Wi-fi overload riles visitors

Motel owners in Te Anau are copping flak from upset guests in the busy holiday season because the internet keeps cutting out.

The manager of the Red Tussock Motel and Aden Motel, Irene Benfell-Herron, said the wi-fi was the worst it has been this summer and she put it down to more people having devices.

Nowadays, mum, dad and each of the kids visiting town had a device each, whereas a couple of years ago it may have been only one or two devices per family.

‘‘At the moment, every day our wi-fi doesn’t work.’’

That made for grumpy customers.

‘‘All night long we have guests saying we can’t use the wi-fi.’’

She believed the problem would only get worse and the town needed to plan ahead.

‘‘People can’t cope without their device, they just can’t cope.

‘‘They wouldn’t think of putting it down and going for a walk along the lake.’’

Her motels were getting bad online reviews because the wi-fi didn’t work, she said.

‘‘Winter time we don’t have the problem because we don’t have the same population.’’

A technician said the issue came down to congestion in the network.

In some locations in Te Anau the network did not have the capability to cope with the increasing numbers of people using the internet.

The further from the exchange, the slower the connection, he said.

Fibre broadband was coming to Te Anau, but in the meantime people would have to tolerate it.

‘‘I sympathise with the motel industry but there’s not a lot you can do if there’s congestion.

‘‘It’s not unusual for a family to have six devices going in a motel and it’s a common problem around New Zealand.’’

Te Anau’s Anchorage Motel owner Nigel Humphries, the Hospitality New Zealand Accommodation Advisory Council chairman, said the internet was diabolical this summer.

‘‘This time of the year it cuts out all the time.’’

Accommodation providers wanted to look after their guests, he said.

Some guests did not understand Te Anau did not have highspeed internet, and with several devices going at once it slowed it down even more.

‘‘There’s so many people using devices now . . . at the moment when everyone starts connecting it starts maxing out. It’s certainly an ongoing issue.’’

Te Anau’s Shakespeare House Bed and Breakfast owner Nathan Benfell said they had implemented a system which capped data and allowed just two devices to be used at once.

‘‘Some wi-fi is better than none.’’