Charging for Wi-Fi
Charging for Wi-Fi. With the dramatic increase in prices how come the Caravan Club justify charging for Wi-Fi?
Currently I’m sitting on a camping in camping and Caravan club siteUsing the Internet without charges.
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I’m sitting on a Caravan and Motorhome Club Site with no WiFi at all even a supposed hotspot which only works for BT customers….
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As I understand it the CMC, when the new system is installed, will allow an element of free WiFi beyond just using the Club website which was the case in the past. However if you want a premium service to allow streaming etc it will still be a chargeable service. I have found the free C&CC WiFi a bit hit and miss on the sites I have used.
David
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Our recent trip to Brecon had no WiFi at all except in their information hut, and very little tv reception. We needed all our data from our cellular hot-spot to just do some work so left the TV off. However, they proudly announced when they upgrade the system in future then wifi would be free. Although that didn't help us there and then. We check that site listing's include wifi before booking.
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Evening
Up until this year the club used to have paid for wifi through a company called Freshwave. This year they have employed BT to replace that antique equipment which was pretty much beyond economical repair. Anyone who had a current subscription will have received a voucher for the unused time. So far every site has had a free hotspot installed with the intention to roll out site wide equipment over the course of this year. You don't need to be a BT customer but you obviously need to be in sight of the hotspot. Connections will show "club wifi", no login or password needed. Moving forward, when sites have had the full upgrade there will be two tiers of wifi, a free one for general web use and a paid for subscription for a higher bandwidth for streaming etc.
When people arrive here for a stay and want to use the free wifi we advise on the pitches which get a good signal which today is around 25 of the 55 touring pitches we have. I'm currently getting 30mbs sat in my camper 200 meters from the mast.
JK
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Do you know what is happening at Clumber JK? Club has spent a vast sum of money there, but there’s still no wifi at all on the Site, or at least there wasn’t last September. It’s our closest site, but we won’t go because I need to know I can be contacted because of my Mum, even if it’s just a simple message.
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Morning
Same as my post above I think. The site refurb didn't then include wifi as it was owned and run by a third party company.
JK
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I found this David :-
How good will the new FREE to pitch Wi-Fi be?
The FREE service is intended to provide access to basic web browsing and email providing 512kb/s. The speed at which it runs is a factor of how many devices are connected at the same time.
That’s about the same as the speed I measured on the C&CC sites we stopped on during May / June. Good enough for checking emails but general browsing very limited, as often web sites have lots of pictures which take ages to load. Google maps ran OK on general maps but street view froze or took ages.
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TDA
We came back from Clumber just over a week ago. They do have a free hotspot around reception but even that was a bit hit and miss, it might have depended on how many were using it at the same time? Some of us who have been at this game a long time will remember the queues on Club sites to use the only public telephone! I am not sure what the problem is at Clumber Park with regard to the non existent phone signal, given the proximity of several major roads and Worksop not being far away. I just feel the situation at Clumber could be dangerous in an emergency situation?
David
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Just read your review David, we had a similar experience and we picked a "quiet" spot on the perimeter. We did have a couple of peaceful days before the weekend rush.
We've always found the C&Cc wifi perfectly adequate avoiding peak times.
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Thanks JK and DK. Still doesn’t sound very good, although not entirely blaming the Club for this, as it is a wifi black hole. There are a few places in Clumber where you can get a signal, but not near the Club Site. I’m sure the NT get a decent signal to their offices, shops and premises though, somehow.
I did use the phone box at Marazion a bit down the years😁
Edit, just read your Clumber review DK, gosh you were brave staying at the weekend😱 We don’t even go to the Park, let alone the Club Site on Saturdays or Sundays, always very busy. Different again in week, outside of school holidays, it’s a good place to explore then. Lots of events held there throughout the year.
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It has certainly improved over the last 20 years. Then you couldn’t get a signal anywhere within Clumber park. Now one is available a lot of the way around the lake and in other areas. The problem with the campsite is that it is surrounded by thick banks of trees that soak up the signal. If you go up lime tree clear of them, as shown in the picture, you get a very good signal on EE and O2. The trees aren’t going anywhere, therefore I think the only way you are going to get a signal is if a mast were installed within the site, which isn’t going to happen.
I’m not sure if the limited bandwidth that will be provided on the free service, when it’s initiated, will be suitable for VOIP calls. Although even if it is, to receive calls would mean being connected to it and generally you get logged out after a period of non use.
