Boardwalk Broadband as of 1/29/04

[Cap]

Broadband service in Boardwalk is NOT turned on as of 1/29. The Ethernet jacks are in the wall, but they don't connect and the desk says they are "running a bit behind schedule".

A group of five people knocked at the door this morning (1 housekeeper to watch the 4 technicians). One guy unscrewed the cabinet holding the TV so they could move it out and have another technician plug a test unit into the port behind. Two other technicians plugged test units into the jacks on each side of the sofa in the living room. After some muttering, one said this room is not getting to the router.

Another said that these are going to be very hard to repair and maintain, the way Disney has installed the connections. Then they all left.

I'm still having to use dialup. I had hoped for broadband.

On the other hand, the view from the 5th floor of Boardwalk is wonderful.

 

[smacky1]

Do you have to pay extra for the internet connections or is it standard with all rooms? It will be great when they have broadband! Dial up is so slow, especially after you've been using high speed for so long!

 

[DebbieB]

I heard it was going to be $9.95 per day. Kind of steep.

 

[joepoe]

Originally posted by DebbieB
I heard it was going to be $9.95 per day. Kind of steep.

That seems to be the going rate at hotels across the country.

 

[JohnnyII]

Okay...

Lets say they get 9.95 per day. How does that revenue get booked? Meaning, if a DVC property gets revenue from something like that, can that potentially lower the dues for that resort?

 

[Cap]

Another crew (1 housekeeping "watcher") and two techicians showed up just after lunch, before we left for MGM. They installed a DSL type router off the phone line, power unit, and connected everything up. System is working. They told me it would be free until tomorrow.

The service rate is per 24 hour period, apparently from when you first sign on and accept the charge. The rate was quoted at $10 / 24 hour period.

I did two speed tests to a test site in Chicago. The rate is fast, 3776 kbps download and, amazingly, 2666 kbps upload. I downloaded from three newspaper sites, NY Times, Detroit Free Press, and LA Times, all with excellent download and response times.

DisBoards are still a bit slower than speed at home, in Michigan, but ok.

So BROADBAND is ACTIVE at Boardwalk.

 

[new_yawka]

As I will be there next week, it is great news!

Have a great vacation!

 

[ZachnElli]

Thanks Cap! I hope the rest of the bugs are worked out by the time we get there in March!

 

[Bugeye]

Actually, I have found the Internet to be a little slow lately (including DISBoards) but I figure it's MYDOOM slowing everything down. The big question is - do I really want to lug my laptop down in May?

 

[y2khardtop]

I'm at the BCV this week, and several guys were in our room checking connections today also. They said it would still be a while before it is working (weeks, months, they didn't know), but said it will be very fast. However, they did confirm it will be expensive, around $10 per day

 

[Cris]

the internet is by smart city so it isn;t going to produce any revenue.

 

[Cap]

Cris - so it's just a straight pass through - Boardwalk / Disney doesn't get to keep any of the $10 / day? It really all goes to Smart City with no commissions, refunds, or other periodic payments to Disney?

 

[eva]

I doubt if DVC will see any of the revenue. I wonder if our dues paid for the installation of the hookups. I bet that Disney is making money somehow on this. I mean, how much do you pay for your broadband service each month? And I bet that Disney is getting a discounted rate.

 

[Dizzy4Dizney]

I'm still going to dial up. $10 a day is WAY too steep. I only check
my e-mail and it costs me .35 cents a day. I'd rather spend the money on Mickey Head Ice Cream.

 

[gmboy95]

Amen to that Dizzy...$10 a day to look at my computer, I'd rather watch the free bed time stories on the TV....I go on vacation to get away from computers .....oh, and count me as one of the cynical...disney does nothing that does not benefit the bottom line in one way or another...I love going home, but i remain aware that this is a business, and a profitable one at that....$10 a day!!!! gheeeeesh!!!!

 

[mikesmom]

That $9.95/day is pretty common across the country. You only pay each day you sign in. So, if you sign in on Monday, but then don't sign on again 'til Thursday, you only get charged for the 2 days. It is a lot for entertainment purposes, but for business it could be a necessity.

When we were at WDW 2 years ago, a local newspaper had screwed up the parameters for an article for a client of mine. The whole darn thing had to be rewritten and sent back that day or my client wouldn't have had any press coverage for a special section. Someone in my office had to email me the whole article which I rewrote and emailed back. That deadline was tight enough I would have paid a LOT more than $10 to have broadband and get that stuff transferred faster.

Sometimes that hi speed is just a necessity. Particularly if you need to do some work and get back to your vacation!