Because they were logged in to their work and on a video call. I do it all the time when I am working from home when I have to access software on the company network and be in a video call.
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FYI a lot of expats here in Mexico use VPNs so they can log into things like their American or Canadian Netflix accounts and other stuff you’re not supposed to be able to access if you aren’t in the country where the account is active, so they don’t know where you are.
I can see your point of view. I have many apps to check my wifi speeds. They do not all give me the same results.
Think from the point of view of Airbnb. If local apps have variations, then how will guests be able to determine a reliable reading where ever they want to lay their head. I do not think all of us using the same app to compare is a bad thing.
Actually most people do not have a clue about internet speeds.
Raw speed isn’t that important unless you are downloading loads of data. For most uses latency is much much more important but most people don’t understand it.
My guest really don’t notice if they get 50Mbps or 1000Mbps. And it’s mostly shared with a good QoS.
The AirBnB tool is useless because all my listing share the same connection. I can test and get 80/8 but at peak times it’s shared with 50+ devices……
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If Airbnb wasn’t prone to handing out refunds like Santa hands out candy canes, then listing the Wifi speed wouldn’t be a big issue. But if the guest finds the speed isn’t what was written, they could claim the listing was inaccurate and try to claim a refund. If they’re the scammer types, even if the internet was perfectly adequate for their needs, they could do this.
I would think it would be less of a potential issue if you live where the internet is totally reliable, and if you only host 2 guests, rather than 8, for instance, because there would be far less devices using the bandwidth. If you have guests who are gaming and streaming, all on their own devices, that’s going to make a difference in the speed they’re getting.
One of my neighbors was very welcoming and friendly with a new neighbor who had bought land next to them and built a house. They told her she could share their internet service and even set up an extender for her, so she’d get a strong signal. It was fine until the new neighbor started Airbnbing, and listing Wifi, without informing them or asking permission. So suddenly instead of just her and her son using the signal, there were up to 2 sets of guests streaming movies, etc, and a nasty neighbor scenario developed, because the folks who had generously let her share theirs, suddenly didn’t have enough bandwidth for the husband and wife to be online at the same time.
By the very nature of ISP’s, and how they operate, for the vast majority of folks, there is nowhere I can think of where that may be the case.
JF
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Well, it’s certainly not reliable where I live.
But my friends in Canada don’t seem to have any issues with outages or slow speeds unless they live in the boonies.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m no techie, but it seems to me that the exact speeds aren’t even necessary to mention. You either have fast, unlimited, usually reliable internet or you don’t. If you do, all the host has to do is say that in their description, and/or mention that they usually get xx speed, but of course that might vary depending on the number and age of the devices the guest has, etc. And those listings with good internet can market towards guests who need to work online.
If you’ve got iffy internet, you let guests know that, and say it’s not adequate for digital nomads, gamers, and those who’ll need to be conducting business, Zoom calls, and so on.
Maybe I’m missing something, but it doesn’t seem like promising a certain speed is any better an idea than saying you use a certain brand of coffee, or shampoo, in case you find the store is all sold out of that brand.
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Well Thomas it actually is a “bad thing”, but your view is understandable and it does not “seem” to be an issue on the surface. FYI I spent 25 years in IT, much of it in networking and application performance. The Air App will NOT work “about the same” on different devices.
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Here is the thing. The crux of the issue is not “technical”. It is Air Policy bs. An Air policy is something like “guest can get 50% off if an amenity is unavailable”. It is not clear what that means of X vs Y speed. So, I am sure that you see the foundation for conflict? Air always seeks to be guest centric. We do not need to help them.
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If you “promise wifi” and “deliver WiFi”, you are OK. If you use their tool and report 50 Mbps, now you have committed to performance for a listed amenity. Then, you get a guest who is trying to stream video and it keeps stopping to buffer. They run a test and they only get 1.2 Mbps. Now, you have a problem on your hands.
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It is irrelevant the ACTUAL reason was the Guest’s device (driver, adapter, overloaded cpu/memory, too many apps running, whatever). It is now your fault. Not theirs.
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The real question, and the only one that matters, is do you trust that an undertrained Air Call Center agent will understand and support you in such a case?
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Or, would you rather be smart, and list “We offer WiFi Internet”.
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We recently got a 5* public air review stating " Tiny Tiki Retro Hideaway is absolutely gorgeous. The entire place is very clean and impressively decorated. Julia and Michael have put a lot of love into this unique place. I have never “glamped” before as I am 100% a city girl. Although out of my comfort zone, I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Julia left thoughtful items like butter, eggs, coffee and cream and this led us to do a bit of cooking that we normally wouldn’t have done. We were able to make grilled cheese, ramen, eggs and pasta with ease. My favorite memories include drinking delicious coffee and staring out into the canyon every morning and taking a bubble bath in the outdoor jacuzzi tub under the stars. We both felt so at home and very much at peace. Julia is a wonderful host and very responsive. Our only let down was the fact that internet didn’t work well, but that actually turned out to be a positive because it forced us to talk to each other and listen to music and cook. Just book it!".
I was a little concerned, but I let it go and did not reply because the complaint is at the bottom and we say that though we provide internet and there have been no complaints or problems, the wireless experience here “may not be what you expect or are accustomed to”
I would not add any actual numbers about how much access we provide and I have had numerous digital nomad workers here with no complaints. And I think our ##'s are incredibly low due to no land line/ or cable.
When this guest was here, the wireless company was working on that tower for a brief part of a day, over which we had no control.