I work for a WiFi company that services RV resorts throughout the country and I have a few questions for you... 1. What are the top problems you experience with wireless internet systems in RV resorts (i.e. low signal, poor support, too expensive, etc.). 2. Is WiFi a deciding factor when choosing to stay at a park? 3. Would roaming agreements with truckstops be helpful? We have only been doing RV resorts for about a year but we have had good luck so far and would like to know how to make the service better.
You may not get representative opinions here as everybody is a computer user where everybody using RV parks are not. I have had about 4 or 5 password problems as the owners do not understand computers. The password and procedures should be printed on a card and handed out. Poor signals are very common and I hate to have to go to the office to use it. I am doing banking ETC thru secure sites, but I don’t want to have somebody looking over my shoulder while I’m doing it. I even bought a handheld WiFI detector. I am of the opinion that any cost is too much. It should be looked at as a way to increase occupancy, not as an additional income stream. WiFi and WiFi charges are usually a deciding factor in choosing a park. WiFi in my coach is important. I would like to see truck stops offer free WiFi. My minimum fuel bill is at least $100 and usually much higher. Why should I have to pay an additional $2.00 for WiFi that is good for 24 hours when I will be leaving in 20 minutes?
QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Sep 17 2007, 05:49 PM) [snapback]8353[/snapback] You may not get representative opinions here as everybody is a computer user where everybody using RV parks are not. I have had about 4 or 5 password problems as the owners do not understand computers. The password and procedures should be printed on a card and handed out. Poor signals are very common and I hate to have to go to the office to use it. I am doing banking ETC thru secure sites, but I don’t want to have somebody looking over my shoulder while I’m doing it. I even bought a handheld WiFI detector. I am of the opinion that any cost is too much. It should be looked at as a way to increase occupancy, not as an additional income stream. WiFi and WiFi charges are usually a deciding factor in choosing a park. WiFi in my coach is important. I would like to see truck stops offer free WiFi. My minimum fuel bill is at least $100 and usually much higher. Why should I have to pay an additional $2.00 for WiFi that is good for 24 hours when I will be leaving in 20 minutes? Thanks a lot, that is great info. I agree with you with regard to the costs of WiFi - we try to provide the best service we can within what the park owner is willing to spend.
Greetings, I agree with the previous post - train the RV Park Staff so they can handle little problems 24/7. Wifi is important to us but we got so disgusted with so many inferior signals and "oh, our wifi is only available in the office" - it's almost like false advertising. It makes us crazy so we got a Verizon air card which has been reliable and sometimes it's even high-speed. One park in Albuquerque (American RV) used to have a pay wifi system - great signal, reasonable cost and always on. The next time we visited - they proudly announced "free wifi". Fine, but we stayed there 10 days and never did get a signal. I'd rather pay for wifi and get on than have free wifi that doesn't work!! Us wifi enthusiasts are ahead of the curve, I'm sure that things will improve in a year or so, until then we will just have to do the best we can. Thanks for caring about us! Holly T.
God, this thread is full of whiners. Leok22> The idea that Wi-Fi access in a campground should be free lacks a basic understand of being in business for a profit. Nothing is free. Let me repeat that…nothing is free. The cost of doing business is always added to the cost of whatever one is purchasing. The water and electricity used at a campground site is always factored into the cost of the overnight stay. Wi-Fi systems are likewise an expense added to one’s cost for camping whether or not it is detailed in the final bill. I am not a campground owner, but just for the record to those who would refute my comments, I have been a business owner and have a degree and background in Business Administration and Management. Those that don’t need or care about a Wi-Fi campground system far outnumber those of us who would take advantage of it if offered; whether or not it is free or fee based. As a devil’s advocate, why would they want to pay more for the campsite just because the cost of doing business for YOU, the free Wi-Fi user, has increased? I would suggest that extremely few RVers know how much a complete campground wide Wi-Fi system cost the owner. If you don’t, then it might be possible that your position that it should be free is in error. And don't dump on the unformed campground employees. If you were in their shoes, you might be just as uninformed as they are and your superior than tho attitude would not be appreciated. However, I fully agree that a campground that advertises Wi-Fi has a responsibility to provide that service to each and every site. So Leok22, let me answer your inquiry with some common sense. 1-The top problem is that the campground owner cuts corners and the system does not have enough omni-directional antennas and relays to supply high signal strength to the entire park. I’d suggest that is the major complaint of users. 2-I normally rely on a cell wireless data card for internet connections, but Wi-Fi is one of the discriminators I use to select a campground. If it is faster than my data card then I have no problem with paying a nominal fee for that convenience. 3-I don’t have the time or inclination to spend the time at a truck stop to connect to Wi-FI. You are probably aware than many state rest stops are going to Wi-Fi. If one wants to delay their travel time by stopping at a truck or rest stop then that’s a personal choice. I suspect it isn’t a part to the normal RV travel plans. Campground owners are usually ignorant to specifics of this technological innovation. It’s your job to convince them that a first class system is the way to eliminate the negative comments that you’ve read here. First class service always cost a little extra even if it isn’t on the final bill.
