ARECA LODGE

[42kaz42]

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet.

[LeoTex]

13 minutes ago, 42kaz42 said:

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet.

I can only give information on the back Evergreen Building. 

My 4 tips last year and the one this year, very good WiFi, even out by the back pool.

[Greg_B]

21 minutes ago, 42kaz42 said:

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet.

I've been here for 5 days and the WiFi has been good.

I even downloaded a few movie torrents as they were done quickly

[42kaz42]

Thanks guys   That is reassuring.

[LASportsNut]

7 hours ago, 42kaz42 said:

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet.

3rd Trip Already?  555+++

Good job my friend.

[Thomaz73]

8 hours ago, 42kaz42 said:

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet

Decent wifi or not (and usually it isn't) I would always get a sim with a good data plan. 

[purescience]

Wifi at Areca at quiet times is ok. For example 1 or 2am it works great. Try using between 10am or 2pm is hit and miss.

I stayed there in Jan/Feb I gave up on the wifi and used the data plan on my phone. I've been staying at the Areca for many years, I wouldn't let the wifi influence my choice.

[jennings]

16 hours ago, 42kaz42 said:

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet.

Ais has pocket WiFi packages. I don’t know the specifics.  But I do know several people that do use it. Whether they live here full time or just on holiday.

You might want to check the technical forums or cell service forums

 

 

[Gone-east]

30 minutes ago, jennings said:

Ais has pocket WiFi packages. I don’t know the specifics.  But I do know several people that do use it. Whether they live here full time or just on holiday.

You might want to check the technical forums or cell service forums

 

 

At Swampy I buy a 1 month package from AIS for 999 thb (IIRC). They stick the sim card into an old phone I have and I use that as a hotspot. For me it takes all the hassle out of hotel wi-fi issues such as speed, constantly having to log in etc. Plus, as I use wi-fi for working, I don't have to concern myself with insecure hotel connections. 

[Redr00ster]

17 hours ago, 42kaz42 said:

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

Considering a stay at Areca Lodge later this year but I need decent internet.

I stayed there in November just gone....I was in the Evergreen building and it was very poor even though it had a router in the room. 

 

 

[wengweng]

I was thinking of either booking there or Nova Gold hotel ( Edward Sweeney gave it a good review) or going to The Queen Victoria Inn on Soi Six. this will be late in 2024, October hopfully .

[A6-GIV]

Areca is great under many many aspects, often unbeatable, but WiFi is not their strength.

the connection to the routers is unstable in some rooms and it’s a pain. 

[LeoTex]

On 08/06/2023 at 20:24, A6-GIV said:

Areca is great under many many aspects, often unbeatable, but WiFi is not their strength.

the connection to the routers is unstable in some rooms and it’s a pain. 

I stayed there for 2 1/2 weeks in April, same room in the Evergreen Building that I had in December, but not no router in the room.

The wifi came up just as "Evergreen" and logged in with the password given at check in, which was good for the whole stay unlike in the past when the password expired after a week or so. 

Also was able to connect when out by the back pool. 

Had no problem with connection and speed. 

[ctp2018]

1 hour ago, LeoTex said:

The wifi came up just as "Evergreen" and logged in with the password given at check in, which was good for the whole stay unlike in the past when the password expired after a week or so. 

Does anyone know if it’s advisable to use a VPN when working on the Wi-Fi?

I had one tech guy tell me to disconnect from Wi-Fi and use cellular if you do anything sensitive like banking.

[delray]

On 22/05/2023 at 01:04, 42kaz42 said:

Anyone know how the WIFI has been there recently?  Bad WIFI is perhaps the complaint I've seen mentioned the most.

I stayed at Areca Lodge in May in the Areca building. During my stay they put a note under the door saying that they were changing the wifi system at a stated time and there woud be some disruption. Also, a new password configuration would be introduced. 

As expected, the WiFi went down and was very unstable for a few hours but actually it took a few days to get sorted. I was at reception the day after this and there was a queue of people trying to get their WiFi sorted. I'm pleased to say though that they sent out a young guy who seems to know what he was doing and one by one got everyone's phone's and tablets on line again.

It worked mostly ok after this with the usual slow patches at busier times.

On a different note, during my stay I had repeated problems with losing some of the key channels on the TV such as HBO and Cinemax and some of the other English spoken channels. Ok, I dont go to Pattaya to watch TV but now and again its nice to watch a movie while catching a breath. It always came back eventually but often several hours later. I don't know if this had anything to do with them switching the WiFi system. It didn't seem to affect most of the Thai/Chinese/Arabic channels...... just the ones I wanted to watch. 😞

[42kaz42]

2 hours ago, delray said:

I stayed at Areca Lodge in May in the Areca building. During my stay they put a note under the door saying that they were changing the wifi system at a stated time and there woud be some disruption. Also, a new password configuration would be introduced. 

As expected, the WiFi went down and was very unstable for a few hours but actually it took a few days to get sorted. I was at reception the day after this and there was a queue of people trying to get their WiFi sorted. I'm pleased to say though that they sent out a young guy who seems to know what he was doing and one by one got everyone's phone's and tablets on line again.

It worked mostly ok after this with the usual slow patches at busier times.

On a different note, during my stay I had repeated problems with losing some of the key channels on the TV such as HBO and Cinemax and some of the other English spoken channels. Ok, I dont go to Pattaya to watch TV but now and again its nice to watch a movie while catching a breath. It always came back eventually but often several hours later. I don't know if this had anything to do with them switching the WiFi system. It didn't seem to affect most of the Thai/Chinese/Arabic channels...... just the ones I wanted to watch. 😞

Thanks a lot for the helpful feedback.  Sorry to hear the TV was problematic too.

