We've written a number of articles and editorials about the emergence of WiFi and other methods of accesss to high speed internet that are increasingly available to RVers in their travels. While each of these pieces reflects information and comment applicable to prior "snapshots in time", this topic has been such a rapidly "moving target" that we wanted to summarize some of the more important current trends and impacts for both RVers and park owners.
The Changing Landscape
When we first began writing about this general subject, we pointed out that while wireless internet ("WiFi") appeared to be the primary means by which RVers would have access to a speedy internet connection, no doubt there would be other solutions. In fact this has come to pass. We're seeing more and more parks that actually furnish a computer already connected to a cable, DSL or satellite connection. It is increasingly commonplace to see RVs with roof-mounted satellite dishes that can provide a 24/7 connection for the rig's owners (and not infrequently to a number of RVs parked nearby!). Some parks that have a high speed connection are dangling eithernet cables out over a comfortable seating space for RVers with laptops. More cell phone options are coming online that offer speedier connections using the cell signal. And now we see the prospect of new technology that will offer wireless internet access over a far broader area than previously thought possible.
A year or so ago few RVers were knowledgeable about, or equipped to handle, a wireless connection. The newer generation of laptops all include this technology, and RVers in great numbers are now fully conversant with how to use it. High speed connections -- of whatever type -- are so much speedier than the old "dial up" option that few RVers want to deal with phone modems any longer. For many, high speed internet access is an absolute requirement in the selection of an RV park.
In the early days of "modem friendly", many parks saw the opportunity for an added revenue stream and charged a fee for the use of a phone line when RV guests wanted to access email or the internet. Slowly "modem friendly" came to mean that a park offered a phone connection without an additional charge -- it became an "amenity" that was among the most sought after perks of staying at a particular park. As WiFi rolled onto the scene, virtually wiping out the interest of most RVers in phone connections, many parks again saw the opportunity for a revenue stream, and paid outside providers to install the necessary equipment to provide the signal, collect the fees, and supply any needed support. This was also done in part because most parks had not the foggiest notion of how they could provide their own in-park signal, if only to a limited area.
This is changing -- and fast! For the same reason that most of the major motel chains now tout in their advertising "Free High Speed Internet", RV parks are beginning to realize that providing a high speed connection for their guests has become indispensible to many RV travelers -- and free access (WiFi or otherwise) is something that can really boost the occcupancy stats. As I write this from Shadow Ridge RV Park in Ajo, Arizona, I'm within the reach of a free WiFi signal professionally installed by one of the major providers, Nomad ISP. The park has chosen to offer the service free to its guests. Within a couple of miles there is another park offering a professionally installed WiFi signal, and they are charging a significant dollar rate for a day's use. With the daily rates being otherwise similar, guess which park many RVers will select solely on the basis of WiFi being offered as an amenity.
That is not to suggest some parks will continue to opt for fee-based WiFi. We've noted a particular trend among snowbird parks in the southwest to offer WiFi for a fee, using an outside vendor. In most cases these parks cater to seasonal guests, and monthly rates for WiFi are relatively reasonable, especially when compared to the daily rates charged by these same providers. Most snowbird parks do not really cater to short term guests. On the other hand where the target audience includes a high percentage of those staying only for a short period, free WiFi is likely to have a much greater impact and competitive advantage.
Free versus Fee: Whole Park versus Limited Area
Because of the perceived complexities -- including new, strange terminology -- when WiFi first became available, most park owners had little choice but to sign up with one of the many outside service providers. Some of these providers had no prior experience with the RV park industry. Others brought RV park expertise to bear on the specific design needs of RV parks often filled with row after signal-blocking row of tall, dense RVs. Most parks found significant problems in their start up efforts, often because the design was inadequate for the RV park environment. Moreover the technology was so new, and the procedures for connecting so complex, that most RVers could not understand how to set up their laptops to receive the signal. RV park staffers were overwhelmed with questions they could not answer.
To our knowledge the first park to "go it alone" was one operated by Rich and Barbara Stockwell, then park managers, and now well-known RV park design and operations specialists. With a bit of trial and error, and the enthusiastic support and help of a few of their more technically minded guests, they installed their own system with equipment they found they could purchase at an easily affordable cost. Their guests were utterly delighted with the first installation of WiFi as one of the amenities included in the price of a night's stay, and occupancy statistics improved dramatically. Thus was born the age of "WiFi as an amenity" -- a phenomenon that is now becoming commonplace for the same reason it enjoyed such success from the first experment by the Stockwells.
A "variation on the theme" of WiFi as an amenity popped up only a short time later, and has also spread to many RV parks. This has occured primarily where a park already had a high speed cable or DSL connection for its own purposes. Crown Villa RV Resort in Bend, Oregon is an excellent example of this scenario. Some summers ago this ultra-posh park hired a tech savvy young student to help with the increased summer business. He encouraged them to add a simple router in their office -- perhaps then a $75 dollar investment. By doing so, a WiFi signal became instantly available in several of the park's comfortable lounge areas, and to RV sites with close proximity to the central office. It was enormously popular with guests. So much so in fact that upon seeing the positive impact that free WiFi had, the resort subsequently had a series of transmitters professionally installed throughout the park so that a free wireless signal could be made available to all the parks guests inside their own rigs.
Many smaller parks have discovered the ability to set up a simple router to broadcast a WiFi signal to a limited area within the park at almost no cost to the park. The response to even this limited offering has been significant, and provided an excellent marketing advantage to those parks. Unfortunately, many of these parks are not advertising the availability of this limited version of free WiFi.
The role of the leading RV Directories in identifiying parks with high speed access for guests has been increasingly important -- and will likely continue to be so as the technology further advances. At first the Trailer Life Directory appeared uncertain about how to handle "WiFi": Which parks should be reported as having it? What percentage of the park needed to be within the range of the signal to be classified as "WiFi"? No doubt this was at first perplexing to the teams that do the annual inspection/rating of RV parks, as the first years' inclusion of the mention of WiFi was a bit spotty. However that's now improving, and importantly the Directory (with more than just a modicum of encouragement from this website) agreed to add a dollar sign ("$") to the indication of WiFi where qualifying parks provided the service BUT charged an added daily fee for the service. Thus the latest edition of the Directory is becoming a useful guide for those RVers who prefer to stay in parks that offer high speed internet as an amenity included in the daily rate. But there's still considerable room for improvement. We continue with our lobbying with the publisher of the Directory to expand their reporting so as to include as well an identification of those parks that are providing a free WiFi signal, albeit only to a portion of the park. We think RVers would like to have this information as well. We've been pleased with the dialogue we've been able to establish with the publisher of the Trailer Life Diretory (who also publishes Woodalls), and we appreciate the attention and response they've given to our reader-driven recommendations on this subject.