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Hotels May Charge More for Wi-Fi
To Offset Fact iPads are Highlighting Network Shortcomings
While users have grown used to getting free Wi-Fi in hotels, the surge in iPads and smartphones is putting a strain on unprepared hotel Wi-Fi networks, insists the New York Times. The article makes the argument that hotels will soon need to charge for data or offer tiers of service, such as a free tier for e-mail and higher tiers for video use. From the sound of the article (and personal experience) most hotels didn't have particularly robust networks to begin with, and the article's primary source for this desired shift is an executive for a company eager to sell hotels more network management platforms:
quote:
The iPad represents the “final nail in the coffin” for the idea that all Internet is free, said David W. Garrison, the chief executive of iBAHN, a provider of systems for the hotel and meetings industries....“It’s about managing that bandwidth,” Mr. Garrison added. “We’re not saying that free Internet as you know it today is dead. We’re saying that a hotel owner will have to decide what free should be. I could have a free option, for a limited level of service, but charge for higher levels of demand."
In other words, a guy that sells hotel Wi-Fi metered billing systems to hotels quickly and easily convinces the NY Times that hotels should install hotel Wi-Fi metered billing systems. While people may be willing to pay more for more bandwidth, continuing to offer quality network access for free could aid competitive differentiation, so the shift to new fee models isn't necessarily a given.
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Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler

Premium Member

Wallet Talk

You want to charge me for WiFi access at your hotel? Sure!

I'll just be staying next door, thank you very much.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Re: Wallet Talk

Same here. I've actually stayed at the lesser hotels solely because they offer free Wifi, while the better places wanted to charge me a daily fee. Its usually not much, but I am opposed to it on principle.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Wallet Talk

Count me in with the people who find it surprising that, as the cost of the hotel increases, the probability of free WiFi decreases. Granted, the free WiFi tends to be a Linksys router or three spread around the hotel, pulling bandwidth from a business class DSL or cable connection, but the system sometimes works better than a T1 feeding a few Cisco wireless acess points.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Wallet Talk

said by iansltx:

Count me in with the people who find it surprising that, as the cost of the hotel increases, the probability of free WiFi decreases. Granted, the free WiFi tends to be a Linksys router or three spread around the hotel, pulling bandwidth from a business class DSL or cable connection, but the system sometimes works better than a T1 feeding a few Cisco wireless acess points.

not just wifi, everything. as the cost of the hotel goes up expect more fees for everything. Why are local calls free at the discount hotels but a dollar or more at an expensive hotel(not that it matters with my cell id never use a hotel phone unless an occurance made it wiser or faster to use the land line). But I guess I should not be surprised, higher end hotels target higher end clientele who do not care about costs or more importantly they cater to business travelers who just expense everything and their employer writes off as a business expense on their taxes.
cramer
Premium Member
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
Westell 6100
Cisco PIX 501

cramer to iansltx

Premium Member

to iansltx
Unless you're talking about a 9 story Hilton, that simple setup works perfectly fine. And it's pretty damned cheap. I know several that use residential cable/dsl for each AP -- you can usually get 2-3 residential lines for the cost of a business line.

The thing is, hotels spend more on advertising per day than they do "free WiFi" per year. Operators are being blind fools if they think people aren't choosing where they're willing to stay based on fees and other perks. I won't stay anywhere that charges for parking or wifi, because I know they're just being greedy little MF's.

(I know a bank that does the same thing. That's the only network outside contractors are allowed to use. i.e. if you aren't an employee, you don't get access to the bank's network.)

davoice
join:2000-08-12
Saxapahaw, NC

davoice

Member

Re: Wallet Talk

As someone who has been responsible for trying to get more bandwidth to quite a few hotels, let me tell you, it's not easy or cheap!

Even in big cities, hotels are rarely located where broadband options are plentiful. This is particularly true for new hotels. I've ended up having several hotel operators have to chose between keeping a saturated 1.5mbps T1 at $300-400/mo or upgrading to 3.0 or 4.5mbps at $600-1300/mo.

When you add an extra $600/mo fixed cost to the bottom line operating costs of a 200 room hotel, that instantly removes $3 per room in profit from their operating expenses. That may not seem like a lot but in the hotel world, that's a margin squeeze. Someone is going to have to pay for that... and that someone is the hotel guest who will either pay through increased room rates or through added fees.

