"Take action: the wifi speed will be removed from your listing"

Michelle53
Level 10
Chicago, IL

"Take action: the wifi speed will be removed from your listing"

The above subject-line showed up from Airbnb on my email this morning. 

 

Message is this :-

"

The wifi speed test tool is here

On November 4, we will remove the manually-entered wifi speed from listings. You can now use the wifi tool to verify and highlight your wifi speed to guests. Wifi is currently one of the top-searched amenities and the easy-to-use tool is right in our app. If you have multiple listings, make sure you update each of them.

"

 

I have manually input my wifi speed because every device that connects via wifi will give a different result, and I picked a number based on an older device, not my own, that I think everyone should be able to meet or exceed.

 

Under-promise, over-deliver.   I really don't want to use either my cell phone or my geriatric laptop/tablet to update the speed. 

 

I hope that field isn't permanently blocked to manual input.  I really have enough on my plate, right now, without having to deal with this kind of thing.

 

28 Replies 28
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Michelle53 I think all manual data will be deleted and it will only be possible to use the auto generated speed. I agree this is an issue as we advertise 25mbps but the reality is 48. The internet company only guarantee 25 and somedays the speed does dip close to this but I guess this will be my problem when a guest complains.

@Mike-And-Jane0    That is exactly why I find this so infuriating.   It becomes my problem to deal with when someone has a complaint. 

 

I would think the very last thing a person planning to work remote would want is an over-inflated wifi speed.   I've also been monitoring the kinds of devices folks use to log into my guest network (my wifi security allows me to see and manage the connection, but not access the device itself).

 

People use all kinds of devices to connect - phones, tablets, laptops. Every device will have its own connection speed. Some connect on the 2.4GHz band. Some connect on the 5GHz band. The idea that one can only configure speed using a cell phone is absurd.  Even when that works.  

 

Once again, this is Marketing trumping Computer Science. 

 

ETA: reading some of the commentary here of late makes me think that many people are burned out and exhausted. Including myself. This gives me the impetus to snooze my listing and just not bother. 


@Michelle53 wrote:

Once again, this is Marketing trumping Computer Science.

 

Nah -- this is computing science not having a clue how the business actually operates in real life at the front lines.


 

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Michelle53 @Mike-And-Jane0 


I think it’s better to do nothing.

 

If guests need a particular WiFi speed they can ask and I can explain that I have satellite service, it varies from zero to whatever. No guarantees.

@Brian2036  If manual entry is no longer allowed, do nothing will be my next move. 

I have exceeded my BS tolerance when it comes to wifi issues.

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Michelle53 

Amen.

 

 I try to promise nothing and deliver as much as I reasonably can for a lot of things.

 

 I do promise peace, privacy and tranquillity but I’m starting to wonder if even that is wise.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Michelle53 @Brian2036 As someone who doesn't like doing nothing I have, by using a combination f my phone and computer, managed to get the wifi speed that I typed in replaced by an Airbnb generated speed.

Having gone to all this effort I then looked at my listing through the eyes of a guest and the speed isn't mentioned anywhere. If anyone can tell me where to find it (as a guest) it would be appreciated

@Mike-And-Jane0  On my phone it is below "where you'll sleep" in the "what this place offers" section. Right in the number 1 slot.

Oh @Michelle53 , sometimes it's best to detox from things in life and get away from it all.

 

Did it make you also cringe seeing that the Wifi speed is in the slot under 'Where you will sleep"?

That is a Red Flag to all as it simply isn't advisable to use devices just before going to bed..

 

Take Care and maybe venture off and set out to do a goal in your life you have neglected and wanted to achieve well away from ABB if you are snoozing your listing.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Michelle53 Thanks for this info as to where to find the wifi speed. I have now found it when searching on my phone but it is not there when I search for properties on my computer.

@Nick I guess Airbnb, in their wisdom, decided that only folks who search for properties on their phones need to see the wifi speed.

Jerry250
Level 7
England, United Kingdom

I  recieved the email about this. I checked the speed using an independent online speedtest and my mobile phone (to link with the Airbnb app) - it showed 49mbps which is the service level we're signed up for with BT in the UK (guaranteed minimum 45mbps). Then I went onto the Airbnb app and ran the test 3 times. It varied between 8mbps and 33mbps. I had no option but to 'save' 33mbps as the reading for our listing. Then I checked the speed again using an online tool and got 49mbps. I'm confident our minumum is the contracted 45mbps but our listing now shows 33mbps. Does the Airbnb speed tester even work?

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

Whenever I think that Airbnb couldn't possibly manage to come up with any more host-unfriendly policies and changes, they find yet another way to screw hosts around.

 

This is just the perfect set-up for guests to file for full refunds, because the internet speed wasn't what it said.

 

And I'm reading on other forums, too, that Airbnb's 3rd party speed test is inaccurate compared to the host's own speed testing. But of course Airbnb's would be faulty- what else could one expect?

 

No way would I ever promise an internet speed. 

@Sarah977   This "wifi speed test tool" caught someone in management's imagination, and now became their pet project that they just can't seem to let go.

 

No matter how ridiculous or inconvenient, no matter how badly it works, (if it even works at all), I can imagine every management meeting starting with "how's the wifi speed tool implementation going ?"   and everyone saying "oh, yeah, great !". 

 

It's like that movie "Unstoppable!"  - where a train in a freight yard is being moved, and a line switch isn't  set properly, so the engineer gets off the train to manually throw the switch. Meanwhile, the engineer doesn't set the train throttle properly, and the train begins to speed up, but he can't get back on the train - and now it's rolling under power without a driver....chaos ensues.....(true story, by the way).

^^^^^^^
I think you just nailed it!