Best Hotel Wi-FiVia HotelChatter.com... ( old news - 06:37PM Monday Apr 30 2007) Hotel Chatter (via Gizmodo) offers up their 2007 list of the best hotel Wi-Fi. According to the report, they're finding that while hotel Wi-Fi is now almost ubiquitous, more and more restrictions are being added to free hotel WiFi. "For instance, you can get free WiFi in the lobby, but in-rooms it's ethernet and it starts at $9.95 -- Or you can get free WiFi in your rooms but you need to belong to a hotel's loyalty program or be assigned a code with a special password."
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A900MHz Fan
join:2004-07-12
Mitchell, SD | So.. What's wrong with hotels making you authenticate? I mean it is for the guests and not for the public right?
Holiday Inn/Express seems to be about the best out there for WiFi internet.
Neal | |
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xdeadhead
220, 221, Whatever It Takes.
Premium
join:2000-11-08
Mechanicsburg, PA | Re: So.. ive also found holiday inn to work just fine when i needed it. hilton was adequate and hampton inn was fine also.
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I am not herbert. | |
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ssj4android
Redefining Reality
join:2002-04-14
Wyoming, MI | Agreed I don't stay in hotels much, but I tried out the Holiday Inn internet a while ago. WiFi all over plus an ethernet jack in every room. Got around 180 KB/sec down, they were using SBC. | |
| | | goillini
join:2006-04-26
Madison, WI
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Charter Pipeline
| Re: Agreed I've only stayed at 2 Holiday Inns, but both of them had horrible wi-fi -- the wireless signal strength was fine, but the internet connection was slower than dial-up. Trying to download 2-3 MB email attachments regularly timed out, and the wait for web pages to load was tedious. One was in St. Paul, MN, the other was in Austin, TX. I didn't think to check who their service provider was. | |
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ssj4android
Redefining Reality
join:2002-04-14
Wyoming, MI | Re: Agreed This one had just been built, I believe. With internet in mind, it seems. | |
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RR Conductor
RailRoadDude
Premium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
·Comcast
2 edits | Re: So.. said by A900MHz Fan  :Holiday Inn/Express seems to be about the best out there for WiFi internet. Neal I have found that to be true also, we always have good, fre WiFi when staying at Holiday Inn Express. We stayed at the one in Redding about a week ago, and I was pulling 5000 down, and around 500 up, not too bad.
I've noticed most of the hotels here (Ukiah, 8 miles south of me) advertise free wifi and/or free broadband, and that includes the local chains, it's just good business sense to me.
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NoProb
@comcast.net | Yup, authentication is fine by me Free for guest is what free Wi-Fi is suppose to be not free to the general public. | |
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steve1515
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Peabody, MA | MGM Grand I'm going to be staying at the MGM Grand soon. Does any one know how much Internet access costs? | |
| | flashcore
join:2007-01-23
Lutherville Timonium, MD | Re: MGM Grand All MGM property's in Las Vegas are $11.99 for 24 hours and have wifi and a cat5 connection in every room. The 24 hour period is per machine and they use the mac address to authenticate you after you pay. The connection is provided by Cox. | |
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ronpin
Imagine Reality
join:2002-12-06
Nirvana | Re: MGM Grand Yeah, the Luxor was 12.99 per day (April 20-26) -- and I got 4mbs speeds. I think free would've been called-for -- but I saw an actual cable modem stuffed-in next to the TV cabinet. No way Cox would do that for free. | |
| | | flytip
join:2007-04-06
Denver, CO | so that means if you need more than one machine / device, you should bring along a router....  | |
| Prespd
join:2004-03-10
San Diego, CA
| 2 cents. WiFi in Hotels works like this from my experience:
1) The more expensive the hotel, the less free internet you will get, wireless or otherwise. Works the same for bottled water too.
2) The cheaper the room rate, the more likely it is that internet let alone wireless will be free, the doughnuts good, and the coffee flavorful.
Hotels realize you are willing to pay a premium, so they nickel and dime you where they can. This is especially true of the so called high end name hotels.
Fortunately, in more and more hotels you can find a wireless signal from another open AP either in a hotel nearby or local business with open access (sometimes Panera). I love how at most airports I've been to, including Florida (Orlando), Jersey (Newark), San Francisco, you can get free wireless from the hotel attached to the airport. And Hong Kong is the Best. Wireless available even in the most remote parts of the airport. | |
| | 
PhoenixAZ
Joshua
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Phoenix, AZ
| Re: 2 cents. When I have stayed at the Mariott, it was $9.95, but that also included unlimited nationwide long distance. Also, I could roam the lobbies and use it's wireless internet, or be on a wired connection in room.
