Summary:
We need Campgrounds and Hotels to advertise the speed of their Internet download connection. Make it a selling point that they have a faster downstream link than the other, similar, businesses around them. It is no longer good enough that they have "High Speed Internet". We want to know how "High Speed" it is.
The following may look like a Rant; reader beware!!
Details:
I have found that RV campgrounds have very small connections to the internet. They will claim that they have High Speed Internet, which may be true, but what is the definition of High Speed. As it turns out anything that is faster than 54K bits per second (Kbps) is considered High Speed.
This means that the campground or hotel can install a DSL "High Speed" internet connection and advertise that they have "High Speed Internet". So how fast is a DSL connection? For a business connection (using AT&T as an example), the cheapest is High Speed Internet Basic which ranges from 224 Kbps to 768 Kbps.
Lets assume that 10 people in the campground are using the internet at the same time. At the cheapest throughput (224 Kbps) this means that each user will have between 22.4 Kbps (all users hitting pages at same time) to 224 Kbps (only one user) of throughput. Reality is somewhere in between.
Of course the hotel and campground owners can buy more throughput from the internet provided, but each step costs more money.
It is no longer good enough to look for "High Speed Internet", we need to begin asking what speed connection that they have to the Internet. Both campground and hotels.
A sample conversation:
Ring, ring, ring
Them: "Hello, this is The RV Campground. How can I help you."
Us: "We were thinking of visiting. Is Wifi Internet service available?"
Them: "Yes. We have Wifi with High Speed Internet."
Us: "How fast is your High Speed Internet?"
Them: "Uh, I don't know. It is a DSL connection."
Us: "How many campsites to you have, and how fast is your DSL connection?"
Them: "We have 100 campsites and I don't know how fast the DSL connection is." We hear some mumbling in the background as the person asks their co-workers.
Them: "We don't know."
Us: "Can you please find out and call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx. And I would suggest that you advertise this information. Thanks"
At this point we can do some math in our heads, that since the campground will be full that weekend and they probably have the cheapest DSL package.....the Internet connection will be slow.
NOTE: Does it seem strange that we quibble over congestion of a 802.11b (11 Mbps) Wifi network, to find that the Campground only has a 1 Mbps connection to the Internet. Even in my home with a 802.11g (54 Mbps) Wifi network my internet connection is only 12 Mbps.