In larger hotels you have a greater economy of scale but I can tell you from experience that it's like pulling teeth with a pair of pliers to get a hotel owner to spend $4000-5000/mo for a 45mbps DS3 to power "free" WiFi for a 1500 room hotel!

}Davoice

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler

Premium Member

Re: Wallet Talk

My favorite is when you do pay these extra fees, then find out the internet service is horrible. They may have paid a lot for their hardware, but as a customer using the service, I could care less when my $X/day fees are for dial-up speeds.

RVAguy
Premium Member
join:2006-01-05
Richmond, VA

RVAguy to davoice

Premium Member

to davoice
I know what you mean... My company used to support several major high end hotel chains. All of them charged for the internet, hence the availability of our 24 hour support, but the connections sucked... They would run a 300 room hotel off a single T1, and then complain when a convention came to town and the service would come to a crawl...

We had several contracts from the resorts in Vegas. Most of the time their networks were top notch. The best setup I have seen included a ethernet circuit connected to an Adtran DSLAM in the basement. From there they ran DSL to every room, and put in a wireless modem/router combo.

What was great about this is there was a wifi AP in every room, so if one went down, it didn't matter..there were 10 others to choose from... Most calls from there were customers needing help connecting using a non-windows wireless client.
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: Wallet Talk

said by RVAguy:

What was great about this is there was a wifi AP in every room, so if one went down, it didn't matter..there were 10 others to choose from...

That sounds like an RF nightmare with only 3 non-overlapping channels to choose from. Every room seems way overkill. I'd think every 3rd room would be plenty.

RVAguy
Premium Member
join:2006-01-05
Richmond, VA

RVAguy

Premium Member

Re: Wallet Talk

You know, I thought that too, but it worked... I guess it's built into the protocol. I bet there are places in NYC that are an RF nightmare, and you think the RFC had to account for that. You know, who needs to connect at 54mb anyhow on an internet only connection in a hotel? I remember them all being set to connect at 10mb. Maybe that was the reason why there wasn't much interference...
cramer
Premium Member
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
Westell 6100
Cisco PIX 501

cramer to davoice

Premium Member

to davoice
Somehow I find that hard to believe. You're building hotels where there's no cable TV??? Sure, there are lots of areas in NC where the broadband options are slim and none. I really don't think it matters in a hotel where even my cell phone has no signal. (there are a number of those places around NC/SC.) Mega-hotels aren't built in those locations, because there's no demand.

Yes, the mega-hotels will have significantly higher requirements and thus costs. But those aren't cheap hotels to begin with.
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: Wallet Talk

said by cramer:

Somehow I find that hard to believe. You're building hotels where there's no cable TV???

Lots of hotels are built near the interstate highway intersections, many of which are out of the range of where the ISP or cable company has built their service because there are (or at least were) no homes and very few businesses there.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
Premium Member
join:2003-01-02
Columbia, SC

MrHappy316 to Thaler

Premium Member

to Thaler
Don't forget some of them higher end places won't even give you a fridge or nuker unless you pay to "upgrade".

jester121
Premium Member
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL

jester121

Premium Member

Re: Wallet Talk

Hotel rooms are for sleeping, showering, and fucking.

If you want a kitchen rent an apartment.

Cabal
Premium Member
join:2007-01-21

1 recommendation

Cabal to Thaler

Premium Member

to Thaler
I haven't seen a hotel offer free wifi in years, except for the sleazy Comfort Inn-type places. *shudder*
john262
join:2003-09-26
Elko, NV

john262

Member

Re: Wallet Talk

To me that almost sounds counter intuitive. I am not doubting you, but I thought that a five star hotel got it's rating because it provided more amenities, not less. And I had thought that a Motel 6 was cheap because you just got a small room and that's it with no extras. Yet now this concept seems to be turned on it's head.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Re: Wallet Talk

said by john262:

To me that almost sounds counter intuitive. I am not doubting you, but I thought that a five star hotel got it's rating because it provided more amenities, not less. And I had thought that a Motel 6 was cheap because you just got a small room and that's it with no extras. Yet now this concept seems to be turned on it's head.

