How to get strong internet coverage on a campsite

Internet capability is essential for modern day living, to keep us connected and able to work efficiently.

I’m sure if you have been at a campsite recently you will have had some form of poor wifi connectivity, however small the problems may be! Luckily there are now many solutions available to provide your campsite customers with strong signals and reliable internet coverage.

Sadly, there are still many areas of the UK that do not have access to internet at all, and even areas that do have internet are struggling with poor speeds and coverage. At first base solutions we take on the challenge of getting internet to these hard-to-reach areas and we also try to expand on existing internet setups to get the most out of your incoming connection, we do this by distributing the connection via different wifi setups and by carefully choosing the right incoming connections to your site.

Why do campsites often struggle to get a solid wifi connection?

Campsites are notoriously hard to supply internet to, as they are often large sprawling sites with many potential obstructions for the signal; because of the often-metal construction of the caravans most radio signals struggle to penetrate through the caravan walls.

Because of these complications extra thought needs to go into the networking infrastructure to provide all customers with a sufficient wifi signal. We frequently use meshing access points which reduce the need for additional wiring to be done on site as this allows some of the access points to only be connected via power and not to be physically wired into the network.

For our mesh network configurations, we have experience with Ubiquiti products and services, Considering the complexity of campsite networking setups it is a good idea to have multiple access points covering different sections on the site, this helps to avoid dead spots where no signal is available. Due to how the meshing technology works there is a portion of the bandwidth that is taken up to provide a feed to the next point in the chain, to account for this we need to ensure that the incoming connection provides consistently high speeds.

What options are available for supplying internet into the campsite?

The most reliable connection option for campsites would be a leased line, these provide you with a very stable incoming internet, with a choice of different speeds, the main benefit of this is that the connection is solid and usually very high capacity. However, leased lines can be costly upfront to get the initial line installed and are often more expensive than a typical broadband line into a premises. After surveying a site and identifying the requirement for a leased line we can then source providers who would put the connection in place, following that we will configure your onsite infrastructure in order to capitalise on the strong incoming connection speed. Ideally every site would have a leased line as they are lower latency and are fully compatible with existing broadband infrastructure, but this is not always feasible.

A newer connection option that has recently become available and much more widespread is Starlink. This innovative technology relies on thousands of satellites that constantly orbit the globe and can supply even the most remote sites with a solid internet connection.

These can be installed fairly quickly with a much smaller upfront cost in comparison to a leased line, this does however come with less internet speed options available as they are restricted by what the satellites can supply, and there are a few limitations to how the network would be able to operate due to it being satellite infrastructure, however we can discuss your requirements and see if this would affect your business’s or customers daily operation.

You can read more about Starlink in our article.

How would First Base help get the best out of our site?

Solutions are always tailored to each installation because of the extensive variation between sites, this allows us to provide every site with the best possible network infrastructure available to them. Our site surveys and previous experience with campsites allow us to determine the best solutions available for our clients.

Please do get in touch to discuss your own campsite requirements.