What I am more worried about are these authentication programs for some hotels, they seem to hate other browsers such as Firefox (Being a Mac user, I am kind of stuck with either Safari or Firefox), and are only IE-Friendly.
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Josh| About Me | |
| | howrman
join:2000-07-08
Philadelphia, PA
| said by Prespd :WiFi in Hotels works like this from my experience: 1) The more expensive the hotel, the less free internet you will get, wireless or otherwise. Works the same for bottled water too. You've hit on one of my pet peeves. I recently spent $1,000 a night at the Four Seasons in NYC and they had the nerve to add $9.95 to the tab for wired Internet! Same thing in Boston at the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons. Next time, maybe I'll stay at the Holiday Inn Express and buy a new computer with the $800 I save. | |
| | | tango65536
join:2001-12-26
Catonsville, MD
clubs: 
| Re: 2 cents. said by howrman :said by Prespd :WiFi in Hotels works like this from my experience: 1) The more expensive the hotel, the less free internet you will get, wireless or otherwise. Works the same for bottled water too. You've hit on one of my pet peeves. I recently spent $1,000 a night at the Four Seasons in NYC and they had the nerve to add $9.95 to the tab for wired Internet! Same thing in Boston at the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons. Next time, maybe I'll stay at the Holiday Inn Express and buy a new computer with the $800 I save. $1000/night!! Thats insane!! I hope you can write that expense off!
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Team Discovery | |
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rob_in_chatt
Premium
join:2004-09-17
Chattanooga, TN | there is no hotel room worth a grand a night, i dont care where your staying. | |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| said by howrman :You've hit on one of my pet peeves. I recently spent $1,000 a night at the Four Seasons in NYC and they had the nerve to add $9.95 to the tab for wired Internet! Same thing in Boston at the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons. Next time, maybe I'll stay at the Holiday Inn Express and buy a new computer with the $800 I save. While it wasn't $1000/night, I had a computer training at this resort in Orlando. It was $229/night or there abouts. In-room Internet was $15/night but that also included unlimited local and long distance. Unlimited local was already included in the room rate and I had a cell phone and/or Skype so long distance was free anyways.
It pissed me off that a COMPUTER training seminar was being held in a hotel that changed for internet access. Heck, our classroom didn't even have internet. Luckily there was a rogue AP that someone had setup somewhere in the resort that we could pick up almost anywhere (the resort was a large square with a very open atrium in the middle). Screw the $15/night charge. I'll take the slightly spotty free AP.
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Go Colts | |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| Re: 2 cents. said by EGeezer :I consider most networks untrusted, including most hotels since I don't know how well they secure my connection from other systems on the network. All networks should be treated this way unless you explicitly know that there is nothing rogue between you and what you are connecting to.
In the case of my travels, if someone wants to sniff me reading news here or downloading a MSDN article, more power too them. I'm happy knowing there is someone with even less then a life then me.