They are rated based on available services, not free services. Though I would love to see a secondary "value for the $" rating system.

wings10
I Am Legend
Premium Member
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL

wings10 to Thaler

Premium Member

to Thaler
Tell that to the Convention that needs to do a video conference needing dedicated bandwidth of at least 15Mb.

jtimson
join:2000-08-10
Tuckahoe, NY

jtimson

Member

Re: Wallet Talk

15 MB? What kinda of video conference is that? We do Tandberg HD video NY to London at about 1.3 MB. Is that a multi-site, HD to all endpoints?

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221 to Thaler

Member

to Thaler
Hilton charges 10 bucks a day for shared T1. My crappy 2 star hotel give free access to a D3 cable modem. Yes its shared but shared 30 mbit beats T1 almost any day.
sysghost
Premium Member
join:2001-02-11
united state

1 edit

sysghost

Premium Member

Re: Wallet Talk

That connection will also get you a max bandwidth of 256kbps on average as of a year ago. I had to do end user support for it.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984 to Eagles1221

Premium Member

to Eagles1221
said by Eagles1221:

Hilton charges 10 bucks a day for shared T1. My crappy 2 star hotel give free access to a D3 cable modem. Yes its shared but shared 30 mbit beats T1 almost any day.

This is why all hiltons suck.
They nickel and dime you for everything.
Parking $14 a day
Wifi $14 a day
Charge you for a newspaper unless you opt out
etc

Hiltons are a joke of hotels for those that travel alot.

Good hotels have free parking and free wifi and no hidden fees.

Augustus III
If Only Rome Could See Us Now....
join:2001-01-25
Gainesville, GA

Augustus III to Thaler

Member

to Thaler
It is one of my pet peeves. That's why i stay at lower tier hotels. The few times i opted for the fancy stuff, i was bitten with wifi fees and other fees. luckily i have a datacard so i can use my own but come on.. 200$ a night and you want to charge me 10$ for internet and 3$ for a bottle of dasani tap water.

Posting this from a cheap motel FREE internet. Take that!
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to Thaler

Premium Member

to Thaler
I bet some hotel where fearing services like Netflix for awhile. afraid that streaming VOD services would not only eat up their network but would also let people sidestep their own in house VOD system.
Storage_Guy
join:2006-04-30
Benton Harbor, MI

Storage_Guy

Member

Bandwidth is that tight?

Time Warner offers 35/5 business class internet in our area for about $300 a month. I find it hard to believe that most chain hotels can't cover this cost as a basic amenity for their customers.

Diablo
join:2007-09-17
Kissimmee, FL

Diablo

Member

Re: Bandwidth is that tight?

35/5 can you add up 20 rooms minimum 5 watching netflix and 10 maybe youtube and voip at the same time?
Storage_Guy
join:2006-04-30
Benton Harbor, MI

Storage_Guy

Member

Re: Bandwidth is that tight?

Maybe I am not the normal hotel customer..but when I am in a hotel it is either on business or for vacation. While on business I don't have the free time to watch youtube or netflix; and while on vacation watching netflix is the last thing I would be doing.

I don't think most people expect low latency(VoIP)/high bandwidth(Netflix HD) connections while at a hotel. They just want a basic connection to check email, browsing, etc. At least that is all I need.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Re: Bandwidth is that tight?

said by Storage_Guy:

They just want a basic connection to check email, browsing, etc. At least that is all I need.

Dial up should serve you nicely. What's that? You don't want slower internet speeds even though you are only doing "basic connection" activities? Well then maybe you are one of those customers that wants high speed internet that is actually high speed.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: Bandwidth is that tight?

..and which laptop actually comes with a modem port lately?

Oh ya.. THEY DON'T.
unoriginal
Premium Member
join:2000-07-12
San Diego, CA

unoriginal

Premium Member

Re: Bandwidth is that tight?

My wife's 4 month old Lenovo T520 has one.

shop.lenovo.com/us/products/professional-grade/thinkpad/t-series/t420-t520/
john262
join:2003-09-26
Elko, NV

john262

Member

Re: Bandwidth is that tight?

