Air angel
I'm sure most of you remember my defence of WiFi on CAMC sites.
Really people sort your own problems and needs out.
well, smug cow, having returned to the club fold, what a pathetic lot of old rubbish it is.
The world has moved forward. We all now expect a service. Air Angel is just a sick, bad, joke.
Comments
-
That’s why they don’t get my hard earned👍🏻😝
0 -
It does vary from site to site and sometimes it depends on the time of day. I am however using my smart phone and 4G more and more so in time maybe none of us will need site WiFi.
David
0 -
As. David says, it does vary from site to site. We have recently utilised it on four sites, two for extended periods, and it performed well on all but a few occasions. Some of the sites were nowhere near capacity and that obviously helps. However, one was full at the weekend and the WiFi was still adequate.
It does depend on what you are trying to use it for though, as it is really only intended for emails and general browsing. Also on what the speed provision to the site is. I think you mentioned Cirencester, where it is only bronze. I have always found it struggles there when the site is full.
The WiFi speeds on sites are being improved where possible. There are lots more gold sites than there were. A full list of site wifi speeds is HERE.
1 -
I was happy to use the CC Wif for several years with our 12'' Acer laptop. Had very little trouble on round 16 CC sites a year of the 22 sites we stay on each year.
for last 18 months both OH and I are using Galaxy Tab A tablets. These have worked well on most sites. We stay on sites generally for 5 nights and move. However over Christmas we spend 15 nights at Southport CC and last Christmas it was atrocious and we mainly use our mifi.
As this year Only 10 of the sites are CC we have upgraded our mifi to 4G and given our 3G mifi to a friend who was having problems getting on line whilst in a nursing home. We have a 24gb 4G WW data sim which cost £50.
On our last trip we spent 30 nights on non CC sites without free wifi provided. Data used about £17 and so for typical 90 nights on CC sites it would have cost the same as both of us purchasing CC wifi. The difference is that I follow some you tube vlogs and I have avoided doing so using data and also I have resolution on low for those that I do watch on the 12'' tablet anyway.
Typically the 30 nights away on non CC sites without wifi would have cost us £60 anyway. (Most sites we find are £5 for 3 nights and £10 a week. Our 5 nights wifi therefore costs £10).
0 -
My experience of the CMC wifi is much more positive based on the 6 sites we've stayed on so far. Much better value* than EE and the signal has been just as strong.
* PAYG and we don't download much; more usage would work out cheaper per GB.
0 -
Whilst I think site Wifi good value, fast it is not. Of course 3/4G is all dependent on having a signal. However, if I have one my EE phone normally gets a download of between 8 and 20 MB and upload of 5 / 10 MB.
The best I have achieved on club WiFi is 1MB down and 0.5MB up. As I said in my earlier post, adequate for emails, browsing and of course CT.😀
0 -
I have generally happy with CC wifi Steve, as above. No idea why it was so poor at Southport for 15 days prior to and over Christmas. Same location on site as last year when it was fine.
Not tried C&CC wifi but I noticed that their offering is capped. My CC subscription ran out at start of our last holiday and I did not renew as out of 41 nights remaining that holiday only 5 nights were on CC sites. Fliss still has a subscription though.
By the way my sim is EE - not WW I have fat finger syndrome it would seem! (We have a 24gb 4G WW data sim which cost £50. )
0 -
We have been "on a tour" since 2nd July on cc sites and have noticed on club sites that the wifi (when available)is normally fine for what it is designed to be used for, but at w/ends and now school holidays ,it can be very slow,at times, today at the moment it is fine at Tewksbury but yesterday at times was not good, the site staff here a and at our last stop Cirencester have both said they have had "complaints?" From some saying that The system is "rubbish" as their children cannot get their on line games to work
0 -
Steve
Interesting link. I had not realised that the Club actually quoted speeds depending on what band of WiFi a site has. Having said that I assume that must be the speed for the entire site not individual connections as when I have done speed tests on site I have rarely got above 1 mbps which is fine if it's a consistent connection. I suspect that we won't see significant improvements in site WiFi until they have direct fibre connections, not the ones that are dependent on a BT WiFi cabinet?
David
0 -
Yes even on gold sites the best I have measured is 1MB download and 0.5 up, even in the early hours when few will be using it. I assume it is deliberately restricted per user, to try and stop members using it for what is not intended. 1 MB down and 0.5 up for instance, would not really be enough for a stable video call, so having tried it once folk won't try again.
0 -
I think that is the main problem, having to share a self limiting bandwidth, more users, less bandwidth for individuals. I think the club had good intentions setting up wi-fi but technology has moved on. There are also still some areas in the UK where transmissions are generally poor and you can't expect much at all from any type of service.