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Go Colts | |
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afsfdafs
@comcast.net
| This is true, the best I find is the Baymont Inn.... always free internet (stayed at them in multiple locations), always a good price also. Everywhere in LV charges as mentioned above. I actually book my hotels based on their free internet, so I'm hoping others do the same and those charging can lose the extra business. Howard Johnsons also had free wifi. | |
| zipjay
join:2003-03-11
Louisville, KY
| . i've worked at 2 hotels: Hampton inn and holiday inn both offered internet. Hampton inn's required a password which was changed every week that you acquired from the front desk.(no special requirements other than you were a guest)their internet was always nice and fast and never really had any problems. Holiday inn's internet has no password and is wide open for anyone to connect. but their internet is always slow and stalls and we get alot of complaints about it messing up. Just the other day we got an error message "your subscriber limit has been reached." and wouldn't allow anyone else to connect. | |
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AnnaS8
join:2005-05-26
Annapolis, MD
| Are you kidding me? They are complaining because the hotel require a log in? It is done for two reasons...To limit the network usage to guests only and to keep out people up to no good. It always amazes me when they complain when something is done for their protection. I think the same people who complain about having to log in are the same ones huffing when asked to see their ID when using a credit card. | |
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someone stupid
@stmarytx.edu
| Re: Are you kidding me? Credit cards are different -- IDs can easily be faked and for ease of use you are not supposed to be ID'ed when using them. (Literature from most of the major companies tells businesses Not to ID) Where the protection comes in is that the business is REQUIRED to compare the signature on the card to on the receipt, which few if any do. | |
| | | hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH
·Time Warner Cable
·buckeye cable
| Re: Are you kidding me? I work at Lowe's Home Improvement and we do ID for credit cards or debit cards if we are prompted to. The payment system will actually tell you to either see the card or ID sometimes both. But no reason is given on why to see them. Also I know of several gas stations that require this as well. It cuts down on fraud, Speedway Gas stations have some technology/machine that can detect a fake ID, they swipe the back of the picture ID. | |
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AnnaS8
join:2005-05-26
Annapolis, MD
| Problem is a lot of folks don't sign their Credit Cards and if they put anything at all it is "See ID" on the back. Though I personally will walk out a store that doesn't ask to see my ID when making a purchase. People need to take it more seriously. Though no one ever does until they are a victim of ID theft or credit card fraud. | |
| JSRoman
Premium
join:2005-03-10
Callahan, FL | The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Has killer wi-fi in the lobby. There connection is so fast it is ridiculous and it free to guest. I never uploaded pictures so fast in my life. Rooms have C-5 connection but you have to pay a fee.
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www.seabee.org | |
| dustman81
join:2002-05-28
Tallmadge, OH
·AT&T U-Verse
·RoadRunner Cable
| The flagship Marriott doesn't have free Internet I stayed at a Marriott in Memphis in November of 2004 and was charged $9.95 a day for Internet use.
I sent an email to their customer service and got the charge credited back by pointing out that their sister hotels, like Courtyard, offered free Internet. | |
| | 
Randy
Premium
join:2006-04-25
Springfield, IL
clubs:
| ICHG free wireless paid inroom wired Most of the ICHG like Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge, Candlewood, Indigo, offer free wireless and paid inroom. From my experience at most of them the inroom might say it charges you the $9.95, but they credit it when you check out. I've only once been charged and that was the Crown Plaza. Anyway the speeds are worth it. I was at a Stuaybridge near Chicago and had like 25mb both ways wired in my room( my guess no one was on it it was like 2 am). | |
| amungus
Premium
join:2004-11-26
America
clubs:
| silly Just spent a couple nights in a Holiday Inn... 1st night the speed was horrible, but it worked.
I can understand maybe giving out a passphrase so nobody leeches out in the parking lot or something, but charging for it is ridiculous.
IMHO, it ought to be completely free as a guest with minimal hassle. It may be more challenging in huge hotels, in which case, maybe they should just raise rates by a buck or two to cover the initial costs.
I have no problem w/wired either, I still think that's rather convenient (as opposed to dial up!) as well...
People love to gripe about anything it seems.
Holiday Inn, while not a Hylton, was still a decent stay for me last week...
I say more free wi-fi for all. Charging for it, restricting it, is plain wrong. Change the key every so often and be done with it. Give guests the key, and let them know when to expect that it could expire... it can't be all that tough... | |
| RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| My choice - and free too This is my limited experience.
Marriott Residence Inn - Wired in the rooms, some have wi-fi in the community areas.
Marriott Spring Hill Suites - Wired in the rooms
Marriott Fairfield - Wireless, have to have the antenna just right.
Those are the ones I stay at the most.
Others I have stayed in:
Comfort Inn - had two wired and one good wireless, but all had locked down nets. No Telnet or FTP, just email and HTTP.
Crowne Plaza Hotel - wireless in common areas and wired in the rooms.
Microtel - both had wired AND free phone calls!
Other places (under $100 a night) a mix of no, wire, wireless.
Most wireless hotels I have seen are picky about where you put the computer. If I am doing anything serious, I want wired. If I am just playing around, wireless is good, especially if you are on the 8th floor on the beach at Fort Walton Beach, Florida and want to sit on the balcony and watch the dolphins .
Now overseas, most of the tourist areas charge for the net, some by the day, some by the hour. Away from Seoul, one place I was at in Korea (a real Korean luxury hotel, I liked it! but they did not speak English and I did not speak Korean  ) had 6 meg symmetrical cable according to DSLR. The other two high class non tourist locations you asked to use the hotel's computer.