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The pervious time we were at Clumber we did get a signal of sorts near the cafe by the lake. This is also near a village so perhaps the reason for the signal? There is probably little incentive for the networks to improve the signal simply because no one really lives there. No doubt the NT have a wired/fibre connection so not that interested in canvassing for a better signal?
Does anyone know if you can report not spots to either Ofcom direct to networks?
David
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I sometimes think the UK is stuck in some kind of time warp where everything is second rate and expensive. On our trips to Spain most campsite Wi-Fi is free and fast, even at several thousand feet in the mountains. Walks are waymarked and seem well maintained, the “minor” roads are, in general, quiet with brilliantly smooth surfaces for cycling which makes it a pleasure. Where I live my local, quietish “A” road is like cycling on cobbles.
Surely a club which has no shareholders and operates for the benefit of members, and has quite a bit in the bank should be able to provide decent free Wi-Fi for members?
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Isn’t that what’s in the process of happening? 🤷🏻♂️
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I sometimes think the UK is stuck in some kind of time warp where everything is second rate and expensive.
Yesterday was my first UK trip out in our motorhome since coming back from a Continental tour. It was a chance to reflect again on the touring differences. The poor condition of the roads, the litter strewn, rough laybys, a car parked in a spot provided for caravans at a service station and further thoughts about the state of our country made me angry. Make no mistake we are now a third world country. The only saving grace of the journey was the excellent site in a peaceful little village with free WiFi at the end of it.
peedee
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“Make no mistake we are now a third world country.”
PD, you’re driving around in an expensive MH going on holiday. You have food on the table, a good income, access to free health care in a country that has a civilised ruling system. Your comment quoted above is ludicrous.
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@Tinwheeler "Third world Country", I think that was perhaps a metaphor.
"a country that has a civilised ruling system" you mean the one that has just thrown out a lying etc B that was PM? A fist past the post system that creates an elective dictatorship (Quinton Hogg) and the second largest unelected legislative chamber in the world.
Yes, most of us on here probably are reasonably comfortable and have food on the table, but many have not, hence food banks at record levels, tens of thousands can't get the health care they need because of years of underfunding, aka "austerity" which research has shown caused around 250,000 excess premature deaths, meanwhile the poor are being gutted by interest rate rises deliberately designed to cause a recession and unemployment in order to keep those at the top in luxury.
And that's just some of it.
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But PD is just comparing his experiences of his ‘living’, the only ridiculous thing is that we live in, to all intense and purposes, a ‘third’ world country. Pretty poor in my opinion but of course we know that if you are one of the few who actually profit from such a situation, who are raking it in, things are unlikely to change.. There are an increasing number who will now struggle to put food on their table, pay the bills etc. Not good is it!
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No way was I making a political statement. We have a democracy. That is an absolute fact and what I was referring to. We do not have a dictatorship or autocracy as often found in the third world.
I actually find PD’s use of the term “third world country” rather offensive when there are countries around the world with millions of people starving and existing in dire poverty. No way can our situation, even of the less fortunate of our population, be compared to that.
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+1, using’ third world country’ as a comparison demeans the suffering of the likes of the Congo, El Salvador, Angola etc. we are very, very privileged still.
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I agree that standards have slipped in many ways but I cannot accept the “third world” description.
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I’ve said my piece in reply that PD’s comment and the rest has nothing at all to do with charging for Wi-Fi.
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There are still many areas which are patchy or non existent for phone signals and WiFi. Ofcom will be aware of these places but you should be able to make emergency 999 contact with your phone.
We have just stayed on an NT estate in Wales, there was no signal anywhere but the property we used did have a payphone (like Clumber) and I presume the offices etc have landlines.
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What we don't know, yet, is how the admin of the new "BT" system will be different from the previous "Air Angel"? Will it still be run by a third party or will the Club take control? I suspect it will be the former? As to why the Club have decided to offer a "free" service it could be for all sorts of reasons. They will be aware that the C&CC, as a major competitor in the market, offer a free service. Perhaps its been driven by future systems that will require an internet connection in places where the mobile signal is poor to non-existent? I was thinking of perhaps the new ANPR system where you need to confirm what pitch you are on electronically. Also if they decide to roll out metering across all sites everyone will need access to the internet in order to set up and run the online system? So perhaps the offer of limit free WiFi is not altogether altruistic but practical?
David
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