The rooms I wanted at Areca weren't available on the dates I'm in town so went for Page 10 instead.  Hopefully no WiFi or TV issues there (was all good last times).

[42kaz42]

2 hours ago, ctp2018 said:

Does anyone know if it’s advisable to use a VPN when working on the Wi-Fi?

I had one tech guy tell me to disconnect from Wi-Fi and use cellular if you do anything sensitive like banking.

Yes, I recommend it!  Personally I like NordVPN but there are many to choose from.

A VPN has a few main benefits in my opinion.  In simple terms:

1.  A VPN prevents your regular internet service provider from seeing your browsing history.  Use a VPN while on hotel WiFi and your hardcore interracial midget gangbang porn will much more likely stay your little secret.

2.  A VPN encrypts your traffic, meaning that anyone on the same network as you, such as hotel or airport WiFi, would have a much, much harder time analysing your network data.

3.  A VPN allows you to spoof your location.  This can be great for keeping your location/privacy safe, but also for Netflix type sites where you can suddenly now view lots more shows and movies.

Edited June 10, 2023 by 42kaz42
spelling

[ctp2018]

2 hours ago, 42kaz42 said:

Yes, I recommend it!  Personally I like NordVPN but there are many to choose from.

A VPN has a few main benefits in my opinion.  In simple terms:

1.  A VPN prevents your regular internet service provider from seeing your browsing history.  Use a VPN while on hotel WiFi and your hardcore interracial midget gangbang porn will much more likely stay your little secret.

2.  A VPN encrypts your traffic, meaning that anyone on the same network as you, such as hotel or airport WiFi, would have a much, much harder time analysing your network data.

3.  A VPN allows you to spoof your location.  This can be great for keeping your location/privacy safe, but also for Netflix type sites where you can suddenly now view lots more shows and movies.

Thanks for the input! My plan right now is to use WiFi for regular internet browsing (YouTube, etc.) and disconnecting from WiFi, and using cellular service for sensitive sites (banking, email, etc.).

[swede37]

Now you have to login with your roomnumber and surname every time you start the computer. I cant connect to my openvpn so they seem to block vpn connections on the network. But I bought unlimited 5g for 999b at the airport and use my phone as a hotspot so havent used the wifi that much cant comment on the signal coverage but I see they have accesspoints everywhere so should be fine.

[42kaz42]

5 hours ago, ctp2018 said:

Thanks for the input! My plan right now is to use WiFi for regular internet browsing (YouTube, etc.) and disconnecting from WiFi, and using cellular service for sensitive sites (banking, email, etc.).

Cellular data will indeed be more secure than public WiFi, so sounds good

[Laid Back Larry]

I have been here in Areca 48 hours and give it high ratngs on all points - exept one. No Internet in the room except first evening. This is  dealbreaker for me. Would I stay in a hotel with no running water to shower or electricity to run aircon? No.

 But I can use my mobile or ask to be moved to another room. These evasive measures are not good enough for me, it means the Management does nothing.

I will not report my dissatisfaction in one more   customer Surrey card when Checking out, just to get ignored. Each to his own, I won't stay here again. The Management cannot be listening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Thomaz73]

2 hours ago, Laid Back Larry said:

No Internet in the room

Frustrating, sure. But I can't remember staying in any hotel in Thailand with good internet. A reasonable data plan on the phone and I'm sorted. 

[purescience]

They've got three completely seperate buildings and sprawling grounds between, logistically I guess this make providing wifi difficult.

[petehoax]

9 minutes ago, purescience said:

They've got three completely seperate buildings and sprawling grounds between, logistically I guess this make providing wifi difficult.

not really, no. 

you need several access points / repeaters per floor (or per several floors) anyway in a hotel and need a setup so that the customer can login into the same wifi (respectively same SSID) no matter where he is. it doesn't really play a role if there are separate buildings or not. 
nowadays that's all quite easy to set up and manage. 

Of course that doesn't mean that most places will do it properly. But it's just a sign of incompetence. There's 0 reason why setting up a good setup for areca is any more difficult than for any other hotel (that has more than just a handful of rooms). 
 

1 hour ago, Thomaz73 said:

Frustrating, sure. But I can't remember staying in any hotel in Thailand with good internet. A reasonable data plan on the phone and I'm sorted. 

in my experience the connection is quite solid in most places, as long as you don't need very high bandwidth. and quite often you need to login regularly when connecting again, which is annoying of course.

Page 10 hotel is an exception: they have an ok connection, but just very low speed. 

but yeah, i agree that it normally doesn't really matter as long as you have a solid mobile connection / data plan. 

[SteveB]

I booked to stay there on the 26th May in the new Deluxe Plus Room for over 3 weeks , but on arrival was given the 5th floor room which when I went into the room and after 10 minutes the aircon was not blowing cold air and the room was hot.

So phoned reception and was shown another room on the same floor, same again as the first one.

Then was given the option of two other rooms which was not the Deluxe Plus Room and these were in bad condition and had the baths instead of the walk in showers.

After trying all the above, I ask for a full refund and then went to the Page 10, good quality rooms with good aircon, which I went for there bigger room, only one slight disadvantage was the roof pool as this is not as big as the two pools at Areca Lodge. Shame as I have used this hotel many times, but was very happy at my move to Page 10 hotel.