In Greece in Athens, one place none, and one charged, in Volos our place had no net. But there were a lot of computer 'bars', so I had access for a reasonable fee even in Athens.
In Cairo, we were in the top floor high class area for security reason, and they charged for wired or to use the business room computer (which was cheaper). But our guys forgave the lack of free net in exchange for the free breakfast/drinks and the afternoon happy (two) hour (Muslim country yet the booze flowed). Oh, and they made a nice what I think was espresso hot chocolate, not at all what we get here in the states.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
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dslwanter
Why would I want DSL? I have FTTH
Premium
join:2002-12-16
Lowellville, OH
·Armstrong Zoom In..
·AT&T Midwest
| Quality Inn Erie PA A "choice hotel" but not bad for the price. Just booted up my laptop and went when I stayed there for a little get-a-way this summer.
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"You're as worthless as a screen door on a submarine!" Check out my Internet Radio Station & DJ Service, »www.thebomb102.com. | |
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lordfly
join:2000-10-12
Homestead, FL
·AT&T Southeast
| Some Super 8 in Indiana and other cheapies My wife, kids and I were traveling last year from Florida to Iowa. The best unexpected free fast wireless came from some of the most out of the way flea bag hotels. One hotel we went to said to get a code, but it was not needed, I had instant on.
Another really good one is the Days Inn in Lake City, FL. They have like three APs and completely open. Anybody could pick up a signal and surf/check mail.
Then I have stayed at $100/nights that had no clue what wireless was and the only internet access was in the lobby.
I conclude that price has no bearing on internet access. | |
| 
NY Tel
Premium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
 ·VOIPo
1 edit | Can You hear me now? I travel extensively and got tired of paying 10 bucks a night for Internet access especially when you are in a hotel at least 10 nights a month so I now added modem tethering to my Blackberry for 15 dollars a month.
With EVDO, it works just fine.
How's this for stupid: The Doubletree Downtown in Boston charges 9.95 a night in your room but it is free in the lobby.
Solution: Log in while in the lobby, carry your laptop back to your room and you are good for 24 hours.
Yes it is incredibly stupid but it works. The public gets it free but paying guests pay extra? Huh? | |
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Yippz Voip
join:2005-05-04
Atlanta, GA
| More Hotel & Inn WIFI... I travel quite a bit... Here are my finding for those who also travel.
Baymont Inn & Suites --
Free Wifi & Ethernet in every room, wifi throughout the hotel... No authentication whatsoever. Made phone calls using my PocketPC, VBuzzer service and SJLabs softphone -- crystal clear calls and fast internet any time of the day or night.
Clarion Inns --
Free wifi throughout the property -- FAST CONNECTION -- Authentication by clicking a TOS acceptance page
Hampton Inns & Suites --
Free Wifi throughout the property -- You NEED a password from the front desk at check-in -- Uses MAC address to keep you recognized in through your entire stay. This chain also has a GREAT hot breakfast (not the Continental crap other places pass on), popcorn & ice cream in the evening and fresh coffee 24 hours in the front lounge. Also, using Skype with my PocketPC, their connection was excellent!!
The days of pay for internet in hotels & inns seems to be gone around the SE -- except for pretty much EVERY casino hotel -- from Vegas to Tunica, MS these folks either don't offer internet, offer it in the lobby ONLY or charge $10+ a day. C'mon... Who comes to a casino hotel and doesn't drop some cash in a slot machine or at the tables -- shared internet over 1000 rooms, of which less than 5% will actually USE the net should keep it free...
Now... we're just waiting for nation-wide wifi (South Carolina we're watching...).. oh, and you too Sprint. | |
| tango65536
join:2001-12-26
Catonsville, MD
clubs:
| Hotel WiFi Radisson Hotel in Philadelphia, PA (NE Philly - the town name is Trevose I think) has great FREE WiFi. I have stayed there a few might while my wife was treated at a hospital there.
Very good speed I might add.
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Team Discovery | |
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awolfpup
Premium
join:2001-01-18
Macon, GA
clubs:
·Cox HSI
|  Internet in hotels...
Let me help shed some light on hotel internet[wi-fi/wired] in hotels...
Hotels pay for the internet connection from whomever the local markets are offering it in the area...the type[speed] of connection the hotel buys depends on how deep their pockets go...
hotel owners don't like to let go of their money, but they also realize that with guests more and more needing internet access as a necessity rather than as a luxury more hotels are footing the bill
you can tell when the owner of a hotel has realized the level of importance internet access has become to a guest...
