WiFi at the Valley

lordromford

Just filled in the CAST survey and something occurred to me when filling in the bit about improving the match day experience.

Every home game, at half time and after the game, I'm keen to check up on scores, see what Charlton lifers are saying about the game, and various other stuff that you can find online in these modern times. However, every week I get minimal, if any, 3G access and inevitably end up frustrated at being unable to connect. I'm guessing it's due to the number of people trying to get online in the same place, but it got me to wondering whether the club providing WiFi access for those inside the stadium would be a viable idea?

Would it be too expensive to provide this for 15-20 thousand people? Would it be too difficult to maintain? Would there be hacking risks or technical problems?
Also, would it be more viable if supporters could pay a small annual fee for the right to connect to it, and if so, how many people would be willing to pay?

Any thoughts?

oohaahmortimer

http://www.lords.org/visiting/coming-to-lords/the-cloud-free-wifi-at-lords/

Jodaius

I think you've hit the nail on the head with the 3G issues in that there are too many people in one place with devices trying to connect, even if the owners don't realise it (e.g. automatically updating emails, scores, weather, etc.) I would imagine that we would have the same problem with a Wi-Fi service. I can't think of any examples of the top of my head of Wi-Fi networks designed to serve that many people, outside of very large offices/workplaces which presumably are very expensive to run.

The risk with doing it as a paid service is that it will probably get people's backs up. I can already see the thread - "I pay £450 for my season ticket so why should I have to pay an extra £1 per match for Wifi access". The other risk is that too many people would subscribe, even for a paid service, bringing the speeds down and leading to even more complaints.

It's a nice idea, but I'm not sure it's commercially sensible.

oohaahmortimer

yep same problem struggle to send and receive messages and look at score updates on webpages

Mendonca In Asdas

I agree with you Lord Romford , but lets start with the basics and try and get the pitch right first.

ShootersHillGuru

WiFi at The Valley. How tall is he ?

AFKABartram

Good idea LR.

Perhaps @Fanny or @killerjerrylee can raise at the next Fans Forum meeting ?

iainment

Bad idea in my opinion. Enjoy the moment. If you're tha desperate for info bring a radio.

lordromford

Mendonca In Asdas said:

I agree with you Lord Romford , but lets start with the basics and try and get the pitch right first.

I take your point, but I don't really see the relevance. I'm talking about a service to paying customers rather than an improvement on the playing side of things. Which was the question raised in the Trust survey.
To be fair, it's not something I've thought long and hard over, it simply occurred to me about an hour ago and I was wondering about the viability.
That's all.

lordromford

iainment said:

Bad idea in my opinion. Enjoy the moment. If you're tha desperate for info bring a radio.

Fair point, but the heavy traffic blocking up 3G suggests a lot of people might want it?

iainment

lordromford said:

iainment said:

Bad idea in my opinion. Enjoy the moment. If you're tha desperate for info bring a radio.

Fair point, but the heavy traffic blocking up 3G suggests a lot of people might want it?

As Mr Jagger once said you can't always get what you want....

RZA

Perhaps they could set up one of those 'The_Cloud' hotspots.

RedPanda

The Bernabeu has it, but obviously Madrid are on another level to us. That means it is feasible though, and I wouldn't mind paying a few quid a year. Maybe chuck in some exclusive web content too to draw people in.

olster

Just been announced at City.

http://thenextweb.com/uk/2013/05/08/man-city-football-club-announces-stadium-wifi-for-fans-with-live-video-stats-streamed-direct-to-mobile/

I like the idea of a few tweets showing up on the big screen, perhaps at half time.

Redmidland

if they had decent wifi at the Valley i could do a few match threads direct from the game!!

Bilko

It worked great last year at the Olympic stadium with a BT hotspot.

razil

didn't it used to be case that you could set these extenders up and act as third party and get a fee from the networks but not charge the the punter (for phone and 3g signal)?

I know you can make your BT router wifi usable to those with a BTFON account

Chris_from_Sidcup

olster said:

Just been announced at City.

http://thenextweb.com/uk/2013/05/08/man-city-football-club-announces-stadium-wifi-for-fans-with-live-video-stats-streamed-direct-to-mobile/

I like the idea of a few tweets showing up on the big screen, perhaps at half time.

That link also says Wycombe offer stadium wifi too so it can't be that expensive

Ormiston_Addick

Being in the telco industry myself, this is really where things are headed with telcos using Wi-Fi to provide extra capacity in high traffic zones like shopping centres, stations and so on.

The club would have a modest investment to make up front for the network gear but as long as they limited download allowances (like most of these do) then the ongoing costs are OK.

They could even do a deal with BT or Virgin Media to connect the Wi-Fi via some sort of contra deal.

killerandflash

There was an article in the programme about mobile reception at The Valley a few weeks ago, as apparently the Valley gets poor reception due to its (valley) location, and the 3G signal gets overloaded at key times. I imagine if we got sponsored by a telecoms company, then WiFi might be provided free...

iainment said:

Bad idea in my opinion. Enjoy the moment. If you're tha desperate for info bring a radio.

That brings back memories, it wasn't that long ago when everyone would be crowded around a radio outside the ground trying to catch the scores!

iainment

Can't you just enjoy the experience of being at a game? Why do you need all this extraneous stuff? And reading tweets about the game that you're at ffs.

I despair.

Bedsaddick

Can't we have score updated everytime a goal is scored in the championship on the big screen. Just a ticker on the bottom would do .

razil

sorry to be vague again but didn't they install a booster for phone signals and is it by the control box

olster

iainment said:

Can't you just enjoy the experience of being at a game? Why do you need all this extraneous stuff? And reading tweets about the game that you're at ffs.

I despair.

I agree during the game.

But a few tweets at half time could be interesting.

ladywell_addick

What about a few more 3G masts in the area that operate only on matchdays?
That would be beneficial for both the locals (whose 3G signals get jammed up every odd Saturday) and for fans at the match.
Just a thought.

razil

I spend a lot of time seeing if my 3g is working..

grumpyaddick

We could appoint the same crack IT team that came up with CAFC PLAYER..

lordromford

iainment said:

Can't you just enjoy the experience of being at a game? Why do you need all this extraneous stuff? And reading tweets about the game that you're at ffs.

I despair.

Cheer up. Might never happen.
:-)

Mortimerician

There was something rather good about the days when you had a transistor radio in your pocket, or you caught snippets from someone else's as you filtered out of the ground. Nowadays you seem to be surrounded by dimwits tweeting "I'm having a pie LOL #yummy" instead of watching the game. Might explain some of the scoring on here I suppose.

Jarman

For the Wifi to work effectivley you would most likely need one router per block, and a proper router at that!
Not financially feasible.

Ormiston_Addick

ladywell_addick said:

What about a few more 3G masts in the area that operate only on matchdays?
That would be beneficial for both the locals (whose 3G signals get jammed up every odd Saturday) and for fans at the match.
Just a thought.

Way, way, way too expensive, Wi-Fi much cheaper for number of reasons.