WiFi at the campground!

[Jim]

Finally made some progress on the WiFi (Internet) issue. As expected, the pricing is based on the plan, with the lowest plan being $600 a month, and provides 50mb up/down of speed. From what I'm told, this is adequate to stream 1080 video and normal Internet browsing for a campground the size of mine. But when you start to stream 4K movies, it's woefully inadequate.

The next plan up, which would support a campground of 4K streamers, is about $1,000 a month. So my question today is, how many of you stream 4K videos when you are camping?

 

[Neal]

4K not required and in your area just basic Internet is all that should be required. Email, web browsing, etc. Providers will automatically set the resolution based on stream and capability tests, i.e. YouTube will only show in the format you can handle. Don't waste money, we have things to build.

 

[GypsyR]

I certainly can't speak for the half million dollar plus type coach folks but I like to think most of us know that we left our HDR 4K surround sound entertainment centers at home and are good with being able to just stream something or another. Thanks for the extra consideration though, it speaks well of you.

 

[Just George]

Well in my opinion if we were to camp where I could stream any kind of video it would be a huge plus over most campground WIFI offerings. Given my understanding of your remote & no cell location I would think the 50mb solution would be sufficient and much appreciated by many of your guests. Seems to me if 4K streaming via campground WIFI is a requirement then most of those folks will not be camping much.

 

[Rich W.]

I like to be able to check email and do a little internet surfing but thats it, and I don’t need it everywhere I camp. Id be much more inclined to enjoy a gazebo with a bbq and fireplace than stream tv shows.

 

[Neemer]

I do, but I don’t have to.

 

[Jim]

Well, it's a decision that I can't take lightly as it requires a 5-year commitment at $600 a month. Actually, the true cost it more like $1,200 a month as the park is only open 6-months out of the year and the Internet service can not be turned off during the closed months.

So it's a big decision, for sure. And the only way to pay for it is to raise the cost of each nights stay by $5.00 a night. Standard sites are currently $50 a night, $45 if you book a week. Premium Sites are $55/$50. So Standard would have to go to $55/$50 and Premium would have to go to $60/$55. That might be a deal breaker for many people.

Premium Plus sites are $65/$60, so raising them to $70/65 might be tough as well. Although the past has shown that the people who stay in the Premium Plus sites don't seem to be swayed one way or the other by $5 a night.

 

[Jim]

But after a quick sneak-peak at pricing of one of the RV site in town (The Great Outdoors), their Standard sites are $77 a night. Yes, they have a pool and provide cable tv, but in my opinion, their actual sites are not anywhere near as nice, or as large, as our.

So even if we had to go up $5 a night, we're sill $22 a night less expensive.

Dang! Camping is getting expensive!

 

[Rich W.]

How bout just doing without? Plenty of folks have satellite stuff (I removed my dish/winegard unit to make room for more solar) and maybe a few days or a week or so without internet would be a good thing. And one can always take the toad and hop in to town.

 

[Jim]

How bout just doing without? Plenty of folks have satellite stuff (I removed my dish/winegard unit to make room for more solar) and maybe a few days or a week or so without internet would be a good thing. And one can always take the toad and hop in to town.

I wish I could, but many of today's campers need to stay connected, either for work, medical, or other reasons. We have no cell service out here so it's difficult for people to get messages when they need them.

If we could get cell service, we wouldn't need to install Internet. Cell service would give our visitors both cell and Internet communication. But with no cell service, they have neither.

Good Internet will give our visitors both Internet capabilities as well as cell service (via VOIP). So given the lack of cell service, the addition of Internet seems crucial.

We have a portable hardline phone at the office that everyone can carry around the park or take back to their RV to use. But it's really only a patch and we really need to provide something better.

 

[docj]

Have you considered Starlink (Elon Musk's satellite system). It has just announced a plan for businesses that they call a "premium plan" which sounds like it might suit you. We have Starlink at our winter location and love it.
Starlink Business

 

[J&JD]

How can $5 a day be a deal breaker when we are now paying $5/gal for diesel?? Sounds like a no brainer to me @Jim

 

[Jim]

Have you considered Starlink (Elon Musk's satellite system). It has just announced a plan for businesses that they call a "premium plan" which sounds like it might suit you. We have Starlink at our winter location and love it.
Starlink Business

Yes, I have.

I've been on the residential list for over a year, maybe more like 1 1/2 years. And for the business service, I've been on that list for a long time as well. The biggest problem I have with Starlink is there is no way to find out when the service is actually going to be available in my area.

When I first signed up for residential service, their website said sometime in the middle or end of 2021. Now when I check, the website says they are at saturation point in my area and they will notify me when there is availability.

Starlink Business says they will start shipping 2nd quarter of 2022, which could mean as early as next week or maybe never. There is virtually no way, not that I've found anyway, to find out "when" the service will really be available.

Somewhere along the line, a decision has to be made to either continue waiting for a service that has no verifiable installation date, or move forward with a solution that has an actual delivery date. And at the end of the day, there isn't much difference in price between Starlink at $500 a month, and Frontier at $600 a month.

One last thing, when considering the Starlink solution. At this time, and with respect to data caps, (which is a HUGE concern) Starlink advertises that there are "currently no data caps". But Starlink is a satellite solution, and all the current satellite solutions available today use data caps. There is nothing to indicate that Starlink won't also go that route when their system becomes congested. And if/when they do, the solution will becomes ineffective for our needs.

Data caps are actually one of the primary reasons that our current provider, ViaSat, isn't a good solution for us today. ViaSat (business) delivers 100mb down, which is more than enough bandwidth for the needs of a small RV park like mine. But with a 150 gigabyte data cap, the solution becomes ineffective as the first few visitors each month can consume it quickly, leaving the remainder of the guests with little or no service for the remainder of the month.

 

[Neemer]

But with a 150 gigabyte data cap

I go thru that much in a couple of weeks, and that’s just recreational use.

 

[Fatboy2004]

You have a land line right ? 300 baud dial up modem should do just fine

 

[Neal]

@Jim, my concern that comes to mind this morning is...is your service provider offering any type of warranty/guarantee on the proposed speeds? Or is there an "up to" clause. I'm concerned you'll pay all this money for what you believe will be 50/50 and it ends up being 15/5 in reality. Something to ask.

 

[Jim]

@Jim, my concern that comes to mind this morning is...is your service provider offering any type of warranty/guarantee on the proposed speeds? Or is there an "up to" clause. I'm concerned you'll pay all this money for what you believe will be 50/50 and it ends up being 15/5 in reality. Something to ask.

No concerns there Neal, it's dedicated Internet access with scalable bandwidth. No "up to" clauses like we find in the satellite solutions.

Also worth noting, 50/50 is what I'm starting with as I don't want to spend more than I have to. But the service is scalable up to 2 gig. Of course, the cost may be prohibitive but it's available none-the-less.

 

[Jim]

You have a land line right ? 300 baud dial up modem should do just fine

Got one last week, still trying to figure out the round thingy on the front with the numbers on it. . .

 

[GypsyR]

Dial thingy? I think you're supposed to put your finger in it. (I'm not actually quite this old.)

 

[Jim]

Bad luck for me today.

Frontier sent out their representative to do a install survey and the first words out of her mouth was, "Do you want the good news, or the bad news?". She continued, "The good news is we can install the fiber, the bad news is the price went from $72K to $350K."

I asked how someone could make such an unbelievable mistake? I mean, we have contracts in place. She said that the fiber is full, and they have no room to add me to it. My next question was, "Then why have a sales person selling a service that doesn't exist? "

There was more to the conversation but clearly they are being run with a very high degree of incompetency.

So now we are back to square one.