Hotel owners who choose to go the lower end of the spectrum then becomes apparent with weak wi-fi coverage around the hotel room[or wireless; only in specific locations at the hotel while in room access is wired/etc], during peak usage of the hotel network [7p-11p] bandwidth slow downs occur, etc...
If a hotel owner purchases say 1.5M/1.5M xDSL from their local ISP provider; this speed seems adequate to one who is not trained...when you start dividing this up by the actual total number of rooms a hotel[say 50 rooms for this example] has and assuming each guest has a laptop and is connecting...suddenly..that nice 1.5M pipe is more like a telephone cable albeit on steroids at a speed of 30K/30K...
Now for those who have stayed in a hotel an were caught file sharing or audio/video streaming an wondered why they're service was throttled and/or turned off by the hotels [3rd party - hotels rarely perform their own support of their premise equipment] support desk...those offenders are literally slowing down the hotels network for the other 49 guests in the same hotel...why is a guest's internet service throttled or even turned off..they were using up the available bandwidth the hotel has to offer...
...Not to mention..for those of you business travelers that stay in hotels often with internet access in the rooms and you come up to that authenticaion page, has anyone actually taken the time to read the ToS? As file sharing, audio/video streaming, and the like are listed as no-no's so a hotel is of course well within its rights to turn off your access to the net.
Someone pointed out that "in the lobby its free access; but in the room its pay for access"...the difference..is usually going to be in bandwidth...free access is usually limited whereas in the room the bandwidth is usually offers a higher bandwidth capacity...
Why charge for internet access? The larger the hotel, the more equipment that is needed to provide that access in the hotel...hotel staff are great at running hotels; not supporting networking infrastructure...in small hotels sure a hotel can hire an on staff IT guru...at a hotel that has several hundred rooms...scattered around several buildings on a campus...hotels[both large and small; both free and pay hotels] will and do out source this type of support to some helpdesk...
That $9.95[which I know is pretty much the standard charge] really goes to the following:
1. Pays for the internet access for the hotel;
2. Pays for the support[which is usually out sourced];
3. Is used to give priority bandwidth or higher bandwidth to guests than someone who is just driving or walking by the hotel[perhaps a seminar and a person who is not a guest at the hotel just needs the internet during an on site seminar/conference/etc].
$9.95 doesn't seem like much when its applied to a single guest but for those hotels that have say 250+ guest rooms that same $9.95 * 250 rooms = $2,487.50....
I've supported many different hotel chains, an currently work for one those 3rd party out-sourced helpdesk[not in india]..I will not name the company here as that would be advertising...but i can say some of the named hotels in this thread I have supported in the past...just thought I would share the thinking and the behind the scenes look at why and/or why not hotels charge for internet access...an that yes..your mileage will vary at each hotel, even hotels within the same chain...
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Ex-Earthlink Hi-speed Tech Support Rep. | |
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natter
join:2000-12-18
Littleton, CO
| Re: Internet in hotels... I stay at the sofitel in West Hollywood when I'm out in Cali on business. For $9 a night, I get about 7-9meg. Amazingly fast and at first, I was pissed about spending any $$ on Internet access and I tried to stay at a few other hotels (*cough* Holiday Inn *Cough*) and I'll never mind paying for Internet access again. (then again, I'm on business so my company pays for it..)
my .02 cents. | |
| | Derfel
join:2004-06-06
Winnipeg, MB
·MTS
| See, I'd buy the argument of "Well, we pay for internet, so you should too"... but hotels also pay for electricity, water, etc... and they pass that along to their customers IN THE ROOM RATE. Internet (and local phone, in my opinion) should be included in the cost of a room, period. Put a data cap on if you must (say, 250 MB a day?) but there is no need to charge someone $9.95 a day just to use a slow WiFi connection.
In fact, I now plan my travel AROUND the fact whether or not a hotel/motel has free WiFi available. I figure if they think enough of me to allow me access to the internet in their hotel, they are probably doing well in the customer service department.
As an aside, often a little pressure allows them to magically waive the $9.95 a day fee anyways. I was staying at Hotel Arts in Calgary, AB a few months back, and they wanted to charge me $14 a day for WiFi access. I mentioned that I could easily go to another hotel, and suddenly they remembered my room rate "included WiFi access". Go figure. | |
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Residence Inn in RI