Coworking spaces in Chiang Mai keep getting the wifi wrong

I've been bouncing between coworking spaces here for 3 months and almost all of them have the router locked in a metal cabinet behind reception. You'd think people running spaces for digital nomads would know that metal kills wifi signals. I tested it with a speed test app on my phone - 50 feet from the cabinet I got 15 Mbps, standing next to it with the door open I got 90 Mbps. Has anyone else found a coworking space that actually gets this right?

3 comments

3 Comments

jackson.matthew1mo ago

Honestly, that's just peak Thailand logic right there. They'll spend a fortune on fancy marble desks and beanbag chairs but then lock the router in a metal box like it's the office safe. I swear some of these places think wifi is just magic that happens no matter what you do. Ngl, you'd get better speeds by just sitting on the toilet in a 7-Eleven and using their free wifi. At this point I'm half convinced the owners just buy whatever router is cheapest at Big C and call it a day.

grantmartinez1mo ago

The metal box thing is dead on. Seen it myself. Complete nonsense.

joseph_ellis851mo ago

Yeah, the "lock the router in a metal box" thing kills me. @jackson.matthew you nailed it, that's basically a Faraday cage for your internet. I've seen places spend 50k baht on a fancy solid wood door but then buy a 300 baht router from the corner shop. It's like they think wifi is some kind of magic fairy dust that just flies through concrete and metal no matter what. Honestly, I've had better luck sitting outside a Starbucks with my laptop than inside some of these coworking spaces that claim to have "high speed fiber.