Airbnb announced today a new feature that enables guests to see an actual speed test for hosts’ WiFi connections before booking.
AirBnB’s move is a recognition of the trends of workations, digital nomad living and the rise in the importance of online digital content and resources, as well as the centrality of video calls for business communication.
AirBnB added M-Lab-based software to its mobile app that speed tests the host’s WiFi network, then displays that result on their listings page.
There are two benefits: 1) All hosts are now using the same speed test system, so the results are comparable; and 2) an actual result stops hosts from exaggerating, rounding up or flat-out lying about connection speeds.
Nice, but not enough. The system still can and will be gamed. In fact, the new speed tests actually helps unscrupulous hosts game the system. Here’s why:
First, AirBnB WiFi routers often have the best performance in places that guests cannot access or cannot actually do work — but hosts can test from those best-in-house locations. This is especially true in countries in Europe, North Africa and Latin America with ancient buildings that have thick walls through which WiFi cannot penetrate. The difference in old buildings between the best and worst WiFi spots is huge.
Second, WiFi performance and internet performance varies wildly depending on local congestion. In some locations, even where hosts have fiber-optic connections, connections become unusably slow at peak hours, forcing users to wait for five minutes to load a simple web page. This happened to me recently in Paris in an apartment with fiber.
What’s going to happen now is that hosts will test WiFi in places that guests cannot access and at times that won’t always coincide with guests’ business hours when they need a good connection.
AirBnB’s system will enable hosts to “prove” they offered a great connection when guests complain that the connection sucked.
What’s needed now is an upgrade that tests WiFi speeds every hour and posts the results of 24 hours, and also a system that measures in every guest work space (not sure how to verify this, but I’m sure it can be done).