Right. I wouldn't have a laptop without a dialup modem. You just never know when you might need it. And you get an external USB modem if you have to. You can get a perfectly adequate one for about 20 bucks.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958 to Storage_Guy

Premium Member

to Storage_Guy
said by Storage_Guy:

Maybe I am not the normal hotel customer..but when I am in a hotel it is either on business or for vacation. While on business I don't have the free time to watch youtube or netflix; and while on vacation watching netflix is the last thing I would be doing.

I don't think most people expect low latency(VoIP)/high bandwidth(Netflix HD) connections while at a hotel. They just want a basic connection to check email, browsing, etc. At least that is all I need.

Personally,
I don't know why anyone is setting in front of their computer watching tv/movies, to begin with?! What a waste of time and life!!

I know for a fact, I would not be doing that on a business trip or vacation!

Some people just don't know what it's like to go outside anymore, I guess.

Oh yeah,
Who didn't see this coming anyway? Surprised it didn't happen a while ago already.

davoice
join:2000-08-12
Saxapahaw, NC

davoice to Diablo

Member

to Diablo
Remember that cable modem connections, even business class ones, have TOSes that specifically forbid their use for resale or guest WiFi. Yes, go read the TOS for Time Warner Cable Business Class. It's in there.

Same thing applies to most inexpensive connections. Read the TOS.

}Davoice

•••

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop to Storage_Guy

Member

to Storage_Guy
There is more to it than just buying a $300 internet connection. You can buy a 1Gb circuit for $1/mo but your hotel's network isn't worht a crap or you let your customers run amuck it will be useless.

•••••••••••••••
RDC17
join:2011-05-15
Vienna, VA

RDC17

Member

Where it's heading...

Soon the only place where you will have unlimited, uncapped, and unthrottled internet is your home. But even soon that may be a thing of the past.

•••

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

1 recommendation

newview

Premium Member

I think I'll pass

The quality of Wi-Fi offered in many motels/hotels is comparable to much of the "continental breakfast" offerings I've seen ... extremely unsatisfying.
pabster
join:2001-12-09
Waterloo, IA

pabster

Member

Re: I think I'll pass

AMEN...it's ridiculous how poor WiFi points in general perform at hotels. The same can often (sadly) be said for their wired ethernet option (if it is even offered). And the ones that have the gall to charge for said crap service are nuts.

Rambo76098
join:2003-02-21
Columbus, OH

Rambo76098 to newview

Member

to newview
Agreed, and strangely enough, the cheap hotel's wifi was slightly faster than mid-grade hotels.

That said, often times on vacation this year tethering my CDMA phone was faster than the hotel wifi.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
Premium Member
join:2003-01-02
Columbia, SC

MrHappy316

Premium Member

Seriously?

They are already overcharging, $10 bucks a day normally in some of the higher end hotels. I can get Wifi in a plane in the stratosphere for that much.

I guess this goes back to the meaning of vacation, ditch all the connections.

NYDude25
join:2007-08-23
Massapequa, NY

NYDude25

Member

Re: Seriously?

I've seen this too. Visited Atlantic City this summer, stayed at the Tropicana once and the Borgata once.

The Tropicana doesn't charge for wired or wifi.

The Borgata charges $10/day for it.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to MrHappy316

Premium Member

to MrHappy316
yea its stupid, there is no way that hotels that charge $10/day will have no trouble meeting demands for keeping up with bandwidth needs.

in your example of the Borgata, if every room where occupied and bought wifi that would be 28k per day inbound money just off wifi. and 840k per month. how much does a large pipe cost per month?

hotel wifi is likely almost pure profits.
QLR
join:2009-06-23
Tallahassee, FL

QLR

Member

I rarely travel anyway, so the wifi fee is pointless for me.

From what I can tell, the wifi was slower than the wireless network in my uses. I will just nurse my unlimited smartphone data as long as possible.

koolman2
Premium Member
join:2002-10-01
Anchorage, AK

koolman2

Premium Member

Free low-speed

I stayed at a hotel recently that offered free Wi-Fi limited at I believe 128 kbps - plenty for checking email and light browsing. The full-speed option was five or six dollars for my entire stay. I just tethered my phone instead.

Mizzat
Will post for thumbs
Premium Member
join:2003-05-03
Atlanta, GA

Mizzat

Premium Member

Hotel have free WiFi??

