess was my own wifi hot spot for about $60 a month. if one really needed/wanted wifi couldn't they just spring for one of those?
bumpy

[paulcardoza]

AGAIN, read my post above. Our favorite CG has a terrific wifi infrastructure AND would have access to multiple boradband service options, YET they continue to offer only TengoInternet. They have already sunk the cost into the outdoor wifi equipment.

This group is proving to be very backward in thinking. Any suggested paradigm shift is bad, too expensive and impossible. Don't change anything in campgrounds, no matter how the expectations of the rest of the world may be changing. Kind of sad, really............

Us out West wrote:
We are not talking about huge Hotel chains with all the infrastuture built in but park wifi woes where that type of infrastruture may not even be available or cost prohibitive for a CG owner.

[nazpaz]

bigdogger wrote:
Public wifi is the payphone of the 21st century.

What an interesting statement. I think you are right and the payphone analogy fits quite well.

[paulcardoza]

Sorry, but you are woefully uninformed. :R

bigdogger wrote:
The 20th century thinking is using public wifi and relying on others to provide your internet access. In the 21st century people provide their own. Public wifi is the payphone of the 21st century.

[bigdogger]

paulcardoza wrote:
Unfortunately, times are changing rapidly. Whether we like it or not, the expectations for Internet access are not what they were, even just a few years ago. High speed broadband access is widely available. The ability to stream and download large amounts of data is looked at as completely normal. Music, Movies, TV, etc., etc., etc.... I can't remember the last time I turned on a radio or played a CD!

Campgrounds remain woefully behind this curve. We can hem & haw about the reasons, the costs or whatever, but at some point the situation needs to change. YES, it may drive up the cost of staying in a private campground and certainly there will be as many folks angry over it as there are elated!

To reject change will only serve to get you run-over when it happens, which is inevitable. We spend 7 - 8 months in our rig. I want broadband access with no limits. I'll be perfectly willing to pay for the service. Campgrounds need to move into the 21st century and make it happen.

The 20th century thinking is using public wifi and relying on others to provide your internet access. In the 21st century people provide their own. Public wifi is the payphone of the 21st century.

[Us_out_West]

We are not talking about huge Hotel chains with all the infrastuture built in but park wifi woes where that type of infrastruture may not even be available or cost prohibitive for a CG owner.

[paulcardoza]

Clearly, you didn't read my post........ 😕

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

paulcardoza wrote:
How do large hotels that offer guest Wifi manage? Hundreds of rooms and the Wifi works great.

In my office, we have a single Fios line (500/100) for less than $500/mo with nearly 200 people hooked up. Service flies.

Both of those locations have large high-speed internet connections - at relatively high cost.

Many RV parks are located where getting a simple DSL line is the best they can get. T-1, T-3 and Fios are not options.

Hotels can setup WiFi repeaters connected by hard wire connections. Those are always better then trying to connect WiFi repeaters over the air.

Hotels don't have the variations in individual receiver locations that RV parks have. After all being in a ground aluminum box is one of the best ways to kill a radio signal there is. Guess where we try to run our WiFi connected laptops.

Most hotels also install automated devices which will shutdown a WiFi connection if the user exceeds a certain data download levels. That will terminate movies and other streaming.

It will cost a hotel $10,000-$15,000 to setup such a system. Their primary focus is keeping the WiFi accessible and operational for business customers to connect to their company.

They don't care is entertainment focused WiFi is not operational.

Since they have this high-end equipment - they can even block individual websites - such as Netflix and Blockbuster.

The company I used to work for would block ESPN every year during the NCAA Tournament and the World Cup. They have very likely blocked all the broadcast networks which are covering the Winter Olympics.

It was a business worldwide network - but employees tracking those events - even in off work hours - could slow company e-mail and official work to a crawl.

Your company probably spent $20,000 or more setting up their system - though the money might have been spent in stages as the demand grew. The $6,000 per year for just the data connection is more than most RV parks are going to be willing to spend. Because the associated costs will be at least that much.

The economics of running an RV park would not make that cost a profit unless it was a large RV park with a stable year-round population occupying 100 to 150 spots.

[paulcardoza]

How do large hotels that offer guest Wifi manage? Hundreds of rooms and the Wifi works great.

In my office, we have a single Fios line (500/100) for less than $500/mo with nearly 200 people hooked up. Service flies.

How do these examples differ significantly from the typical CG with 100-200 sites? ASSUMING that they have access to broadband service, of course. The CG we frequent has access to BOTH high speed cable and Fios service. They also have a terrific wifi network throughout the CG where you can easily get a strong wifi signal ANYWHERE. HOWEVER, they offer only TengoInternet over wifi, which is legendary for their dreadful service. The obviously spent a fortune on infrastructure, but are using dime-store service! Hook up a 500/100 broadband pipe and start charging for the service, with a login assigned to peeps who pay. If half the sites (100) sign up for half the days each month, cost would be 33 cents per day. The big chunk of $$$$ has already been spent on the park infrastructure!

dclark1946 wrote:

paulcardoza wrote:
Again, you are thinking in 20th century terms! There are broadband options widely available today that would allow loads of people to stream video.

nazpaz wrote:
I don't see how a campground can win. If they spend the money to provide a good internet then a few people will want to stream Netflix and ruin the connect for other users. If they don't spend the money people will complain about the pitiful internet connect.

In the long run, I think people will solve the problem on their own, either using their phone's data or go with a solution like millinicom.

Please explain more on the type of system that will allow many users to stream video.

Dick

[rockhillmanor]

2gypsies wrote:
I would guess that nowdays most people have their own individualized ways of connecting and they don't rely on park wifi. Park wifi is not meant to stream movies, etc. It was put into place years ago for email. For a park to upgrade to a strong system to allow everyone to stream would be cost prohibited. I can see it going away completely.

yup. The fav CG's I stay at when traveling north to south on the same route have dropped their wifi attempt after so many complaints and now just have a computer in the office for campers to use to get their emails if needed. Of course there is a time limit on the use. A couple of these CG owners put some of the blame on inconsiderate campers that used it for gaming, streaming, etc.

[sidney]

Starbucks

[2gypsies1]

I would guess that nowdays most people have their own individualized ways of connecting and they don't rely on park wifi. Park wifi is not meant to stream movies, etc. It was put into place years ago for email. For a park to upgrade to a strong system to allow everyone to stream would be cost prohibited. I can see it going away completely.