QUOTE(leok22 @ Sep 17 2007, 05:17 PM) [snapback]8351[/snapback] I work for a WiFi company that services RV resorts throughout the country and I have a few questions for you... 1. What are the top problems you experience with wireless internet systems in RV resorts (i.e. low signal, poor support, too expensive, etc.). 2. Is WiFi a deciding factor when choosing to stay at a park? 3. Would roaming agreements with truckstops be helpful? We have only been doing RV resorts for about a year but we have had good luck so far and would like to know how to make the service better. Interesting post. 1. Advertising WiFi, and then having to go to the office, and set in the gift shop to use it, (Happened to us in Cody, WY) is a very misleading ad. 2. WiFi is a very big factor in deciding on an RV park for us. If you're going to use it as a come-on, have it available to all sites, or say it's just in the gift shop !! 3. Yes. Sometimes we just like to stop, fill-up, eat, and check our emails. Now, having answered your questions, we've gone w/ a Sprint broadband card. I was so pi??ed at one point, we were actually going to get a Hughsnet dish for the top of the coach ! 5K, I didn't care, as long as I could get internet. Also, I disagree w/ the poster who said that it is costly to have WiFi to all sites. All you need is a few repeaters, and your done. Don't use that old tactic of saying you have something, and then the customer finds out that, while true, only meets the basic of requirements. State the facts. Thanx for the inquiry.
QUOTE(leok22 @ Sep 17 2007, 02:17 PM) [snapback]8351[/snapback] I work for a WiFi company that services RV resorts throughout the country and I have a few questions for you... 1. What are the top problems you experience with wireless internet systems in RV resorts (i.e. low signal, poor support, too expensive, etc.). 2. Is WiFi a deciding factor when choosing to stay at a park? 3. Would roaming agreements with truckstops be helpful? We have only been doing RV resorts for about a year but we have had good luck so far and would like to know how to make the service better. A little back ground. This is our first year RVing with our lap top. We have just completed a tour of the North West and stayed at nine different parks. Some were just overniters others we spent three or four days at. We did not have a schedule or a predetermined route. What bothered me most was not really an additional cost to use WiFi but most of the RV Parks used different providers. I would much rather pay a "Premium" built into the cost of my stay for "free" WiFi than setting up a new account when I move. Of the nine parks we visited all but two provided WiFi service. WiFi was a deciding factor on where we stayed as we relied on it's use to choose and or reserve a site for our intended next destination. Of those parks that did offer WiFi we found only one to have a weak signal (and that service was not provided "free". Further, it was at one of the most expensive parks we visited). I have no idea what it might cost the park operator to set up a WiFi service however I suspect it can't be too costly. We found "free" WiFi at parks where the park use fee was as little as $30.00! Rogue Valley Overniters in Grant's Pass, Or and Redcrest Resort in Redcrest Ca. Both fairly small operations. I hope in the future WiFi "built in to the cost of a nights stay" will be as common as P W & S.
I'm going to jump in on this, knowing full well I'll probably get blasted! Wi-Fi is not an inexpensive item for a park to provide and maintain. This year alone, I have spent $6655.12 keeping our system up to date and adding another access point so that all sites have coverage. We do not charge for the W-Fi, but it has to be reflected in the rates to cover these costs. It IS part of doing business. Repeaters are not always the answer, as repeaters did us no good in trying to provide the coverage. The additional access point did make the difference. Total cost to make that addition: $2631.69. We did encrypt the system after that installation, as we found the neighbors in the housing development across the street were enjoying our free wi-fi. This takes bandwidth away from our guests. We found out after we did the encryption that the teens across the street were using our system to download music to their iPods. The repeaters did not give us additional strength when trying to put the signals through 2 or 3 motorhomes before it got to your computer. So yes, sometimes the signal is better when sitting at your picnic table without having coaches cutting the signal down. The additional access point provides better coverage by being on top of the laundry/restroom facility directly behind my pull-through section. All of my employees are workcampers, some with no computer knowledge to speak of, some with limited knowledge, and a couple very capable of helping guests......if the guests will listen to them. That is the biggest problem with people who can not get on the system. When everybody else in the park is getting on, but they are not, it is something in their system, not ours. I am available in the park 24/7......for emergencies. Someone not able to access the wi-fi is not, definitely not, an emergency. Questions about wi-fi access need to be brought up during business hours. Wi-fi is a great thing, and it is a great amenity. But it can be a pricey amenity for the park to offer. If a park is charging for the use or if their overnight rate is a little higher than the next guy's, it's all a part of trying to make ends meet. We understand the importance of wi-fi to our guests and make every effort to have the system operating properly. Lucky for me, my son owns a network management company, and he will help us out at the drop of a hat. If we have to call the company that installed everything, they are 70 miles away, and we may have to wait 2 or 3 days before they can send someone over. Regretfully, that, too, is part of doing business.