Maybe it's the hotels I stay in but most charge!
Hanko
join:2001-12-28
Eatonville, WA

Hanko

Member

Don't expect more speeds for more money

I travel a lot and typically stay at various Marriott brand (Platinum Member) and Hilton brand hotels. For about 3 years now the Marriott brand has gone to 768K max for their download speeds and the upper end versions charge for the access. The Hilton brands have started doing the same with similar speeds.

I recently stayed in several Super 8 Motels on a road trip and found their free Wi-Fi was at 3Mb or faster.

I've complained to the Marriott Management about the speeds and the only answer they give is to hand you over to their "Network Support" company that just wants to trouble shoot your connection. The problem is not with the connection it is with the speed you are throttle at.

I have started changing which hotels I stay at as a result of their policies. I will not make Platinum this year, maybe not even Gold level. I won't stay where I can't get enough bandwidth to do my work.

Their loss, others gain.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: Don't expect more speeds for more money

"I've complained to the Marriott Management about the speeds and the only answer they give is to hand you over to their "Network Support" company that just wants to trouble shoot your connection."

Ughhhh.... I hate this so much. We supply internet to alot of Marriot type properties and very often we get tickets opened by desk clerks complaining our circuit(s) are slow. Usually after wasting time trouble shooting the problem is that the customer was complaining about the 768k and they (desk clerks) think that means the internet was slow.

Cjaiceman
MVM
join:2004-10-12
Castle Rock, WA
(Software) pfSense
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO

Cjaiceman

MVM

Re: Don't expect more speeds for more money

Click for full size
said by battleop:

Ughhhh.... I hate this so much. We supply internet to alot of Marriot type properties and very often we get tickets opened by desk clerks complaining our circuit(s) are slow. Usually after wasting time trouble shooting the problem is that the customer was complaining about the 768k and they (desk clerks) think that means the internet was slow.

I wish I could even get that at the Marriot I stay at... This was the best one I could get there, yet the mall 1/4 mile down the road had several open wifi access points that I got 7-10Mbps on with my phone...

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
·Charter
Ubee EU2251
Ubiquiti UAP-IW-HD
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD

Smith6612

MVM

Hotels and Wi-Fi.

Most of the places I've been to offer Free Wi-Fi, if not all of them now offer it. They used to charge in the past some $5-10 a day for usage. The same places that used to charge often times had nothing more than a cheap DSL or Cable line, or perhaps a T1 running the whole thing with several Linksys routers located in the ceiling to cover everything. My experience with Hotel Wi-Fi has been pretty good for the most part. As long as it's set up correctly, it tends to perform well. The places I've seen running a T1 line only tended to choke down during the night, but it wasn't bad enough to the point where nothing would load up. It would just take a second or two longer.

The last Hotel I stayed at back in the summer used to be one of those ones that offered Paid Wi-Fi in the rooms but offered Free Wi-Fi everywhere else (and was also one of those "Bad" Wi-Fi places). Both the Free and Paid APs fed off of the same WAN setup: A Sprint T1 and a Verizon DSL connection. Their gateway was often overloaded, probably from blocking too much content or from the connections switching between each other too often. Their Wi-Fi network ran off of nothing more than Linksys WRT54GL routers, with some older BEFW11S4s located in parts of the Hotel (which are still in service today, since those APs haven't failed yet). Recently the Hotel has decided to ditch the Sprint T1/DSL dual-WAN setup in favor of placing the Hotel network onto a 3Mbps/768kbps Verizon DSL connection, and putting the rest of the network on a 10Mbps/2Mbps Cable modem connection. The APs are all the same, Linksys routers running as APs. Their Firewall has pretty much gone from "Active" to "Passive." They decided to run Ethernet to every hotel room as a part of a major remodel, as well. Lastly, the Hotel network went from "Paid" to Free after ditching AT&T Wayport as a Hotspot Operator. Since they made the changes, their network as a whole has improved 10 fold. The DSL connection maintains 2.8Mbps/740kbps when there are not others using it, even though that connection liked to drop out constantly due to the lines going to the building being shoddy (Go Figure). If others were on in the Hotel, the connection handled pretty well but latency would skyrocket if you put the slightest load on the connection, though that would be due to a latency issue related to Juniper ERX.

