Why is campground WiFi always abysmal?

[phillyg]

CG wifi is simply a marketing gimmick when it comes to their competiveness. When it doesn't work to your satisfaction the CG will blame it on you, too many people, or vagaries of signal strength.

[ThruHiker]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I do believe those campgrounds who are able to get increased bandwidth, will do so as time goes on. Just like when cable became available. Today, many pay for that and never use it and yet don't complain they are paying for that service. I believe every campground we've stayed in over the last several years that had WIFI spelled out whether you could/couldn't stream and if additional bandwidth was available.

Again, the amount of bandwidth needed to supply streaming data for the entire campground is HUGE so I agree, many campgrounds will go to a tiered structure... IF and that's a big IF... they are even able to get more bandwidth coming in. Many campgrounds are located in geographical areas where additional bandwidth simply isn't available.

I think you're right on both counts. That "if" is a huge one. We spent ten weeks out west this last summer, and had a great time. But, internet access at the campgrounds in CO, WY, MT, ND/SD, and even back into WI was abysmal. I don't blame them, it's as 5Picker says... they don't have much coming in from the local ISP to begin with. I don't think any campground we stayed in those states had cable. We used our hotspots when we could, but those are limited too in geographically remote areas. No matter how you slice it, bandwidth takes infrastructure and camping is at it's best where the infrastructure is at it's least. See how that works LOL? All of our stops were in private campgrounds, it was where we could get reservations in June-July-Aug so we're not talking state parks.

Originally Posted by jwfrede

I have never been to a campground that advertised that you could do streaming. Almost every campground says please do not try to stream videos as that will clog up the wifi for people just trying to do email and basic web browsing.

I've tried watching youtube videos and on occasion that has worked intermittently, usually at low resolution of 240p. Sometimes it has worked fairly well at 5 am. Most places have been so jammed up that I haven't been able to do basic web browsing. Most likely that was caused by people trying to do streaming. About 90 percent of the time I resort to my cell phone and jetpack(Verizon).

Streaming is not the norm in most campgrounds. Infrastructure to allow that cost money. Campground prices would need to be higher. Perhaps with the increased number of campers and the new norm of inflation more campgrounds will be able to add that. Expect higher campground rates, much higher in 2022.

Yup! The only place we were EVER able to stream was PirateLand, in Myrtle Beach. Parked two sites away from the antenna. In December, when the place was literally ten percent occupied. It was great, BTW. LOL!

[Larry-NC]

At the site where the Cherokee 38P permanently resides, streaming is blocked. You can't even try at midnight when it's below freezing.

The owner also states that he has bought all the bandwidth the provider is willing to sell.

[NJKris]

Ok, I just discovered one more nice thing about living in NJ. I get about a gazillion bytes per second download speeds. I can download/upload anything without any hesitation. Multiple high resolution surveillance cameras, HD TV, lightening fast. And that's just my house. But I am paying 103 bucks a month for it (Comcast). Businesses get so much more bandwidth.


I kind of feel bad for those living in areas with mom and pop internet companies, with some guy standing on the roof of the office building wrapped in tin foil waving his arms around trying to get a signal! Reminds me of the old dial up days.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Ok, I just discovered one more nice thing about living in NJ. I get about a gazillion bytes per second download speeds. I can download/upload anything without any hesitation. Multiple high resolution surveillance cameras, HD TV, lightening fast. And that's just my house. But I am paying 103 bucks a month for it (Comcast). Businesses get so much more bandwidth.


I kind of feel bad for those living in areas with mom and pop internet companies, with some guy standing on the roof of the office building wrapped in tin foil waving his arms around trying to get a signal! Reminds me of the old dial up days.

You should be here in the Research Triangle. It's like a mini-Silicon Valley

Running through my front yard are Google Fiber, AT&T Fiber, Verizon-MCI Fiber and Celito Fiber. Overhead is Spectrum hybrid fiber-coax. I went with Google because their pricing was a standard rate, not a one-year promotional rate with escalation. I started with the lowest tier, 100 Mbps for $50/month. This completely met all our needs. After a couple of years I got an apologetic letter. The tier was disappearing, but the new tier was 250 Mbps for $55. The next letter, just a few months later surprised me. No change in the rate, but the bandwidth was raised to 500 Mpbs! The other tier is now $70 for 1 Gbps.