0 -
It’s due to the problems and idiosyncrasies of the club’s Wi-fi that I object every time someone says it should be free to the end user. We all know that it can’t be free as such because it’s use and installation carries costs. As long as it is a second rate system I have no desire to see those costs embedded in site fees leaving us with no choice whether to pay or not. If it ever becomes efficient and reliable, I’ll consider changing my views.
1 -
Probably right Brue. As they say you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear! Whilst the Club come in for a lot of stick about their WiFi provision, probably because they charge for it, the real problem is lack of investment in national infrastructure. BT Openreach reliance on fibre to cabinet was really only a stop gap. In hindsight they should have installed fibre and got rid of copper. I am on FTTC and get about 38mbps which is generally fine for me. My son has FTTP, so a direct fibre cable to his house and gets about 80/100 mbps. Contrast that with the new non BT system currently being installed in MK which will give us up to 1000 mbps. Now if the Club had that sort of service coming into their sites there would be enough bandwidth to allow people to stream movies and virtually anything else they wanted to do.
David
0 -
There are also still some areas in the UK where transmissions are generally poor and you can't expect much at all from any type of service.
There are of course satellite systems. As long as a tree does not get in the way.😂 They are however, very expensive and not something I would consider.
0 -
I think with FTTC (infinity) the desired aim is to get the cabinet within 200 metres. Unfortunately they are failing in this extensively.
For us at about 250 metres we are getting 69 MB download and. 19 MB upload. Before I upgraded we had 15 / 17MB down and 1.5 MB up. So a significant improvement.
Actually I was happy with the old download speed. It was the upload that I wanted to improve.
0 -
I bought a smart TV and paid for wireless air angel for 1 year. Two weeks now into the holiday and still no TV. I just wanted to use our Netflix account I just want my money back now.
0 -
-
Of course if he /she is staying at one of the upgraded sites they would have reason to feel aggrieved. As they sort of imply you can stream.
0 -
You couldn't make it up, could you?
0 -
Indeed you couldn’t. However, there is no point pointing out the inconsistencies. I did for some on one of the pitch type pages and they are still there several years on, ☹️ despite a nice email saying the issue would be communicated to the appropriate team.
0 -
😨🥺🤐
0 -
As a Business, (and the CAMC is a business don't forget) the question of intolerable Wi-Fi shouldn't arise. A dedicated Line able to supply the demands of the site capacity should be the norm. Nowadays Fibre-Optic is the way to go for Internet connections. and with speeds in excess of 350 Mb/s download are easily obtainable. It's a matter of Mathmatics to make Wi-Fi available to all on site with acceptable speeds and quality.
Wi-Fi is capable of at least 50 Mb/s download so do the maths and calculate the required bandwidth needed. Simples.
As a freebie to Caravan and Camping Club members, no one can complain at the poor speeds/quality of their on-site Wi-Fi . but as a PAID FOR service by CAMC members, we have cause for complaint if the service fails to provide adequate bandwidth/quality of service. With the technology available nowadays it's possible to provide a Great Wi-Fi experience regardless of location.
From experience and from reading other's blogs on the topic of site Wi-Fi, it seems most are moving towards their own system for Internet access while on site. This being based on the generally poor on-site Wi-Fi service at present. 4G dongles and Mi-Fi units are becoming popular and although expensive to begin with, are a worthwhile investment for long term solutions to poor Wi-Fi.
So the question is now. Does the CAMC wish to continue to provide on-site Wi-Fi, in which case it needs to move with the times and upgrade, or scrap the service and let each develop their own solutions to get Internet access while away on Vacation? .
1 -
I do not think you are going to get the type of service you outline Busyelf for £30 a year. Folk just wouldn’t want to pay the likely premium involved and would continue, or in some cases start to use alternative sources. One possibility would be a two, or even 3 tier service, where you pay differently for the level you require. One site we stopped on, which had a lot of statics, charged over £200 a year for a reported high speed service.
1 -
I wonder if the Club is in a quandary about the supply of WiFi on sites. Where it can it seems to be adding fibre connections to sites. How much this is costing we have no idea. As I have said before that without knowing what the uptake of site WiFi is amongst members it is difficult for any of us here to answer the last para in you post. I can't be alone in getting site surveys after I visit a Club site. In those surveys they ask a fair few questions. Did you use Club WiFi? If not why not? Did you use 4G? So either the Club are re-evaluating it's offer on WiFi or perhaps wondering whether it is worthwhile, but until they tell us we won't know.
David
0 -
I think there was an announcement by the club that they have now "contracted" BTs offshoot Openreach to upgrade sites with fibre optic lines, to address most of the problems that some members seem to have with some sites WiFi especially those in rural areas that still have to rely on copper phone cables, ,I have noted Open Reach vans at some sites we have been on recently ,the last we saw them was at Sutton on Sea it seems were running a fibre optic supply from about half a mile away
It must be costing mega amounts of money
Some friend's of ours who live in Norfolk were quoted £6000 each for the five houses in their lane to upgrade the supply into the lane they live
0
