Bad experience at Yellowstone KOA

[soneil422]

Originally Posted by cbramsey

Which Yellowstone KOA did you stay at? There are two.

West Yellowstone, Montana Campground | Yellowstone Park / Mountainside KOA

Or

West Yellowstone, Montana Campground | Yellowstone Park / West Entrance KOA

They are within a couple of miles of each other. Wife and I stayed at the West Entrance KOA and had a great time.

West Yellowstone KOA.

[soneil422]

I guess I'm way out of line to expect something that is advertised. I guess that at 1049pm mst, I should be out sightseeing. I guess since I own my own business, I should just not worry about it and enjoy my vacation. I guess I should drive 6 miles to McDonald's to use their wifi. I guess I should drive about 2 hours to a Verizon store to buy a new hot spot instead of my current sprint. Then when I get home return the Verizon because it doesn't work at home. Maybe I expect, when shopping for services from 1500 miles away, I expect to get what I pay for.
I did call corporate. They were not very helpful on the phone. I plan on writing a snail mail letter when we get home. I didn't record the call between the manager and I. However, I don't think I was rude, but I could be wrong. I was asking for help with the issue. I suggested resetting the equipment. After him telling me I should move on, I called every campground within 30 miles. No luck. I was packed up and going to get my money back, but the dw vetoed that.

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by soneil422

I guess I'm way out of line to expect something that is advertised.

You are merely learning what most of us have come to expect as normal. No matter what, we are all camping, where adapting to the foibles are normal, and accepting things that we cannot change is par for the course.
Happy Trails


Dave and Nola, RV Mutants

[cbramsey]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Been to Yellowstone and wonder what the fascination with WIFI and the total need to be "connected" is. We spent most of our time looking at the scenery. Much better use of time than checking the web.

But how can you upload all your pictures to InstaGram and Facebook???

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by cbramsey

But how can you upload all your pictures to InstaGram and Facebook???

Fruit Fone Hotspot


Dave and Nola, RV Mutants

[Jeffcarp]

Originally Posted by soneil422

I guess I'm way out of line to expect something that is advertised. I guess that at 1049pm mst, I should be out sightseeing. I guess since I own my own business, I should just not worry about it and enjoy my vacation. I guess I should drive 6 miles to McDonald's to use their wifi. I guess I should drive about 2 hours to a Verizon store to buy a new hot spot instead of my current sprint. Then when I get home return the Verizon because it doesn't work at home. Maybe I expect, when shopping for services from 1500 miles away, I expect to get what I pay for.
I did call corporate. They were not very helpful on the phone. I plan on writing a snail mail letter when we get home. I didn't record the call between the manager and I. However, I don't think I was rude, but I could be wrong. I was asking for help with the issue. I suggested resetting the equipment. After him telling me I should move on, I called every campground within 30 miles. No luck. I was packed up and going to get my money back, but the dw vetoed that.

I think you just answered your own question. Sprint (and many others) doesn't have reliable service in Yellowstone. Verizon apparently doesn't work at your house. Those two companies are worth about $80 billion yet have trouble providing service in certain situations. Yet you had an expectation that a small business campground owner was going to provide you with reliable Internet service where mega-corporations can't?

I think the real answer is that if you own your own business and being connected to it is that important to you then Yellowstone is probably not the place you should be.

[tim myers]

The response in post 44 explained a lot to me.

[southernlady]

Originally Posted by soneil422

West Yellowstone KOA.

As previously mentioned, there are TWO West Yellowstone KOA's about 2 miles from each other. Both are known as West Yellowstone.

Which West Yellowstone KOA?

[mel s]

Originally Posted by soneil422

We arrived today at the Yellowstone KOA. Got everything out and ready and just wanted to relax from driving. Went to access the wifi, the access point nearest us didn't work. I could see full bars but could not connect to it.

I called the office and reached Steve (manager). He told me all the excuses about it being my phones problem and my settings. Also he has trouble blasting wifi through pine trees. Weird, I just connected at the office to a different access point and it worked. He told me that he's only going to say this once, "if wifi is that important to me and I don't want to drive to the office to use my phone, I should probably move on and leave."
I have not been able to find another open park so here I am, writing to you from it'd office.
I'd find another park if you're in this area.

soneil422
I've found that anyone who expects WIFI at every site in every RV park that "says" they have free WIFI is going to be disappointed... OFTEN.
Mel
'96 Safari, (mine since '01)

[Sammie]

Any other problems or just this one?

Sammie

[ctbruce]

I feel soneil422's pain. My wife owns an in home business and we are heading to Yellowstone after July 4th. This will be an issue for us as well. We'll deal with what we have when we get there and not sweat it. If push comes to shove and it's needed we'll make a trip to McD's to get an Internet fix. Other than that we'll use our phones. Unfortunately, living in Kansas City, MO, I know Sprint cannot be trusted. Not even in their own backyard.

[jmckinley]

You have to assume that Campground WiFi's do not work and plan for it. With the advent of Netflix, etc, even if they have a decent system, multiple inconsiderate jerks will jam up the system streaming movies.

If you have critical need for Internet access, you will be in trouble if you're only relying in campground WiFi.

[southernlady]

Originally Posted by jmckinley

You have to assume that Campground WiFi's do not work and plan for it. With the advent of Netflix, etc, even if they have a decent system, multiple inconsiderate jerks will jam up the system streaming movies.

If you have critical need for Internet access, you will be in trouble if you're only relying in campground WiFi.

Which is why we carry our own hotspot (use a mifi).

Wifi has a limited amount of bandwidth...and the more connections, the worse the experience. Kinda like trying to use everything in your house at once that uses ONE major water line.

[docj]

If the OP had consulted campgroundreviews.com before making his reservations he would probably have noticed that many of the reviews state that the wifi at this park is marginal. Yellowstone Park / West Entrance KOA - West Yellowstone, MT - RV Park Reviews