Rating RV Parks Internet Connections

[grumblegrits]

After another encounter with poor internet at a park, I trolled the site expecting to find some discussion on this matter. I tried several search terms but had no luck.
I'm certain that I am not the only one whose eyes start to roll when a park starts to qualify it's internet with "we're having a few problems" "seems to be down right now" "it's okay if you park near the office" and other such excuses.
What in the world is so difficult about providing internet service in modern times?
Yes I know you can get bandwidth hogs causing problems, but that's only part of it, when you have to trek to the office in another park to ask them to reset their router once again it certainly gets tedious fast.
Quality of park appears to have nothing to do with it, I've received excellent and extremely poor internet at both expensive or modestly priced parks.
If would be nice to have a star rating system for members to go to for ratings on a particular park.

[docj]

4X4Dodger wrote:


My guess is that many park owners are "Hobby-ist businesspeople" retired folks that may not be comfortable with technology and have opted for a cheap slow system just to be able to put "Free WiFi" in their promotional media.

Another problem is that when you're running a small business the capital improvements "pot" is separate from the monthly cash flow pot. An owner might be agreeable to budgeting money to install a wifi system without fully understanding the monthly costs he is going to incur to maintain a high quality connection to the internet.

IMO what is needed is a mix of business models that owners can avail themselves of. At the Canadian park where we are spending the summer, the young owners don't have the $$ to capitalize a wifi system so they're paying a Tengo-like service to lease the equipment and the pipe to the internet. And they've specified the size of the pipe to ensure adequate bandwidth. I know they are paying quite a few $$ per month for the service, but their customers love it. Obviously, they've decided it's good for business.

[4X4Dodger]

docj wrote:

djgarcia wrote:

RV parks use Tengo because it is cheap:(:(:( What a total waste of money:(:( You would think that RV Resorts would figure out that in the long using Tengo will come back and bite them on their financial butt:):)

Although I'm no defender of Tengonet I do know a bit about their business model. Part of their image problem comes from the fact that they have not be requiring that RV parks buy backhaul capability commensurate with their anticipated data needs. Tengo can design and install an absolutely first-rate network in the park, but if the owner connects it to an undersized pipe to the internet it will appear to users as if the Tengo system doesn't work properly.

IMHO there are owners who back away from what they see as high monthly costs associated with purchasing adequate backhaul capacity and there are those whose parks are in places where adequate capacity can't be bought for any price. As a result there are quite a few parks with great internal wifi systems that provide customers horrible internet connections.

As an administrator of RVParkReviews.com I can truthfully say that poor wifi is the #1 most frequent complaint by RVers. Maybe when park owners realize that they might be better off ditching mediocre cable channels in exchange for decent wifi, we might see some improvement in the situation. Some CG owners are beginning to get the message. We're at a small, family-owned park in Canada where the young owners pay quite a bit to get excellent wifi in a very rural area. They get lots of business referrals as a result of it.

You bring a very interesting and needed perspective to this issue. Thanks.

My guess is that many park owners are "Hobby-ist businesspeople" retired folks that may not be comfortable with technology and have opted for a cheap slow system just to be able to put "Free WiFi" in their promotional media.

It's good to hear that this is a big issue at RVpark Reviews. Now hopefully GSE and the Big Red Book will catch on.

[docj]

djgarcia wrote:

RV parks use Tengo because it is cheap:(:(:( What a total waste of money:(:( You would think that RV Resorts would figure out that in the long using Tengo will come back and bite them on their financial butt:):)

Although I'm no defender of Tengonet I do know a bit about their business model. Part of their image problem comes from the fact that they have not be requiring that RV parks buy backhaul capability commensurate with their anticipated data needs. Tengo can design and install an absolutely first-rate network in the park, but if the owner connects it to an undersized pipe to the internet it will appear to users as if the Tengo system doesn't work properly.

IMHO there are owners who back away from what they see as high monthly costs associated with purchasing adequate backhaul capacity and there are those whose parks are in places where adequate capacity can't be bought for any price. As a result there are quite a few parks with great internal wifi systems that provide customers horrible internet connections.

As an administrator of RVParkReviews.com I can truthfully say that poor wifi is the #1 most frequent complaint by RVers. Maybe when park owners realize that they might be better off ditching mediocre cable channels in exchange for decent wifi, we might see some improvement in the situation. Some CG owners are beginning to get the message. We're at a small, family-owned park in Canada where the young owners pay quite a bit to get excellent wifi in a very rural area. They get lots of business referrals as a result of it.

[tpi]

I don't think all of this has to be looked at as criticism of the park. I was in Wonderland RV park in Torrey UT. Wifi internet just ground to a halt in the evening hours. At the rate I paid and the location of the place, it's cool. No big deal-the overall experience was good. Nevertheless it is good info for someone who needs to know if the wifi works there or not- and I would include it in any rating.

Where I do feel a griping judgement is warranted is high price urban/suburban locations where you know there is good backbone for service. Service may not be what you would expect at home (or even cellular based) but it should not be a complete failure.