AT&T and Spectrum will compete with Google if you negotiate with them each year. I did that for a long time, but I don't have to do it any more. The service is great--answer on the first ring, will roll a truck if you need it. But we really haven't had any outages lasting more than a few minutes--takes me longer to reboot my router.

[NJKris]

Would be nice to have some competition where I am. My only choice is Comcast. Price of living in a rural area of NJ opposed to other areas where you can choose.

[jkoenig24]

"And that's just my house."

And there's the rub....

Just about ANYBODY in a major metropolitan area (just about ALL on NJ qualifies) who can AFFORD what the providers want to charge, can "stream all they want.

[NJKris]

And I'm glad for that! I got rid of the nonsense cable TV with all the commercials years ago, bought my own modem and router. I think I'm up to $6,000 bucks saved so far, even considering I pay for Netflix. Not a TV sports fan, so no problem.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Ok, I just discovered one more nice thing about living in NJ. I get about a gazillion bytes per second download speeds. I can download/upload anything without any hesitation. Multiple high resolution surveillance cameras, HD TV, lightening fast. And that's just my house. But I am paying 103 bucks a month for it (Comcast). Businesses get so much more bandwidth.


I kind of feel bad for those living in areas with mom and pop internet companies, with some guy standing on the roof of the office building wrapped in tin foil waving his arms around trying to get a signal! Reminds me of the old dial up days.

You're getting hosed

I have a fiber-optic connection at my house that delivers more bandwidth than my old Company had to connect 5 warehouses and the Corporate office from CA to Ky with everyone connected to a single central server. Only pay $40 per month.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Would be nice to have some competition where I am. My only choice is Comcast. Price of living in a rural area of NJ opposed to other areas where you can choose.

Of course you have to trade off the living in a rural area and paying more for "connectivity" against that of living in an Urban area and have to pay for armed security

[desuhu]

Originally Posted by GravelRider

Why is campground WiFi so bad!? I no longer even consider WiFi as an amenity, because it's always useless. And I actually find it irritating when it is listed as an amenity.

Last weekend I was in Vermont and the WiFi would almost play Netflix, though not quite, and I commented this was the best WiFi we've ever had at a campground, and it was still terrible (and the campground was pretty empty this time of year). Even right next to a router with excellent signal, I never get anything usable. And this has been universal everywhere we've stayed, whether out in the sticks, or right in a town/city.

It's always so bad because the campgrounds try to take the cheapest route and they don't have enough bandwidth for everyone. Not to mention that people have kids who want to stream stuff and that slows it down for everyone. There is a great wi-fi for campgrounds called CheckBox. And article several years ago in Woodalls told all about it and I had the occasion to stay in a Campground in Keen, TX that had it and it was awesome. I even told our membership campground in Branson about it when they were considering new internet, but they ignored me and got a system that people do not like and it is very slow.

[elob_tx]

QOS or Quality Of Service is the term used to convey the immediacy for different types of data. Most inexpensive routers and switches used for campground systems don't have the capability of prioritizing data for QOS distribution. In my own home I use the internet providers Gateway/Router to assign the local equipment addresses since it can provide appropriate QOS for my network devices. To really provide what many RVers would like would not only require additional more expensive equipment but also requires a knowledgeable network administrator to set up and manage such a system.

The majority of the systems out there were only installed to allow for minimal email and web surfing and definitely not for streaming services. When my former employer announced years ago that they were going to install voice over internet phones in a facility that had an old school Bell Telephone centrex telephone exchange and DEC internet switches and routers they thought they could just plug the new phones into the DEC ethernet system and be off and running and obsolete the old Bell Centrex system in about 6 months. 3 1/2 years later after redesigning, replacing, and rewiring all the buildings they were able to make the swap. Everyone thought that since they had piloted the installation in a South African sales office with minimal equipment it would be a piece of cake to implement the change in a 3,000 acre complex with hundreds of buildings.

