It's almost like CAMC have been listening to me when I've responded to various surveys and I've had a pop at them here and there for their poor return on membership fees! I know that doesn't happen in real life, and that they have a derisable reputation for listening to members .... but maybe, just maybe!
Just had an email from them announcing upcoming FREE WI-FI TO THE PITCH!!!!!!!
Only for basic web browsing, emails etc., streaming movies and other heavy use is a paid for upgrade still, but progress! Being rolled out from April, but not complete across all relevant sites until end of year, so possibly not accessible until next year for some campers.
I'd love to see the results of the members survey they conducted recently (doubt they'd publish it though!), get the feeling they may have got a bit of a thrashing, don't know any members who are enthralled with them at the moment, and a few giving up on them, just becoming too expensive with too little in return for membership fee IMHO.
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Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 17/3/2023
The C&CC have had it on many of their sites for some time, so it's about time they caught up.
CAMC may well be (very!) late to the game (not just CCC, but so many public places offer free WiFi and have done for years!), and rightly so, high time they caught up, but they have leap frogged CCC in a couple of ways.
CCC WiFi is only within limited range of the Hot Spot, so not necessarily available at your pitch if beyond range, CAMC are offering service to all pitches!
And CCC only have narrow bandwidth (only suitable for basic browsing and email) so streaming movies etc. is not possible, and you can't pay for an upgraded service to provide that facility, but CAMC are making streaming possible with a paid for upgrade package. Remains to be seen whether the costs for the upgrade are realistic, or whether CAMC are profiteering, and a data SIM/package from a mobile service provider is more cost effective.
Of course, it's a contended service (the more users and heavier the load, the slower it gets), so remains to be seen if it's actually usable in the real world at a far flung pitch! But I welcome the move and sure it will be usable at some times of the day.
The only C&CC site we visit (CS sites excepted, of course) is Walton on Thames. The site wifi there is I believe more or less site wide.
Certainly good enough for most browsing and I have even managed on occasion to speak to my brother on Facetime.
Not too worried about site wifi anyway, as I have an EE card in my iPad that I bought from Argos. Gives me 50Gb over a 12 month period at a cost of £50. I am getting close to the 12 months now and still quite a few Gb left.
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lets get this right , nothing is ever "free", this upgrade over 2 stages is an enormous expense to the club , and so to be passed on to us the members, now i dont want to use wi-fi, or dog showers or wetsuit washes or barbecue points, but if thats what is requested by the majority of members, then thats what will "i presume" be implemented, which is why i no longer use the overpriced club sites
Yes but. I wouldn’t think each pitch can have its own hub? so it might not always work:
We were at a favourite independent site in Angus, which has long had free Wi-Fi. It worked perfectly at our pitch on the other side of the site, until a MH took the next door pitch, between us & the Wi-Fi ‘mast’ (or whatever) at the office. Said MH had its own Mi-Fi and their signal blocked the site Wi-Fi for us, so we couldn’t log onto it; we had to walk over to the office to pick up emails & the daily BBC news roundup. A few days later, that MH moved on & we could log onto the site signal from our pitch again.
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 18/3/2023
Yes but. I wouldn’t think each pitch can have its own hub? so it might not always work:
We were at a favourite independent site in Angus, which has long had free Wi-Fi. It worked perfectly at our pitch on the other side of the site, until a MH took the next door pitch, between us & the Wi-Fi ‘mast’ (or whatever) at the office. Said MH had its own Mi-Fi and their signal blocked the site Wi-Fi for us, so we couldn’t log onto it; we had to walk over to the office to pick up emails & the daily BBC news roundup. A few days later, that MH moved on & we could log onto the site signal from our pitch again.
No idea exactly how they propose to implement it, but can't see anything other than a number of relay stations/aerials placed around the site to get the coverage on the large sites I know. As to service, well it's a contended (shared) signal, so will deteriorate at high demand times. Not perfect perhaps, but bringing CAMC into line with the modern world where free Wi-Fi is almost regarded as normal and expected.
