RV parks hit with internet shutdown as provider pulls plug on service

If you’re like many RVers, internet connectivity is important to you. RV parks know that, and most include internet access for their customers. But some RV parks have been hit with internet shutdown notices. Across the country, Spectrum Internet is threatening to pull the plug on RV park internet service. Could your favorite RV parks be affected?

RV park internet shutdown courtesy of Spectrum

We attended a virtual town hall event last week to learn more about this issue. In attendance were RV park owners and managers, internet service providers, and others with “a dog in the fight.” At issue were notices from by Spectrum telling park owners that they were in violation of their service agreements with the company. Some reported they’d actually lost their service, others given a difficult choice: Cut off park guests from Spectrum service, or see a huge increase in internet connection fees.

From a technical standpoint, Spectrum is “in the right.” Many RV parks have signed up for internet service through Spectrum. The agreement these parks signed was for internet service to the park office, and perhaps “common areas,” like the park clubhouse. However, many park owners have extended the service to park guests, running connections to individual RV sites.

Spectrum takes the stand that this use is like “reselling” internet service, which violates the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that park owners signed when establishing service.

The town hall was sponsored by Mark Koep, founder of CampgroundViews.com. Early on in the meeting, Koep succinctly put the problem into words. “It appears that Spectrum has decided to change its business model and is now enforcing aspects of its contract that prohibit the distribution of internet, like what park operators may have been doing for years.”

Monthly charges jump from $1,000 to $10,000

And several RV park owners at the town hall agreed. Some had for many years, as Spectrum customers, given internet access to their guests. Some of those park owners have been paying Spectrum around $1,000 a month. Under Spectrum’s demands, if they want to stay with the company, that bill would jump as high as $9,000 to $10,000 per month.

Why not jump to a competing service? Many park owners said Spectrum was basically “the only game in town.” Many areas of the country have limited commercial internet access and it was Spectrum—or nothing.

One park owner, who did find a suitable competitor, said they had signed up for new service. The trouble is, the new provider will need to extend fiber optic cable to service the park—something that will take several months to do. In the meantime, the park owner agonized, Spectrum was threatening to kill their existing service—leaving park guests’ internet dead.

An internet reseller told participants that fiber optic cable internet service was a “must have” for RV park users. While cable-provided internet service is relatively fast for an RV park front office, when tying in multiple sites (with typically multiple devices per site) speeds bog down. So what happens to RV parks where there is no fiber optic cable? The park owner suggested a microwave connection could make the jump between where fiber optic ends, and the park sits. Certainly a possibility, but again, more expense.

Trouble brewing for parks using other internet providers

You may think this is only a problem for RV parks connected to Spectrum. Perhaps the parks you visit have different internet providers. But those other providers are watching the Spectrum debacle closely. Park owners were told they need to look at the agreements they signed with their providers. It could very well be that other internet companies simply haven’t enforced policies that don’t allow park guests to have individual site internet access. If that’s the case, many other RV parks across the country could see a similar “internet plug pull.”

Some have made the argument that if Spectrum hasn’t bothered to enforce the agreements signed with customers, that could give park owners a legal leg to stand on. But when push comes to shove, that means litigation. With litigation comes attorneys, and attorney fees.

A viral issue leading to internet darkness

An RV park owner from Michigan outlined a situation that RVers could see in other parks. He was faced with the Spectrum specter. Because of those cold northern winters, his park is only open 167 days annually. But Spectrum demands payment for internet service 365 days a year. That is to the tune of $140,000, he told town hall attendees. Describing it as a “gouging” situation, the park owner says he may have to tell his guests, “Sorry, no internet.”

It all sounds like a virus. Unfortunately, there’s no foreseeable vaccine.

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