As far as their Cable connection goes? Rock solid. Could download all day, all night or heck, even upload all day, all night and not see a single dip in perceived speed. Yes, they have one Linksys router in a key which has not allowed clients to associate to it in over a year, perhaps it's dying but they are using it to pass a good amount of traffic at least over Ethernet, but there are other APs in range that provide the max speed due to their setup and density. Granted, they were using residential gear to run their Wi-Fi setup and handle the onslaught of every device under the sun connecting to them, but I'd have to say their large LinksysNet (probably close to 50 Linksys WRT54GLs?) holds up a lot better than other places I've seen running Enterprise gear with Fiber back-haul to the Internet. Granted, that might be from any reason but I was rather impressed when that place fixed up their network and actually made it free, and went as far as allowing their IT department to repair Ethernet ports for people who called in a defective port (such as I ). Kudos to them. All I know is, the place went from a guy who knew a bit of networking and computers and contracted Hotspot support out and worked during the night, to a handful of guys who knew their stuff.

•••

Tomek
Premium Member
join:2002-01-30
Valley Stream, NY

Tomek

Premium Member

Selling Point

I choose hotels on the principle of need. When I had to work remotely, good wifi was a must (wired = better) and must be reliable. But usually I go for leisure anyway, so as long as bed is there I am fine.
Last placed I stayed at, wifi was so horrible that I ended up tethering
CTMustang
Premium Member
join:2007-09-10
New Canaan, CT

CTMustang

Premium Member

You actually use hotel wifi?

I'd never use one of those things after seeing how many run stuff on hubs and how easy it is to snoop traffic!

My cell phone only gets my internet traffic. Again not 100% secure, but much more..
Storage_Guy
join:2006-04-30
Benton Harbor, MI

Storage_Guy

Member

Re: You actually use hotel wifi?

If this is that much of a worry...why not use a VPN that does not use split tunneling?

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia

Premium Member

Re: You actually use hotel wifi?

I tend to use an ssh tunnel for places I login to and such when I use any open AP or public in any sense. You can still encrypt the data you send and even my Android phone is perfectly capable of setting up and using one. Compression can help on slow connections, too. I usually connect with my laptop and share it with my phone via an Ad-hoc network, as I can place the laptop in optimal signal with its better radio. Just need a wireless bridge from home as most lappys don't have 2 wireless cards. But most bridges have great antennas. Improves service very much for tablets and phones, with generally weaker wifi radios. It helps with multiple client situations if the radios can see each other, too.

nightdesigns
Gone missing, back soon
Premium Member
join:2002-05-31
AZ

nightdesigns

Premium Member

If you're going to charge for wi-fi...

Then provide good service.

I don't expect much with free wi-fi, but if I'm paying for it it better be good.

Recently stayed at a hotel in Vegas that had a "mandatory resort fee" which included internet and IT SUCKED!

I travel now with my own portable internet service. Now good anywhere I am, and a day or two of "paid" service is less than my monthly fee.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

When I stay in a hotel

When I stay in a hotel, I use my Verizon Wireless MiFi 4510L. My most recent hotel stay (Best Western in Deerfield Beach, FL), I used my computer quite a bit and the MiFi did it's job. I just plugged it into the charger and had a hotspot in my room most of the time. The hotel had Wi-Fi but I don't use public hotspots because I have the MiFi. The MiFi also comes in handy on the bus and the train. On the plane, I had to use the GoGo Wi-Fi because they don't allow cellular devices on the plane to be used.

BTW; Broward County, FL has excellent Verizon Wireless 4G coverage. The connection was comparable to my cable modem and does not kick down to 3G like it does at home in Massachusetts (which has 4G coverage, but spotty in locations like West Springfield and just north of Boston on the Amtrak Downeaster). When I travel to Maine (which is not upgraded to VZW 4G yet), I just use Grandma's RoadRunner connection (which they don't have D3 yet either).
keason
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Ann Arbor, MI
·Comcast Business
·T-Mobile

1 edit

keason

Premium Member

Hotel internet is stuck in 2000 -

On a several recent cross country trips, I stayed in one hotel (out of about 25) that had good internet speed. (10Mb/2) Another, a condo at a resort, had 2.5/.5. All of the remainder were about .1/1. The best was at a posh corporate retreat, where the internet speed was 80/80

Most of the hotels were still on an old single T1 and use a third party provider for support. The ones with better speed used a local ISP (Cable or DSL) and just changed their password periodically. These problems have been ongoing for years and have just gotten worse with more devices and video streaming.

