What's the minimun internet-speed required in a listing?

[Ute42]

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Dear fellow hosts and maybe guests also. There's a discussion going on in the german CC concerning the speed of internet available in a listing. Here's the whole story:

A german host rents out his place to a guest for a complete month. This guest needs to work out of the listing and he chose this listing because Internet is available and also a desk to work from. Here's a screenshot from that listing in question.

The hosts monthly data volume is restricted to 10GB per month and the guest completely used up this volume in the course of the first 4 days. Now the internet-provider has reduced the internet-speed to the absolute minimum.

If I am right, the airbnb work collection requires a minimum speed of 5MBit/sec, if You get 2MBit/sec that isn't fun but You can still execute most internet activities. But in our case we are talking about a speed something like 32KBit/sec. That is completely unusable. You cannot open internet pages with this speed and You can't even read email. I in my listing have internet through LTE witch is via aerial. If my monthly data volume has been used up, the speed is reduced to 32KBit/sec. If I try to access xxx.com, I cannot read my email bc a window pops up saying „time out“ and the page doesn't even open.

Now this host and someone else in the german CC say, the speed of internet doesn`t matter if it is available at all, even at 32KBit/sec. I don't believe that. I wrote back: If Your guest opens the tap and 3 drops of water come out per minute, would You say Your guest „has“ water? The host replied that my example was not helpful.

Now this host states that he wrote to airbnb help and he got an answer from support stating that any guest has „no right to have continuous high speed internet“ and that the guest would not be „entitled to a refund“ under the given circumstances. What? I asked the host if he could post the answer he got from airbnb, but no reply so far. I think what this guy is writing is a flat out lie. If all of this was the case we hosts wouldn't have to care about our wifis and internet at all, any box with a flashing light would do the job.

Here are my questions:

• Do You consider an internet-speed of 32KBit/sec as „Internet available“

• Do You think a guest would be entitled to a refund under such circumstance?

• Do You think a guest would be entitled to cancel under such circumstances?

• Has anyone of You even gotten an answer from airbnb help, that the aivailable internet-speed doesn't matter at all?

• Have You ever read a thread in these forums where a guest did get a refund for the internet being too slow?

 Thank You.

[Kath9]

Hi @Ute42, interesting post! First of all, 10GB per month is nothing these days - I wonder if the guest knew this before they booked? If the guest has booked specifically on the basis that there is Wifi so that he can work, then I would absolutely be on the guest's side here. So, my answers to your questions would be:

1. No, I don't consider 32Kb/sec as 'internet available'
2. Yes, I think the guest is entitled to a refund
3. Yes, I think the guest is entitled to cancel
4. No
5. No

It's funny that Airbnb so often seems to favour guests over hosts even after the most appalling behaviour, but then a guest gets penalised for something that is really false advertising. I often work when travelling and absolutely need reliable internet - if I'd booked that place and ran out of data after 4 days into the month, I would not be happy!

[Ute42]

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Hi @Kath9 ,

thanks for Your reply

• First of all, 10GB per month is nothing these days

That's right. I have a listing which sleeps 10 and I had a group using up 10GB in one day.

• I wonder if the guest knew this before they booked?

No the guest didn't know. There is no mention in this hosts listing that there is a cap of 10GB Internetusage per month. Also, there is no mention what the usual Internet Speed would be and furthermore no mention that the Internet Speed may go down to 32KBit/sec.

• It's funny that Airbnb so often seems to favour guests over hosts even after the most appalling behaviour, but then a guest gets penalised for something that is really false advertising

I just don't believe what this host is writing in the german CC. I do not believe that airbnb support told him that the speed of internet available in a listing doen't matter at all. I have now asked him twice to post the answer he got from support but he doesn't answer.

As we say in Germany: No answer also is an answer.

The point with this issue is: We don't talk about an internet-outage which is out of this hosts control, we are talking about the standard internet situation in this listing and this host thinks that's ok. I as a guest would be pretty upset being confronted with this attitude.

cc: @Jessica-and-Henry0

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ute42

If it's just my phone then I can manage with 1~2GB a month. With a laptop completely impossible. (I spend an average 10hrs per day at the office on my work PC and I STILL use about 100GB all alone on my personal laptop just browsing, shopping, reading posts on CC....) 

• Do You consider an internet-speed of 32KBit/sec as „Internet available“ - NO!!!!!!!!! (Seriously?!?!? I'd like to see the host have 32KBit/sec for one month and say he had internet!) 

• Do You think a guest would be entitled to a refund under such circumstance? - YES 

• Do You think a guest would be entitled to cancel under such circumstances? - YES

• Has anyone of You even gotten an answer from airbnb help, that the aivailable internet-speed doesn't matter at all? - NO

• Have You ever read a thread in these forums where a guest did get a refund for the internet being too slow? - NO 

With that said........ I think that the guest is a LITTLE to blame. If he was planning to work from home while at the listing, this would mean his needs could be different from the average guest so I feel this is something the guest should have mentioned and checked in advance. Whenever Henry and I know we might have work stuff during a trip we always double check about wifi/internet access, speeds and if there are any limitations. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ute42

I think a lot rides on whether the guest was made aware and host stated that internet is limited to 10GB per month.