Campground Wi-Fi

[DavidInWilmNC]

A guy I know owns a campground and is interested in installing wi-fi.  He's not particularly computer / network savvy, so it would likely have to be contracted.  How do other campgrounds that have wi-fi do it?  He wants to be able to control who has access to it (i.e. charge for it).  How much do campgrounds charge for 'net access?  I'm going to pass along suggestions, etc to him, if anybody has any.  Thanks for any help.

David

[gumpy]

Well, the first suggestion you should pass on to him is to NOT CHARGE FOR IT!! Tell him to use it as a marketing promo. This is
a very important service to RVers, and nickel and diming his customers for something like that should be criminal.

Then, suggest that he buy a wireless N router and put it in the window of the office. I think there are external antennas available, too, that can be used to boost the signal. It will be limited in distance, but those who use it will probably have a laptop and be able
to walk up to the office anyway.

A wireless N router is about $120. DSL service is about $30 a month. Tell him to quit being so cheap and offer it for free to his
paying customers. It's not likely to be abused by others who are not staying in his campground. He should use it as a perk and an
incentive to get people to stay there.

If I had to choose between a nice campground that charged for internet access and a less nice campground that offered it for free, I'd choose a less nice one. It would say to me that the owner really cares about his patrons and is in business for more than the money.

Just my thoughts.

[plyonsMC9]

Hi David,

More parks are offering the WiFi service for free.  Sites we've visited in years past which charged $7 p/day or so for service now offer same at no extra charge.  Not all of course.

Being basically lazy, I like to use the Internet from inside the bus & not have to walk to the office to use the service, especially @ nite,  so my vote would be to go for the range extenders & cover the campground with the signal.  There are packages available for coffee shops, etc., to setup their WiFi service.  That would make his life easier.

If a campground offers complimentary WiFi,  I consider that a major plus as I like that added convenience.  So we are much more likely to stay at such a campground.  At the same time, we've only paid for WiFi at a campground, when it was available, one time.  All the other times we bypassed the $$ cost & either did w/out or used an Air Card when it had signal.  I know that sounds cheap, but at the same time, our campground fees range from $35 - $55 p/nite, before we add fees for extra adults, kids, etc.. It's getting Expen$ive enough already!!!

OK, my 2 cents,

Hope this helps, Phil

[Hartley]

I am installing long range wifi here for when people come to visit me.

I am using these people for the equipment.

http://www.wlanparts.com/

And no I won't be charging for wifi here at my place, It will all be long range across
my property I have to cover over 1/2 mile of area.

They do have high power radios that incorporate billing and things like that but that special stuff cost's a lot more.

I will just us WEP with a key code for authorized users so the only people that can get onto the system will have to see me first.

Dave....

[edroelle]

Craig, Phil, and Dave, are absolutely right.  I don't remember the last time I was at a campground that charged a fee.  Wifi is a cost-of-entry for a campground - like having a bathroom sink.

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI

[Hartley]

Craig, Phil, and Dave, are absolutely right.  I don't remember the last time I was at a campground that charged a fee.  Wifi is a cost-of-entry for a campground - like having a bathroom sink.

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI

Except, I can't afford the bathrooms or the sink. I will have limited power and water available at some of the parking spots but should have full internet at most if not all of the spots.

Sometimes there's a trade off... $$$$$$ ( That which I now lack seriously )

[Busted Knuckle]

Although I don't have a conversion yet, I can agree that if I were looking for a campground to stay at and there was one that charged for the IV (wifi) and one that didn't. I'd be at the one with free wifi in a minute! (same as when I choose hotels, no free wifi? See ya!) Shoot we even had free wifi at the rally here this weekend! FWIW   BK 

[belfert]

This can be a case of you get what you pay for.  A campground offering "free" wi-fi might just set up a single access point at the office with the least expensive Internet access possible.  In other cases, they might put multiple access points throughout the campground, but feed it all through a skinny pipe to the Internet so it is agonizingly slow.

A campground/resort that charges for Internet might have a real network designed by a network/radio engineer with good coverage, a wide pipe to the Internet, and enterprise/commercial grade access points instead of consumer grade stuff.  At least they had to spend some money to set up the solution to charge for Internet access.  Of course, paid Internet access can still be as bad as free Internet access in some cases.

DSL may be $30 in town, but what about that campground in the boonies 15 miles from anything.  There only option may be an expensive T1 or satellite.

[DavidInWilmNC]

This is a 'private' campground with NO competition for at least 75 miles... probably more.  I think what he's looking for is a service similar to what hotels have that redirects to a page where you 'agree' to terms and conditions, etc, and agree to billing.  It's fairly spread out and would take probably 15+ access points to get decent coverage.  It would likely be on DSL, so it won't be all that speedy in the first place.  My suggestion might be to have wi-fi in the clubhouse with a couple of old, used Pentium 3 PC's available for say, 15-20 minutes of use.  It'll be a bit expensive for the repeaters and access points, so he's trying to minimize his cost.  Otherwise, his cash would be better spent on infrastructure and other amenities.  I personally agree with not charging for it, and that it'd likely play a part in my decision to stay in one campground over another just like it does for hotels.  I will pass along these comments, though.  Thanks.

David

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi David,

I have used wifi in the past. I like my air card much much better.

With wifi, I was always worrying about if I was going to have internet or not to be able to watch my busisness.

With the air card, I always have a connection, even while driving.

My point, I think more and more people will switch to air cards in the near future and wifi hot spots will be cold..

Just like having a satellite system on board, the self contained theroy works for me. Campgrounds can still provide

services like the things that we really can't bring with us.. [lake, pool, fishing supplies, groceries, playground, and a dump station]

Nick-

[DavidInWilmNC]

Hi David,

I have used wifi in the past. I like my air card much much better.

With wifi, I was always worrying about if I was going to have internet or not to be able to watch my busisness.

With the air card, I always have a connection, even while driving.

My point, I think more and more people will switch to air cards in the near future and wifi hot spots will be cold..

Just like having a satellite system on board, the self contained theroy works for me. Campgrounds can still provide

services like the things that we really can't bring with us.. [lake, pool, fishing supplies, groceries, playground, and a dump station]

Nick-

I agree, Nick.  Lots of campers (the people, not the box on wheels) don't have RV's with satellite or the funds to use air cards.  Also, I've been told air cards don't work well at this location.  Cell service is also spotty, but there's DSL... go figure.

[prevost82]

WE have found WiFi to be unreliable at best and unusable at worst. That why I got a Sat system. Most RV parks won't spend the bucks to buy good WiFi range extending antennas. So you have to be at the office to get a signal.
Ron

[FloridaCliff]

David,

Our company has built several systems (cable w/high speed data) for RV parks.

The big problem is what has been described, plus most serious(on the road/full time/retired) internet users have the data cards and/or use one of the satellite providers for TV.

Two I can think of bought out there contracts due too the low demand.

Full timers have there own and weekenders like me don't care about 100 channels or the internet.  Makes for a low buy rate.

Besides, I can locate at least a 100 (no joke) open wireless connections between my house and work.  Its crazy.

Cliff 

[Dreamscape]

WiFi is too spotty. I bought an air card that has so far worked great. I use it a lot in airports and while traveling. Will experience using it in the bus this Thursday for the first time.
I would not stay in a place that charged for usage, too many freebies out there. The owner should use it for advertising and not charge.

FWIW,

Paul

[H3Jim]

and if you uses the local wi fi setup, you are asking to be hacked.  I am nervouse about using a public access point like that to put in passwords etc.  especially bank or stock accounts.  Even email passwords are not good to loose, many places will confirm orders, address changes etc through emails.