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WiFi at the Valley

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  • i'm interested in other 'live' footy scores via my phone and if a reasonable cost effective solution for decent wi-fi can be found then let's go for it
    i'm not interested in boozing at footy but i'm not gonna say can't they just wait 2 hours for another pint if the queues are too long , i think a solution has to found to improve the service for the boozers
    but then again i'm not selfish and can look at the bigger picture
  • Remember the Valley is used on non-match days for meetings, conferences, presentations, classes, exams etc where. Working WiFi could be useful.

    No one is saying priortise WiFi over the pitch or players.

    But better Wifi MIGHT generate more income long term to spend on the pitch and players.

    So the question to the experts is how much would it cost? When we know that the Trust and/or the Club can look at ways to raise that.

    Big picture
  • Just pay some kid in front a quid to keep you updated
  • This could potentially be a new revenue stream for the club.

    Lots of broadband providers and mobile companies are looking to provide Wifi in areas where there is an overload on the mobile networks.

    couple of articles here:
    ft.com/cms/s/0/4a48aa0a-7785-11e2-b95a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2TFuovXU8

    bloomberg.com/video/how-to-make-money-from-free-public-wifi-BOoL56zrTcW06Esmid7qkg.html


  • I used to get terrible reception at the Valley when I was with Orange 3G.
    I've swapped to EE 4G and the reception is perfect, even on the Lower North concourse where I used to get zero.

    So if you're desperate to check the scores, swap to EE!
    (and my contract is the same price too... no I don't work for them!)
  • edited May 2013
    dansmudge said:

    I used to get terrible reception at the Valley when I was with Orange 3G.
    I've swapped to EE 4G and the reception is perfect, even on the Lower North concourse where I used to get zero.

    So if you're desperate to check the scores, swap to EE!
    (and my contract is the same price too... no I don't work for them!)

    Orange 3G is now EE 3G so that benefit is only with 4G
    I have the EE 3G and usually get a 20 odd minute blackout around halftime

    On my iPhone it will cost me an extra £5p/m to upgrade to 4G. Well worth it if you think about it as an extra fiver but not so much when I consider that takes the monthly bill up to 50quid
  • Vincenzo said:

    The two aren't mutually exclusive, dave. Of course they should concentrate on the football, but not everyone at the club is a coach. Should the programme seller concentrate on the football? Of course not. Equally, whoever is in charge of non-football matchday stuff should look to improve everyone's experience on the day. And meeting up for a half-time pint is part of that. Anywhere where 20,000 people gather should have wi-fi access in this day and age.

    I actually think this will make the matchday experience worse. Already concerts are ruined by people having to ring or text constantly, film the gig, tweet and carry out various other activities that irritate me. It's a effing football match - watch the game, talk to those around you and if you have to then use your social media after the match.

  • iainment said:

    Vincenzo said:

    The two aren't mutually exclusive, dave. Of course they should concentrate on the football, but not everyone at the club is a coach. Should the programme seller concentrate on the football? Of course not. Equally, whoever is in charge of non-football matchday stuff should look to improve everyone's experience on the day. And meeting up for a half-time pint is part of that. Anywhere where 20,000 people gather should have wi-fi access in this day and age.

    I actually think this will make the matchday experience worse. Already concerts are ruined by people having to ring or text constantly, film the gig, tweet and carry out various other activities that irritate me. It's a effing football match - watch the game, talk to those around you and if you have to then use your social media after the match.

    Good grief you are bundle of laughs.

  • Lets be honest, the atmosphere isnt bad because of phones..
  • iainment said:

    Vincenzo said:

    The two aren't mutually exclusive, dave. Of course they should concentrate on the football, but not everyone at the club is a coach. Should the programme seller concentrate on the football? Of course not. Equally, whoever is in charge of non-football matchday stuff should look to improve everyone's experience on the day. And meeting up for a half-time pint is part of that. Anywhere where 20,000 people gather should have wi-fi access in this day and age.

    I actually think this will make the matchday experience worse. Already concerts are ruined by people having to ring or text constantly, film the gig, tweet and carry out various other activities that irritate me. It's a effing football match - watch the game, talk to those around you and if you have to then use your social media after the match.

    Good grief you are bundle of laughs.

    Why? I pay to see an event not listen to or see the witless behaviour of those who can't actually be there unless they're telling someone what they are seeing or doing. It's distracting and can ruin the event for me.

    If you have to use social media you should take account of where you are and the effect it might have on those around you.
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  • iainment said:

    iainment said:

    Vincenzo said:

    The two aren't mutually exclusive, dave. Of course they should concentrate on the football, but not everyone at the club is a coach. Should the programme seller concentrate on the football? Of course not. Equally, whoever is in charge of non-football matchday stuff should look to improve everyone's experience on the day. And meeting up for a half-time pint is part of that. Anywhere where 20,000 people gather should have wi-fi access in this day and age.

    I actually think this will make the matchday experience worse. Already concerts are ruined by people having to ring or text constantly, film the gig, tweet and carry out various other activities that irritate me. It's a effing football match - watch the game, talk to those around you and if you have to then use your social media after the match.

    Good grief you are bundle of laughs.

    Why? I pay to see an event not listen to or see the witless behaviour of those who can't actually be there unless they're telling someone what they are seeing or doing. It's distracting and can ruin the event for me.

