Is It Ok To Charge For Wifi, Should Campgrounds charge for Internet access? Options

[drmcleod]

Should Campgrounds charge for Internet access?

I would like to get other opinions on this.

My opinion is no! I have two reasons for this.

First, as a consumer. Having free internet access is actually one of the things I look for in a campground. It's a 'perk' if you will. If I have the choice between two, somewhat comparable, c/g's then I will choose the one with free WiFi. Heck, I'll even choose the one with free WiFi over one that is slightly nicer with fee for service.

Second, as a business owner (of which I am one). It does not cost more to allow the whole campground access to your broadband service. The only additional expense is the addition of the hardware. In some cases this might be more expensive if additional antennas are required and installation requires an expert. Also, a higher than basic internet subscription is needed. However, if the c/g is going to charge for its WiFi service, then all of this has to be done anyway. Therefore, consider it a marketing expense to drive more people to your c/g. Why do you think that places like Panera Bread and even McDonald's are offering free WiFi? I know I choose to eat there when I need a place to surf while I eat. In my case, I want more people to come to my place of business, so I make my wireless service available to all. It costs me no more, but brings more people to me.

What do you think?

[Lindsay Richards]

We had another long debate about this a few months back. It is now an accepted fact that more and more campgrounds are getting WiFi, some of the units are poorly set up and not available in your coach. We had instillation cost quoted on this site of up to $6,000 a year and thousands of dollars a year for maintain. On our recent 3 month plus trip, one of the best receptions we got was in Southern Nebraska and the campground owner showed me his setup. He had a $50 router in the back of his own computer hanging by the power cord in his window. We got 5 bars and were thrilled. I had told him we chose him instead of the other Passport America campground in the area because of it an he said that he didn’t know why everybody didn’t have one because it only cost him $50 to install and $29/month. He had had it for 2 years. I think free WiFi is getting to be almost a requirement. Now that the economy is so poor and gas is so high, that camper are looking to save wherever possible and a percentage of us are going to let that $3.95 or whatever might make a difference.

[jperera]

We had another long debate about this a few months back. It is now an accepted fact that more and more campgrounds are getting WiFi, some of the units are poorly set up and not available in your coach. We had instillation cost quoted on this site of up to $6,000 a year and thousands of dollars a year for maintain. On our recent 3 month plus trip, one of the best receptions we got was in Southern Nebraska and the campground owner showed me his setup. He had a $50 router in the back of his own computer hanging by the power cord in his window. We got 5 bars and were thrilled. I had told him we chose him instead of the other Passport America campground in the area because of it an he said that he didn’t know why everybody didn’t have one because it only cost him $50 to install and $29/month. He had had it for 2 years. I think free WiFi is getting to be almost a requirement. Now that the economy is so poor and gas is so high, that camper are looking to save wherever possible and a percentage of us are going to let that $3.95 or whatever might make a difference.

We have just returned from a 3+ month trip also. The most expensive rate for Wi Fi was $15/day or $2.45 for 2 consecutive hours at Kentucky Horst Park, the second most expensive was in Myrtle Beach which was $10/day. By far a majority of the parks offered it for free. Of course we had some situations with low or no connectivity but most of them had an excellent signal with 11 Mbps. Some had 54 Mbps. Many of those with the best signal were the smaller parks. I considered the parks we found that had a good review on this site, offered a good wi fi connection for free or $2 or less/day and were Passport America parks a real gem. We avoided any real disasters by reading reviews, mostly on this site.