[thestoloffs]

RavensFan24 wrote:
If RV parks truly want to provide wi fi service, they'd need to invest in a really beefy router. It would even be more ideal if they had multiple routers around the park to handle the volume. No RV Park wants to invest in that kind of service or they simply just don't know what to do, why they should do it and how it would benefit their customers.

It's not just the routers; in many cases, the parks are in a location so far from the local phone switch &/or cable head end that they can't get an ISP connection faster than supporting a single router. And, Satellite internet (HughesNet) is even slower than DSL; it's the last ditch alternative when no wires reach your location, and it isn't portable without a technician setting it up.

(Ex-TV network remote broadcast technician who used to set up those huge earth station dishes. BTDT.)

Bottom Line: There is far more cell coverage in the boonies than either DSL or CATV, so carrying one's own MiFi hotspot (WiFi router + cellular modem) or cellphone hotspot service is probably the most affordable / practical solution.

[RavensFan24]

If RV parks truly want to provide wi fi service, they'd need to invest in a really beefy router. It would even be more ideal if they had multiple routers around the park to handle the volume. No RV Park wants to invest in that kind of service or they simply just don't know what to do, why they should do it and how it would benefit their customers.

As someone who works online from everywhere, this is a very important feature for me. I use my hotspot from Verizon and it works great most places, but when it doesn't I'd REALLY love to have some what of a reliable connection available......especially in places where you spend above $50/night to stay. No reason those places can't offer quality internet services all over the park.

[Bigdog]

The problem with rating parks is that the usage is always changing at different times of the day. Not too long ago we were staying in a park with some of the fastest wifi I've seen and I was able to do some emails in the afternoon that had to be done. After dinner,I had to do some more and one of them had a small file that I had to read, but could hardly open it. Same thing the next day, after dinner it almost stopped and I said something to the manager the day after that one. Several others in our area of the park were complaing also. He finally found the guy two spaces down from us was working online at a part time job that involved a lot of large downloads and his wife was watching movies on netflix. Therre was a decent sized sign in the office and there was also a notice on the sheet that gave you the wifi password about downloading movies and using large bandwidth. Don't know where they went, but the next day they left. Probably to another park to do it all over again. Wifi speed sure picked up in the evenings tho.

[qtla9111]

4X4Dodger wrote:


It's our collective low expectations that get us this poor service.

Agree 100%. I don't know why, but it seems that rvers look for excuses when it comes to lack of service and quality in the industry.

Maybe this is true for any fan of their hobby.

[4X4Dodger]

I think the thread has lost the real thrust of the issue the OP was bringing up.

It is NOT about whether to carry your own Hotspot vs using the Parks.

The OP's statement, the way I read it, was that Parks should be rated on their WIFI service just like their other services.

I think it's obvious that if the Big Red Book by Good Sam was to do a speed test at every park and publish those results in the book it may very well change what parks do. You can argue the details of the speed testing all you want but thats another subject.

As long as most users will go out and spend $50-$100 bucks a month on a hotspot the parks have no incentive to improve.

Finally many of you seem to feel that slow internet is just a fact of life. In this day and age slow internet is similar to having a dial telephone or a Dial-up Modem. No one should have it. Most Hotels even of the Motel 6 variety have good fast (reasonably so) internet.

It's our collective low expectations that get us this poor service.

[4X4Dodger]

TechWriter wrote:

noplace2 wrote:

Necessities are water, food and shelter, in that order. I hope that you truly appreciate how privileged you are.

You forgot air.

What was really forgotten was a little common sense and a sense of context.

[Mr_Beebo]

No all are campers, and not all are the resort types, thus different expectations.
If a full hookup RV park with all the bells and whistles has poor wifi, the market will probably sort them out as time goes on. But for those who have a need, business or otherwise, to stay linked to the web, you are better off with your own data plan, rather than counting on someone to reset a router at 11 pm.
If you have a business or family or bills that have to be paid via web, why put your trust in someone else's internet, whether they are billing you or not. Just saying...

[Crabbypatty]

Its hard to rate cg connections as some can be very strong until everyone in all the rigs start streaming netflix or their kids are gaming and streaming other stuff. Seems like everyone is connected.In addition wifi is affected by surrounding objects like trees, other rvs, buildings. So stay in a nice beautiful wooded cg and your probably going to have issues unless your very close to the antenna site. We have found that most cg's are and have upgraded to their wifi to stay attractive to to us. However if everyone is streaming and we need to log on for business we just go up to the office with the laptop.

[GoPackGo]

x2 on both the above posts.

If you really need or want dependable internet capability, then get your own MiFi/hotspot.

2gypsies is exactly right - "Park Wifi is not meant to do any streaming or downloading. That's when slow or non-existent Wifi comes into play. It's purpose is for emailing or limited web browsing."

[2gypsies1]

A hot spot is what most RVers use nowadays.

Also, you can set up all your bills with AutoPay and never have to call or get online. It's paid automatically. Very easy.

Park Wifi is not meant to do any streaming or downloading. That's when slow or non-existent Wifi comes into play. It's purpose is for emailing or limited web browsing.