If you aren't already aware of it, yesterday Netflix put online an entire 13-episode new series entitled "House of Cards" starring Kevin Spacey. Although we have already watched the first two shows and have enjoyed them, the reason for this post is simply to point out that this event took place. It appears to be the first time an expensive show with a well-known cast has gone this route, bypassing the HBO, Showtime channels which would have been a more normal venue. Netflix is hinting that this may be only the first of a whole line of "made for streaming" TV content. What's made this even more unusual is that Netflix has made the entire series available at once, no waiting until next week to watch the next episode.

Of course, the implications of this to the entertainment industry are enormous. Essentially, a content provider (a movie producer) has bypassed the entire distribution system and is providing commercial-free content to those willing to pay the intermediary (Netflix) to stream it to them. It's the next logical step beyond the "on demand" process we have become accustomed to.

Once technological evolution like this begins it is hard to stuff the genie back in the bottle, so I expect, over time, we will see more of this not just by Netflix, but maybe also by Amazon and others. This has huge implications for internet providers, campground operators, etc, since it will stress the data-handling capacity of their networks. Sure, nothing has really changed since people can already stream video, but if first-run content becomes more available via streaming they are going to be frustrated if they discover they can't spend their weekend "camping" trip watching a marathon of their favorite shows episodes. Yet another problem for campground owners to wrestle with. As if the question of "free wifi" wasn't difficult enough to deal with on its own.

Doci - you are correct. At this time getting TV via the internet is problematic for "campers" for the most part. The big four wireless people make huge money owning their delivery systems and I don't see them going back to unlimited data with the exception of Sprint. And some have old Verizon unlimited plans, like me. So far I have not bothered to use my Verizon data plan to watch TV. I did test it out on one show, works well.

I am not sure this one Netflix show is a harbinger of the future. I don't think Netflix can afford it.

In a fixed location we have changed the way we watch TV at home. We mostly watch on demand shows from the HBO library and then year old stuff from Netflix. But on the road it is not so easy to get fast internet still.

On our recent RV trip, we camped for 3 days at a Passport America camp ground that advertised they had WiFi. We asked for a site with good reception. They showed up as having reception (3 or 4 bars), but we could not connect. My Smart Phone did the same thing. The next day, I asked numerous other campers and they all said the same thing. We asked the owner to correct and they didn't have a clue. I think it just needed a reboot. Many of these campground rely on vendor for the whole thing and evidently they can charge by the call.

Several times I've been successful asking CG managers if they would reboot the wifi. Since there is no risk to them by doing it, I haven't encountered any resistance to my suggestions.

I have asked staff to do a reboot so many times that I've lost count. I think I'm batting around 50% success in getting connected. If I got a dollar for every time staff have told me that they don't know anything about the Wi-Fi setup I would be a rich man indeed.

If I had a dollar for each customer who has asked me how to connect to a wireless network I guess we'd both be rich.

A savvy park owner should know not to reboot on one complaint.

Our park is in a very rural area and the only internet available is satellite. We have the highest level of service plan that is available. (and it's not cheap) If we exeed our bandwidth limit (33 gig per rolling 30 days) the ISP will simply shut us down.
We don't place physical limits on usage but we explain this to our customers and ask that they limit their usage.
I have one customer who has been here 5 days and has been on line 50 hrs. I have another who checked in 12 hours ago and has been on line 8 hrs. (a 1/2 price customer of course).
Should I :
Charge for Wifi ?
Discontinue Wifi ?
Limit time allowed ?
Allow x hrs free and charge for more ?
Find new customers ?

Allow x hrs free and charge for more ?

We have stayed at several places that limit bandwidth use. Those that handle it professionally put limits in writing and say what will happen if the limits are exceeded (normally throttling). We have stayed at a few that forbid the use of Skype or similar due to bandwidth limitations. We have watched violators asked to leave by park management.

If it were my business, I would do whatever was necessary to ensure each customer provided a profit. As a customer, I would prefer a menu of charges for things like internet, perhaps a base use included in the site price, with additional usage at an additional cost. But, if you do that, would you have enough bandwidth to satisfy everyone if they all chose to pay for lots of usage? Sometimes, running a business and making those decisions is no fun. But above all, you have to make a profit to stay in business. Good luck.

Our park is in a very rural area and the only internet available is satellite. We have the highest level of service plan that is available. (and it's not cheap) If we exeed our bandwidth limit (33 gig per rolling 30 days) the ISP will simply shut us down.
We don't place physical limits on usage but we explain this to our customers and ask that they limit their usage.
I have one customer who has been here 5 days and has been on line 50 hrs. I have another who checked in 12 hours ago and has been on line 8 hrs. (a 1/2 price customer of course).
Should I :
Charge for Wifi ?
Discontinue Wifi ?
Limit time allowed ?
Allow x hrs free and charge for more ?
Find new customers ?

If a service is there, most people are going to use it. Would you meter electricity for each site? I have seen many times people leave their AC on full blast when leaving for the day so it will be nice when they get back in the evening. WiFi is just another example of the same thing.