[tucson]

we were in the Mt. Rushmore KOA 2019 and the wifi didn't work well enough to send a text message, and that is a high dollar big time facility

[Jboshell1]

Originally Posted by GravelRider

Why is campground WiFi so bad!? I no longer even consider WiFi as an amenity, because it's always useless. And I actually find it irritating when it is listed as an amenity.

Last weekend I was in Vermont and the WiFi would almost play Netflix, though not quite, and I commented this was the best WiFi we've ever had at a campground, and it was still terrible (and the campground was pretty empty this time of year). Even right next to a router with excellent signal, I never get anything usable. And this has been universal everywhere we've stayed, whether out in the sticks, or right in a town/city.

Every Wi-Fi is always like that. My question is why would you want to use a $10 word just to express it’s not worth a crap?

[FlippinUid]

Last week we camped this fall we had outstanding wi-fi, in Vermont. It's simply a matter of most campground owners cheaping out. Indeed most campgrounds wi-fi sucks, unless maybe you go to the office. As I often work, but only checking & responding to email once or twice a day any wi-fi is appreciated.

[Thatdarncat]

Wait wait, let me guess! Because it's a campground and not a trendy coffee shop?

Some folks probably would like to grab that camping spot of yours.

[Egalt]

First off - Wifi at a campground is for limited use and really just for email and light internet browsing. It is a big expense to campgrounds to install and maintain it.

Secondly, it's probably slow because people SHOULD NOT BE USING IT TO STREAM their programs (See first section).

If you want great bandwidth and usage, that won't interfere with anyone else's usage - get a data plan and a service that will accommodate your locations. And if you can't get service in a particular location, maybe that's a good time to read a book or get closer to nature.

[Egalt]

Originally Posted by elob_tx

QOS or Quality Of Service is the term used to convey the immediacy for different types of data. Most inexpensive routers and switches used for campground systems don't have the capability of prioritizing data for QOS distribution. In my own home I use the internet providers Gateway/Router to assign the local equipment addresses since it can provide appropriate QOS for my network devices. To really provide what many RVers would like would not only require additional more expensive equipment but also requires a knowledgeable network administrator to set up and manage such a system.

The majority of the systems out there were only installed to allow for minimal email and web surfing and definitely not for streaming services. When my former employer announced years ago that they were going to install voice over internet phones in a facility that had an old school Bell Telephone centrex telephone exchange and DEC internet switches and routers they thought they could just plug the new phones into the DEC ethernet system and be off and running and obsolete the old Bell Centrex system in about 6 months. 3 1/2 years later after redesigning, replacing, and rewiring all the buildings they were able to make the swap. Everyone thought that since they had piloted the installation in a South African sales office with minimal equipment it would be a piece of cake to implement the change in a 3,000 acre complex with hundreds of buildings.

Yeah - way too much info here...you just overgeeked.

[Celticrider]

Originally Posted by GravelRider

Why is campground WiFi so bad!? I no longer even consider WiFi as an amenity, because it's always useless. And I actually find it irritating when it is listed as an amenity.

Last weekend I was in Vermont and the WiFi would almost play Netflix, though not quite, and I commented this was the best WiFi we've ever had at a campground, and it was still terrible (and the campground was pretty empty this time of year). Even right next to a router with excellent signal, I never get anything usable. And this has been universal everywhere we've stayed, whether out in the sticks, or right in a town/city.

You guys haven’t seen bad WIFi till you are here in Canada, not to mention our terrible cell coverage.
We have three major companies that share the whole pie, rates are insanely expensive and coverage is awful. When out of the country you get a data package starting at 10.00/day, that gets you not even enough to stream 1movie, let alone anything else.
We are in the habit of downloading anything we want from Netflix or Prime or whatever, at home, then we use a lightning to AV adapter and just mirror to the TV’s.

[donhaller]

Just visited a KOA that had amazing wifi. Almost fell over. They had six repeaters throughout the park which was not that large. Capitol KOA outside of D.C. in Maryland.