If needs be, we will just turn off the Wi-Fi on the phone & revert to the mobile signal. It’s just that our monthly data allowance can go quickly if we’re looking things up, like what to do locally.
Looks like I have got it wrong again!
Was always under the impression that free wi-fi has been available for years in order to access the Club's website.
This latest looks to be a slight extension of the facility, but not a lot!
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 17/3/2023
The C&CC have had it on many of their sites for some time, so it's about time they caught up.
Hmmm, I have yet to come across free Wi-Fi on a C&CC club site, not the one I go to which is C&CC Salisbury for the first trip out of the year over Easter.
Mind you, I don't need Wi-Fi on that site, being urban, it has good mobile phone signal, and I have an unlimited data plan with EE.
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Quote: Originally posted by Dave and Cyn on 18/3/2023
Looks like I have got it wrong again!
Was always under the impression that free wi-fi has been available for years in order to access the Club's website.
This latest looks to be a slight extension of the facility, but not a lot!
No you aren't wrong, there was free access to the club site, but that was it. Any other use of the Wi-Fi needed paying for. The access was also ONLY when in limited range of the Hot Spot, which was usually based around the reception office.
Now it's been expanded to general internet access, and available across the entire site, so quite a significant improvement really.
In the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't influence me one way or the other, often visit regions with no mobile signal at all, and can live happily with that. But did feel the CAMC charging (and at quite expensive rates!) for Wi-Fi was a bit of a con in this day and age! I do wonder how many members paid their charges, and if a lack of income was behind their change! From comments, it looks as if most people who want internet access either use their phone contract bundled data, or pay for a data SIM with a phone company.
We’ve just come back from 3 nights at the CMC site at Kendal. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that free wi-fi was available on our pitch (in the middle of a wood!) and worked fine, though we only use it for emails, internet browsing etc. Made us feel slightly better about paying the increased cost of the pitch!
Why do you need wifi from the CAMC when your phone will work as a hot spot. We always use our phones to stream movies etc and have not had any issues. Certainly a lot cheaper and more reliable than CAMC or C&CC wifi.
Quote: Originally posted by iank01 on 28/3/2023
Why do you need wifi from the CAMC when your phone will work as a hot spot. We always use our phones to stream movies etc and have not had any issues. Certainly a lot cheaper and more reliable than CAMC or C&CC wifi.
If a site has free Wi-Fi (either a club or an independent site), we’ll use it. If it’s to pay for, or weak / non existent, we’ll use our mobile data - if there’s a mobile signal (using it carefully to conserve our allowance).
We’ve gone 3 days without access to emails by any means up north, only catching up in the Tesco supermarkets (several days drive apart). Couldn’t even make a phone call because of the not-spots. You can only use a signal if one exists.
You're rather judging the situation SOLELY from your point of view Iank01, and in part, answered your own question!
Yes, the charged rate for the club's paid for WiFi was too high in comparison with most bundled data costs, AND it was often low quality so even more unjustified. That's why free WiFi is so welcome.
Fiona W answered WHY there is sometimes a need, not every site has good mobile signal, and not always across all networks. I've stayed on plenty of sites where you can't or can barely make or receive a phone call, network data is completely out of the question! As Fiona W said, you can only use a signal if one exists! - WiFi is independent of phone signal strength!
Not all of us have huge data packages on our phones either, so prefer to keep what we do have for use in areas we are more dependent upon it. At home I usually don't use any or very little of my meagre data bundle every month, I just don't need it, any data is handled through my home WiFi. I'm not inclined to pay extra for a higher data bundle when I simply wouldn't use it 99% of the time! Free site WiFi suits me and I'm sure many others perfectly.
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Topic: CAMC - Free Wi-Fi to pitch!
Being rolled out from April, but not complete across all relevant sites until end of year, so possibly not accessible until next year for some campers.
via mobile 18/3/2023 at 9:42am