Comcast charges $200/mo for 50/10 or $400 for 100/10 business connection... before the volume discounts that hotel chains get ... That's less than a typical T1 connection. Add a few thousand for access point upgrades for a mid sized or larger hotel... that is less than the cost of the water bottles and cookies that hotels hand out and less than the hotels pay now.

This premise of the article is just ridiculous. All it shows is that hotels need to upgrade their internet capacity and chains need to set new speed standards for their franchises, just like they upgrade their mattresses, TV's and alarm clocks. Sounds like someone was sleeping on the job.

You would think that hotel operators would upgrade their internet connections for competitive reasons alone.
civicturbo
join:2009-11-08
USA

civicturbo

Member

Free and paid

My experience was that some of the cheap hotels have free wifi and all the nicer places and everywhere I stayed in Vegas before moving here charges. Even the time shares with all the utillities included did not include any Internet But you could buy it thru some third party company for 10-20/day! The one exception was the Hilton timeshares on the north end of the strip across fron the sahara. They had free wired internet. It was fast, and I could even use my Vonage adapter there, no port blocking problems.

So fleebag=usually free or nothing
and middleroad to expensive=usually cost, & sometimes ALOT
richardak
join:2001-07-08
South Texas

richardak

Member

Wi-Fi at hotels are a joke anyway

I always end up using 3G on my iPad anyway, because the Wi-Fi is so slow.
decifal7
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN

decifal7

Member

man

Man, is everybody on the money grab train lately? Screw it lets just shut down the power plants, gas lines and go amish for a while to help out this major burden people are putting (theoretically to justify the price increases) on the system... My god nickle and dime to death.. Its like the whole world has gone att on us

wings10
I Am Legend
Premium Member
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL

wings10

Premium Member

Re: man

Yes everything should be free to everyone. No one should be able to make / earn money.

Socialism for ever!!!!!!

decifal7
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN

decifal7

Member

Re: man

By socialism if you mean regulation of price fixing and risk to the public then bring it on! If by that you mean what some on wallstreet are protesting for (hand outs) then heck no!
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

tablet surcharge

since many smart phones & tablets are much more transPortable than laptops and micro desktops (think micro gaming box the size of a large toaster) hotels think they have the right to overcharge.. and you have the right to shop around..

the last time I was at a hotel almost 10 years ago (outside boston) the front desk person was such a scumbag.. wifi wasn't even a selling point at the time... but it's amazing how convenient low vacancy hotels at their discretion won't accept coupons from their local tourist mags... and want to charge full price.. that night we slept in their parking lot and moved on to a better hotel for less. these type of businesses are predators to desperate people and they sense that which can make a BIG difference on what they charge for last minute rentals. not enough to complain to the better business bureau, but close. who wants to pay $160 for 6 hours of sleep in a bed when traveling?

you'd think that the downturn in the economy and a lack of major tourism visas from outside the USA would make this a "BUYER'S" market.. but leave it to the greed from OIL companies to transform this economy into a price gouging mecca for businesses. it's probably WORSE NOW THEN BACK IN 2003!
jfmezei
Premium Member
join:2007-01-03
Pointe-Claire, QC

jfmezei

Premium Member

Trend already begun

Youth hostels in Australia now charge for wi-fi. In fact, they charge more per day that unlimited prepaid mobile service on Optus that includes both voice and data at $2/day.

Now, this is for a youth hostel with people on budgets and paying out of their own pocket.

For business hotels, they are likely to think that since a large porportion of bilsl end up being paid by some employer, they can afford to milk customers much more, so wi-fi costs may be quite high.

While an employee can't justify getting reimbursed for "hotel pool access fee" or porn movies, he is likely to be able to justify the wi-fi costs in order to let him do work, catch up on his work emails etc.
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