Wireless Internet is changing the way business gets done in the hotel industry. There's a tremendous demand for wireless access - for overnight guests and even for conferences and trade shows. It's not just for email and Web surfing anymore. Video streaming, audio streaming and voice-over-IP are all competing for the same Internet pipe. This is compounded by the growing trend for trade shows and conferences to offer high-speed wireless data service to their attendees, which can slow Internet traffic to a crawl. This demand means opportunities for new revenue streams. Wireless has also created new ways for hotels to connect with their guests to generate loyalty. READ MORE

In today’s ever increasing ‘digital age’ the importance of providing a quality High Speed Internet Access system for your guests is more important than ever. The recent huge increase in mobile wi-fi devices has just added a new dimension to the problem. And yet to many hotels this service is seen as cumbersome, expensive non-revenue generating and does not rank highly at senior management level when increasing guest satisfaction is being discussed. This article examines some of the issues facing the hotelier today and suggests a few ways to overcome the problems. READ MORE

Much to the chagrin of property owners, free WiFi has become a guest expectation rather than a perk. Since the free WiFi model was introduced, hotel operators have faced the rapid adoption of bandwidth-hungry mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Not only do guests expect free WiFi, but they also expect ease of use and constant connectivity, similar to what they experience at home. What was once a means to improve satisfaction and engender loyalty, free WiFi that underperforms can actually have the opposite effect, causing dissatisfaction and frustration with a property that doesn’t provide a positive experience. READ MORE

As mentioned in a previous article, prior to the birth of IOS (Apple’s operating system), truthfully, we only scratched the surface and played around with implementing Wi-Fi in Hotels. But now, four years later with millions and millions of IOS devices in the hands of millions and millions of our loving guests, this has become the most disruptive of technologies in the modern era. That along with the creation of the smartphone and its Big Brother - the TAB – where there are sales predictions of 153 million units next year, and climbing to 232 million by 2016. This has set loose a tsunami of unparalleled demand - for a strangely invisible service! No wonder CIO’s call Wi-Fi a four-letter word. For the sake of repeating myself, today’s Hotel Wi-Fi network (and more critically tomorrow’s) is one of the principal areas in which your hotel will be judged. READ MORE