WiFi waste of money?
Comments
-
ET, double negative!
0 -
Just an example. On Virgin using 4G £6 a month gives you 1gb of data, 1000 minutes of phone calls and unlimited texts so a bit more than you are currently paying. A Smart phone tends to dramatically increase the use you get from the phone because of their versatility. Obviously if you don't have a Smart phone you have to factor that cost in as well. The price ranges seems to be between £50 and nearly £1000!!!
David
0 -
If the Club have invested that amount in the provision of WiFi I am not convinced it has proved to be good value. I have no particular objection to paying £25 a year for Club WiFi because I tend to get the use out of it. However I have not yet been on a Club site where the speed could be described as anything other than slow. Rather than the Club banding Wifi as Gold/Silver/Bronze I would prefer to see an indication of the average speed. I don't for one minute think that will be forthcoming. As to the idea of using a centrally situated hot spot this surely is going backwards, isn't this what we used to do on sites 8/10 years or so ago?
David
0 -
Not as savy as some technics on here, but it seems you get everything and better on the fancy Mobile phones. Why then saddle those of us who don't need such a service with the cost. Seems it will be obsolete within 5 years so no long term value either.
0 -
You do actually have to, pay to use the service, so I am not sure why you have such a problem. There are several things on site that I don't use that I am sure I must be contributing towards, it just how things work. Not everyone wants a fancy smartphone, or even knows how to use one and to some MiFi's are a complete mystery. At least it gives folk who just want to log on on their laptop to check emails etc the facility, without having to go down the higher tech route.
2 -
As said i think in an earlier post that there is a system available that can "obstruct?" streaming ,if that was implemented on sites i understand it would help to increase the speed and availability of cc on site internet ,and as the system as "advised" to members is not what the system is for
0 -
Here at the Club we know how important having a decent Wi-Fi signal is, so we’ve invested £500,000 into our network - with a further £500,000 assigned in 2018.
Yet those that complain to the Club about the poor quality of service seem to be told that the wi-fi is supplied by a third party and the Club can do nothing about it. So I am left to believe that £500,000 is the fee the Club pays annually to the third party to provide what wi-fi there is. Quite where the £25 a year, and other onsite fees actually go is anyones guess.
0 -
Don't have a problem as its a facility I don't use. However from posts here you have to wonder about the cost incurred to all and sundry. Its another case of a £1M here, a £1M on rebranding etc. Funds that could have been used to buy new sites, buy extra land adjacent to existing sites, for the benefit of ALL.
2 -
In the past we have paid the £25 annual fee and been satisfied with the speed available. But tomorrow we're going to a site that previously had no WiFi, but now has - to quote -
"Our Wi-Fi hotspot service on this site means internet access is available within a pre-determined, communal area of the site. Please be aware the hotspot speed is currently slow, and we are working with our suppliers to improve this."
I'm disinclined to pay full whack to stand in the rain (or sun) with my Ipad in hand outside the office or information room etc.
1 -
It is interesting that we get a lot on information on how much it is costing to improve the service but no information on how many users so that we can put it all into perspective. It would be easy enough to give us information on how many WiFi passes are purchased on a daily/weekly/annual basis. I can't see this information being commercially difficult to give?
David
1 -
Quite a bit of the club access is already being controlled by the supplier to improve things for users. If it's getting to a point where this is necessary is it really something that is offering value, the club actually states it's basically for checking e mails etc.
0 -
We have usable 4G on our smart phones which is already paid for so have never used site WiFi and probably never will as every year 4G cover gets better and better. Can't see any point in paying again for what we already have, especially as we are not on club sites all the time....
1 -
JVB. But they won't, they'll expect value for money from their payment not controlled access. It's not a good system. I must admit when it was first offered it seemed like a good idea but there has been a huge improvement in access for all that this system seems antiquated now.
0 -
Works for me Brue, convenient and supplies my needs at a reasonable price. This trip however I am using 7 sites of which only 2 are CC. Only using wifi on one of those sites. Plenty of CC sites later. It makes no sense for us to have long term contracts. However as PAYG sim only prices fall these become a good option.
0 -
I think some of the problem JVB is that the system often seems to leave you logged on, rather than time you out. So when everyone comes back for the day although they might only log on to check emails, the link is still active. If they later plug their phone in to charge it will likely trigger an automatic cloud back up, if not disabled. It would not take many of those to severely restrict bandwidth. I always make sure the backup facility is disabled, I wonder how many do?
0 -
Also us and we do have alternative means. At only £25 a year I find it good value as an alternative means of accessing the web. It means I can save our phone data allowances for other things, like perhaps streaming the Grand prix and face time calls.
0 -
Having found ourselves without internet access on a club site watching others using it with their own contracts or Pay As Go we decided, quite a long time ago now, that the extra £25 or the other daily/weekly rates for limited access and often slow speeds wasn't worth it. As I've said before we don't have expensive phones or use contracts, PYG has been a better option for us and our communications are fairly low key.
0 -
Think forward a few years. BT have stated they are to discontinue copper land lines with any voice calls being done by VOIP down fibre.
This is driven by two things - the huge swing of individuals to using a cellular device all the time, including while at home, and the limit of data capacity of copper cable soon being reached.
So those who cannot live without continuous streaming of something will get what they want, either way.
0 -
, ,But what do people these days mean as "value for money?" for some it means useing as much as possible for little or no payment, ie using radiant heaters in awnings that heat the sky and are left on all day,then moan that the site electric keeps tripping
2 -
Value for money? Surely that’s something which works as it should that you can use as much or as little as you deem necessary.
Ask yourself if that applies to site Wi-fi and, if the answer is 'yes', then you’ll be happy but, if the answer is 'no', then you won’t consider it VFM.
0 -
Our family of 4 still find site wifi useful, even though our plan data allowances are now much larger than they were a year ago. The kids use their allowance during the week quite a lot when out and about, so a few days away constantly online can still take them over. Like someone else said we use a booster so that you're not limited on phone/laptop wifi inside the van reaching site wifi aerial which could be some distance away slowing the connection down. Also more than 1 of us can connect
That said we're away in York this weekend and won't use the club wifi as its ultra slow bronze speed but with good 4g on all networks
0
