Warning: I dropped $250 on a coworking space membership before testing the wifi

For three weeks I was stuck at a noisy hostel in Medellin because their 'high speed internet' dropped every 20 minutes. I finally swallowed my pride and walked into a WeWork to ask if I could just run a speed test. The receptionist let me do it. The download speed was 180 Mbps. I signed up on the spot and my work output doubled in a week. Has anyone else found that checking the actual connection speed first saves you from a bad rental?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_martinez13d ago

Yeah I was actually just reading this article about digital nomad horror stories and one guy rented an apartment for a month in Bali without checking the wifi first. He ended up having to work out of a coffee shop every day because the connection couldn't handle a single Zoom call. That's basically what happened to you but with a coworking space instead. The thing that gets me is how many places advertise "high speed internet" but it's just fiber to the building and then wifi that's garbage because it's shared with 50 other people. You got lucky that receptionist let you test it though most places here in Austin won't even let you on the property without a tour first. Honestly this is why I always carry a wifi analyzer app on my phone now it's saved me from at least three bad Airbnb bookings this year alone.

fiona_carr2613d ago

@the_oliver's spot on about the speed test thing, I treat it like a "no test no trust" policy now. Guess Bali wifi nightmares are just the universe's way of telling us to embrace the coffee shop lifestyle.

the_oliver13d ago

Did anyone else notice how the real scam is coworking spaces charging $300 a month for a "premium hotspot" that's just a glorified cell booster? lol. I've been saying for years that if a place won't let you do a speed test before signing up, that's basically them telling you the internet sucks. At least with Airbnb you can usually find a review that mentions wifi speed, but coworking spaces are totally unregulated on this stuff.