>>1. Top Problem>2. Is WiFi a deciding factor >3. Would roaming agreements with truckstops be helpful?
The biggest problem we've encountered with WiFi is poor/weak signals. We travel for 2-3 months each year, so on-line access is important to us. And it is something that we consider when selecting a park. I agree with others that many RV park managers have little idea of how their system works, or how to trouble shoot problems. We ended up using public libraries on a number of occasions last spring and early summer. Advertising WiFi and then (as someone said above) having it available only in the camp store or gift shop does not "win my heart."
Thanks again to all the responders, this is very helpful. As far as pricing for WiFi, my experience has been that most resort owners prefer to have us pay for the system by charging guests instead of the park. As a WiFi company our focus is to provide great service and we don't necessarily care who pays us for it. It is true that Industrial Grade WiFi is expensive but I think the resorts that spend the money up front for great service end up making it back many times in low maintenance costs and happy customers. Most places where we have installed are pay WiFi but the users don't mind that because the systems actually work. As a traveler I prefer free WiFi in large part because users don't have to go through a sign up process.
QUOTE The idea that WiFI access in a campground should be free lacks a basic understand of being in business for a profit. Nothing is free. Having been in the lodging business for over a decade and having provided FREE WiFi for the last 5 years, I can tell you from personal experience that providing FREE WiFi is in fact, a very good business practice. It is an easy and cheap way to increase Occupancy Rate. The actual cost of the WiFi is very small compared to the additional money it makes you. If having free WiFI and don’t charge the $2.00 or so and the revenue for an additional $25 or $30. This additional business is called incremental revenue (Revenue that you would not otherwise have.) and can go to paying off the fixed cost of the operation. Which can be huge. Advertising is similar. We recently completed a 3 month trip on the eastern US and never stayed in a campground that was full. We stayed in many that had free WiFI instead of staying in ones that didn’t have WiFi or had charge WiFi. I have noticed that Free WiFI is becoming more and more common in campgrounds and hopefully it will be an expected amenity just like water and electricity. Those owners were glad to get the rate for their otherwise empty site and would not have knowingly given it up for the $2.00 WiFi fee.
QUOTE It is true that Industrial Grade WiFi is expensive but I think the resorts that spend the money up front for great service end up making it back many times in low maintenance costs and happy customers. Thank you for your info. After installation, what would be the total cost for a say 200 site park for a year. I guess this would include upkeep and fees to the internet provider. I know my brother is a site owner in a condo park in Florida and they charge $2.00 per day or $20 per month and say that this is breakeaven on the monthly rate. Thanks
QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Sep 18 2007, 09:14 PM) [snapback]8375[/snapback] QUOTE It is true that Industrial Grade WiFi is expensive but I think the resorts that spend the money up front for great service end up making it back many times in low maintenance costs and happy customers. Thank you for your info. After installation, what would be the total cost for a say 200 site park for a year. I guess this would include upkeep and fees to the internet provider. I know my brother is a site owner in a condo park in Florida and they charge $2.00 per day or $20 per month and say that this is breakeaven on the monthly rate. Thanks It depends on how much service the campground wants. My guess would be between $4,000 and $5,000 per year for a "full service" hotspot. That would cover hardware replacement, guest technical support, a good internet connection to feed the system, preventative maintenance, etc. If the campground adds 190 one night stays at $25/night that would add $4,750 in revenue for the owner. Out of a total of (200 sites x 365 days) 73,000 possible one night stays in a year this seems like a fairly conservative estimate. Even if the campground gets no more than 190 extra stays the added property value that an industrial grade system brings is probably well over $15,000 if the owner ever decides to sell.
Wow, that is a lot more than I had thought. From what I see walking around in campgrounds and talking to people, lots of people are using WiFi and it is becoming almost a necessary amenity. I recently bought a handheld WiFi detector and have been amazed at how many open sites there out there in shopping centers and such. As a necessity for bill paying and business type usage, this is sufficient for me. I tend to think of in coach usage as pleasure surfing instead of reading, TV, or heaven forbid talking to the wife. Is the $2.00 going straight to the service provider (like you) or does the campground owner get a cut. (I am talking about the ones where you sign on and get a intro page where you have to put in your CC number to pay the $2.00 to continue ) I have heard both ways from campground owners. One thing I would like to see a standard practice is to have the payment cover 24 hours rather than one day. If I check in at 4 PM and want to use the WiFI again the next morning at 7 am, sometimes they want another fee even though it hasn’t been 24 hours. I have been hearing for years about this new kind of WiFi that Wal-Mart will have that goes for about 30 miles or so. That would b har on your business.