    If you have to use social media you should take account of where you are and the effect it might have on those around you.
    Yeah. I hate people talking at football matches and glancing at their programme. Bastards taking the piss and spoiling my enjoyment. I go to matches to concentrate on watching the football and nothing else.

  • iainment said:

    iainment said:

    Vincenzo said:

    The two aren't mutually exclusive, dave. Of course they should concentrate on the football, but not everyone at the club is a coach. Should the programme seller concentrate on the football? Of course not. Equally, whoever is in charge of non-football matchday stuff should look to improve everyone's experience on the day. And meeting up for a half-time pint is part of that. Anywhere where 20,000 people gather should have wi-fi access in this day and age.

    I actually think this will make the matchday experience worse. Already concerts are ruined by people having to ring or text constantly, film the gig, tweet and carry out various other activities that irritate me. It's a effing football match - watch the game, talk to those around you and if you have to then use your social media after the match.

    Good grief you are bundle of laughs.

    Why? I pay to see an event not listen to or see the witless behaviour of those who can't actually be there unless they're telling someone what they are seeing or doing. It's distracting and can ruin the event for me.

    If you have to use social media you should take account of where you are and the effect it might have on those around you.
    Yeah. I hate people talking at football matches and glancing at their programme. Bastards taking the piss and spoiling my enjoyment. I go to matches to concentrate on watching the football and nothing else.

    Now I don't know why but interacting with those around you, sharing the experience doesn't spoil the event but is part of it. People waving a phone around in my line of vision spoil it.
    In my opinion.
  • The only time I see people waving their phone around is when they're struggling to get a signal.....
  • Was it Dom Joly?
  • thedrum.com/news/2013/06/26/celtic-fc-becomes-latest-uk-club-install-stadium-wi-fi

    Celtic give it a go - with their own app as well.

    probably helps having 60,000 fans there though.
  • What do people think of selling Solly if it paid for a season's worth of wifi?

    :-)

    Get him gone!
  • thedrum.com/news/2013/06/26/celtic-fc-becomes-latest-uk-club-install-stadium-wi-fi

    Celtic give it a go - with their own app as well.

    probably helps having 60,000 fans there though.

    Mmm....
  • There is already WiFi there, I suspect. Those that work for the club (and journalists) probably have some access. It's like when you are at home and your children start streaming video and the bandwidth starts to slow. Imagine having 10,000 people streaming YouTube videos in HD during half time, or uploading the goals they have just seen.

    Clearly to be able to offer any kind of service that could justify charging a fee the total speed for the stadium would have to be close to that of a small town. Something tells me that might cost a little more than £30,000. This is before one factors in the running cost of having that kind of bandwidth at all.

    I think it's a great idea if someone else pays for it as it will make the mobile networks less busy so we all benefit, but I can't, personally, see how it can ever be cost effective if anything like a decent percentage of the crowd use it.
  • While wifi is on our wish list, could we also ask for power points to recharge our mobiles/laptops/tablets/iPads etc. it would be very convenient to have the power point under each seat but every other seat would be ok. Thank you.
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  • There is WiFi at the Valley. I've been involved in a few Community events run by Royal Greenwich and we had 20-30 laptops in the Wesr Stand lounges running off the clubs WiFi.

    We might not have paid the bill though.....
  • edited June 2013
    Surely one of the mobiles companies or The Cloud or Virgin would install it for the sponsorship of a 5 year deal (say) for free? To have O2 plastered all over the The Valley would only be good for a company. Sponsorship and advertising must work at football otherwise companies wouldn't bother.

    I am unsure about the costs to run though.
  • thedrum.com/news/2013/06/26/celtic-fc-becomes-latest-uk-club-install-stadium-wi-fi

    Celtic give it a go - with their own app as well.

    probably helps having 60,000 fans there though.

    Oh no, the old Celtic Rangers WiFi debate will start now and the thread will be closed.
  • Large scale WiFi deployments are pretty difficult to get right - especially when they're only used once a week for three hours. It would be prohibitively expensive for the club to so it themselves, but partnering with a comms company might make it feasible - especially if sais company also takes over all the rest of the club's comms (mobiles, land lines, data circuits etc).

    It would be interesting to see from a technical perspective just how it would be achieved - but I suspect we're not an attractive enough proposition for any of the large mobile or terrestrial communications companies to bother with.
  • 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.

    Like it
  • There is already WiFi there, I suspect. Those that work for the club (and journalists) probably have some access. It's like when you are at home and your children start streaming video and the bandwidth starts to slow. Imagine having 10,000 people streaming YouTube videos in HD during half time, or uploading the goals they have just seen.
    Clearly to be able to offer any kind of service that could justify charging a fee the total speed for the stadium would have to be close to that of a small town. Something tells me that might cost a little more than £30,000. This is before one factors in the running cost of having that kind of bandwidth at all.

    I think it's a great idea if someone else pays for it as it will make the mobile networks less busy so we all benefit, but I can't, personally, see how it can ever be cost effective if anything like a decent percentage of the crowd use it.

    Or 10,000 people downloading porn via the clubs IP address! Heaven forbid.
  • Indeed, we could bring our laptops with full batteries and download all porn torrents - if I knew what that means!
  • I was sitting next to a kid at a game last season who was playing FIFA on a DS as Charlton while the real Charlton were in action right in front of him...
  • CAFCTrev said:

    I was sitting next to a kid at a game last season who was playing FIFA on a DS as Charlton while the real Charlton were in action right in front of him...

    Who won?
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