Internet Connection at BLT

[gmi3804]

I understand there's free WiFi, but I suspect it's painfully slow. Are the ethernet outlets in the villas still "live?" I'd like to hardwire for faster speeds if I can, or even use my travel router.

Or am I SOL?

 

[erionm]

The wired connections are no longer live, only WiFi.

 

[cadale]

We were just there in Sept - Oct and didn't have a problem with the speed of the WiFi. Connected fine and didn't have any interruptions.

 

[gmi3804]

Thanks. I've heard horror stories about WiFi at WDW. Not a problem at BLT?

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks. I've heard horror stories about WiFi at WDW. Not a problem at BLT?

We were at BLT on 9/27 & 9/28 in a lake view studio. Our wi-fi was very slow and the connection dropped several times.

I think your experience will depend on where you are and how many of your neighbors are trying to use the connection.

The connection for the second part of our trip at the BWV was much, much better. But since many have had problems there, I really think the wi-fi experience depends on luck.

I did let them know how disappointed I was in the wi-fi at BLT on the survey they sent after our stay. There were several questions about it which leads me to believe wi-fi service may still be a work in progress. I hope so.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We just got home yesterday from BLT and had no problems with the wireless internet.

 

[RachaelA]

I only had one slow night with the internet when we were at BLT last week.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I was at BLT in June and the WiFi was very slow at times.

 

[HayGan]

We were at BLT on 9/27 & 9/28 in a lake view studio. Our wi-fi was very slow and the connection dropped several times.

I think your experience will depend on where you are and how many of your neighbors are trying to use the connection.

The connection for the second part of our trip at the BWV was much, much better. But since many have had problems there, I really think the wi-fi experience depends on luck.

I did let them know how disappointed I was in the wi-fi at BLT on the survey they sent after our stay. There were several questions about it which leads me to believe wi-fi service may still be a work in progress. I hope so.

We had the same experience last week and I responded the same way with the survey we received.

 

[JWG]

The "new" WiFi" system is now a year old. It started in October, 2011. There is no excuse for there still being so many problems with it. Fairfield Inn's across the U.S. have figured it out.

I was confident that by our December 2012 visit this would be figured out, guess not.

 

[bwang123]

The "new" WiFi" system is now a year old. It started in October, 2011. There is no excuse for there still being so many problems with it. Fairfield Inn's across the U.S. have figured it out.

I was confident that by our December 2012 visit this would be figured out, guess not.

I don't know if Fairfield necesarily has "figured it out". I saw documentation from Marriot that says their average occupancy rate is around 63% (with the lowest at around 35%). I would have to believe that Disney operates much higher year round. More guests=more wifi capable devices. Since wireless is shared connectivity per wireless access point, you have these problems. Happens everywhere (not just Disney) where an overwhelming amount of users are simultanously streaming, reading email and posting on the DIS. Most of the time its a problem with wireless technology in general and not the companies implementation of the technology. Hopefully, they are choosing to implement the best possible solution to lessen the problems but connectivity issues will continue to exisit and people will complain about this free service.

 

[gmi3804]

It's a one step forward/two back situation. In providing this free WiFi "service" to its guests, Management has made it next to impossible to utilize a WiFi network anywhere on property without providing your own tethering hot spot. An hard-wired ethernet option isn't even provided. One could always, I suppose, go to the outside-managed "business centers" and pay ungodly amounts for their services.

I think I'll go complain about it on an anonymous message board and things'll improve.

 

[COMouseEars]

We stayed at BLT 10/12 -20. For the first few days the WiFI was terrible. Could only get a signal in the main rooms, but not on the balcony, and then it was iffy at best. Near the end they switched the name of the WiFi source and everything was great. Good signal in all parts of the room and balcony. Not sure if others had the same experience if they were there that week but it turned out pretty good at the end.

I was bummed that they turned off the wired ports though. We had always brought our own wireless router for the rooms which worked great. One less thing to pack now though.

 

[kda]

We spent 8 nights at BLT earlier in Oct. Wi-fi was excellent in both rooms (16th floor and 10th floor LV) and the balconies. We had an i-pad and laptop. DH took the i-pad to the pool one day and couldn't get connected. So, we were very happy, but it sounds as if we were lucky.

 

[australiankaren]

stayed twice in sept this year..
studio, 9th floor LV..awesome wifi, quick and reliable
studio,14th floor LV...horrible..I had to go out in the hall and walk until i could get 1 bar on my ipad....we did complain but they said they couldn't do anything..it was that bad & frustrating that we didn't log on for the rest of the stay.

 

[lunaemica]

We were at blt in Nov/Dec 2010 and it was fine then but obviously that was a while ago.

 

[Jenbabe411]

We stayed 10/20-27 and I came into it thinking the wireless was going to be horrible but it was actually better than ours at home! We were pleasantly suprised!

 

[stefanospops]

We were at BLT from Nov 1-5 then AKL from the 5-10 and the connection at BLT was awful. It was slow and dropped constantly. When we moved to Kidani Village the connection was near perfect. It didn't drop and was quick.

 

[BuzzLiteyear]

We were at BLT from Nov 1-5 then AKL from the 5-10 and the connection at BLT was awful. It was slow and dropped constantly. When we moved to Kidani Village the connection was near perfect. It didn't drop and was quick.

We too had terrible WiFi at BLT. I turned it off and used my data plan.

 

[Brian Noble]

If you *need* connectivity while you travel (to anywhere, not just Disney) it would be wise to have a backup option in case the hotel's network is not up to snuff. I'm able to tether through both ATT's 3G network and Verizon's LTE in sticky situations. If you don't have a device and data plan that allows tethering, several operators sell pre-paid/no-contract versions that you can turn on just when necessary. I used to have one through Virgin Mobile, which uses Sprint's network.