To answer the 3 original questions: 1. All of the examples have been a problem for us at one time or another with the most common being weak signal (dropping the connection). 2. If we're just staying overnight we can do without it, but if we are staying for several days I will always pick a place that has it. 3. We probably would not use WiFi at a truck stop, but we have logged on at Texas state rest areas when we have stopped for lunch. Other comments: We prefer that the service be free (even if it is ultimately built into the nightly fee). We don't mind paying a small fee, but when it goes over $3 or so we usually do not use it. We agree with Lindsey that the fee should be for a 24 hr period, not a calendar "day." We prefer not to have a third party provider. As someone else said that usually means setting up an account and giving a credit card number online. While this can be safe we prefer not to do this. We would also be upset if we paid a fee but did not get good service. We prefer to be able to log on from our coach, but we would still stay at a park even if we had to go to the office or other location to get a signal. That's my 2 cents.
Costs are high for campgrounds (as opposed to other businesses) because they exist in harsh outdoor environments. One lightning storm can fry thousands of dollars in equipment and leave a provider months behind pre-set revenue requirements. In most cases the resort owner gets some sort of cut of the revenue. Some resorts have systems that they handle completely by themselves - with varying degrees of success. If a resort takes all the revenue from a system it makes them responsible for ALL of the problems that come with it and service usually (although not always) suffers. A resort that provides its own internet service is basically becoming an ISP for a small town. If they have the technical knowledge in their staff and/or residents they may be able to get by but most are better off focusing on what they do best - that is creating a nice RV resort, not getting into the telecommunications business.
Well this is an interesting topic. We are new to RVing and probably come at it from a slightly different angle. For a start we're English so we are used to poor service!! We have been travelling for the last 3 months in Canada (BC, Yukon and Alberta) and Alaska and have had a variety of experiences with WiFi. We need internet access on a regular basis as we have a business in the UK but, because ourcell phones don't work in many of the places we have been it was pointless organising web access that way so we have relied on access at campgrounds and, on one occasion, a print/copy shop in Whitehorse. Our experiences have, for the most part been excellent. The WiFi connections, when offered have usually been fine, we've had a few that were weak but the campground owner has usually warned us in advance and has tried to park us as close as possible to the device. However we have had one really bad experience at the David Thompson Resort near Nordegg, Alberta. We phoned and asked if they had Wi-Fi before we booked and were told that they did, it was free and, incidentally, they also said that they had cable TV. When we arrived, no Wi-Fi and no cable. We can happily live with no cable but we had checked in for 5 days and desperately needed to keep in touch with our business. The camp owner told us that they had been 'hacked into' and that the whole system was shut down to avoid further damage - he said that we could use the 'public' pc in the office at a charge of $2.50 for 15 minutes which he claimed was excellent value! After we had exchanged words he offered 15 minutes free!! In the end he agreed to 15 minutes per day free during our stay but would not give us a refund of our camping fees(which were the highest we had paid to date!) if we wanted to leave early. As the computer was very slow it was impossible to use effectively and we opted for a cheap phone card instead. A very poor level of service and the opposite of anything we have experienced to date. In the UK if you offer something you must provide it or offer a refund! Anyway it is a very important factor in our chosing a campground and, whilst the set-up costs are high, a good system will pay for itself easily as more and more people use the internet and SKYPE to keep in touch. We love RVing though!!
We have WiFi in our park, just got it this year and it's been put in by a 3rd party. It cost us nothing to put in, we tell our guests we have it through an independent company. We make no money off it. That leaves me free from dealing with the problems with it. For us to have installed it ourselves where we could keep the revenue it would have cost ~5,000. We have permanent spots here and they are able to sign up for 2 hrs, 3 days, 7 days or one month. So far I have had no complaints. I don't think a huge number of people are using it as, like many here have said, they don't want to pay for it. I would prefer to put that $5,000 investment in something else at my park.
First off, thanks for asking. All too often people just assume what the customer wants. We have a couple of business interests that require us to have internet access, so if we are planning on staying in a place for more than a day or so, Wifi is a deciding factor in which campgrounds we pick. I do not mind a nominal fee, like $2.00 and can see that people who do not use Wifi would rather not pay for it. But if you advertise Wifi you should have it! Maybe we need two catagories of Wifi service-- at the site-- at the office. I do not like to lug all my stuff to a separate site. Much prefer it at the coach. Nothing is worse than a weak signal where you keep getting dumped in mid stream. Seems to me that it is a growing service and I have no idea how you full-timers would get along w/o it. We have even had to find out where the public library is so we could go there and get on line. Good luck with your business.
