1. Wi-Fi – Need or Must? (Luxury or Necessity in Hospitality ?)
75% of people say thata weekwithoutWI-FIwouldleavethemgrumpierthanaweekwithout
coffee.We are seeingmore andmore mobile devices needing WI-FI,tothe pointthatit isbecoming
an essential to attractthe customer.
Whenwas the lasttime youbookeda hotel withoutWi-Fi?Hotel Chatterfoundthat94% of people
cite internetaccess astheirmost importantamenity,yettheyfoundthatonly64% of hotelsofferit
free totheircustomers. The hospitalityindustryshouldtake note,as38% of hotel customerssay
that theywouldbookelsewhere if there wasnoWi-Fi available.
Thingsto bearin mind whenofferingWi-Fi include:
1. Is it reliable?
o People are more likely tobe putoff by bad Wi-Fi,ratherthanno WI-FI
o You mustfactor in capacity as more and more people are carryingmore than one or
twodevices (e.g.WorkPhone,PersonalPhone,Tabletsetc.)
2. Is it Fast?
o Can itsupportmultiple devices uploadingphoto/videoaswell asvoice andvideo
callssimultaneously?
o Do youhave the infrastructure andbandwidth on-sitetohandle the extraloadonce
youofferWi-Fi?
3. Impact on staff/operations
o Whenofferingthisspeedforyourclientsyoumust alsolookat:
 The costs of the bandwidth
 Allocationsof speedandbandwidth tostaff,clientandbusinessdevices
 Ensure that youare not hinderingyourown core operational devicesand
services
o Permittingandmonitoringstaff accesstoWi-Fi duringbreaks/outof hours.
4. Legal – is yourguestWi-Fi inline withgovernmentlegislationsforyourcityor country?
5. Security – Wi-Fi isan easytarget.
o Are you securingyourbusinessdevices?
o How are you protecting yourclients?
o Is yourcurrent solutiontakingupvaluableITresources?
So howdo youmeetthese requirements,while keepingyourtechnologicallyinclinedand
demandingcustomershappy?
You will needaWi-Fi solutionthatcoversthe following:
1. HighQualityBusinessGrade Hardware
a. Givingsoftware reliability
b. HighSpeed
c. Durable Hardware
d. Great Security
e. Regularupdatesforbothsecurityandlegislation
2. Cloud-BasedManagement
a. Allowingcontrol of multiplesites
b. Givingeasy“bigpicture”monitoringandalerting
3. Fast and Simple Deployment

2. 4. Easy Multiple SSIDControl
a. Allowingbandwidthcontrol
b. AllowingSeparationof Data
In planning,designingand implementingaWi-Fi solution forclients thatneedtotickall of these
boxes,I founda solutionthathandlesthisandmuchmore.Thisallowsa smooth,non-invasive
deployment, leavingaWi-Fi resolution thatisrobust,easyto grow and lightonIT Management
resources.
Resources – notfor to be postedto the site
*Hotel Chatter-
http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2013/4/27/12444/1162/hotels/The_2013_HotelChatter_Hotel_
WiFi_Report
**(BestStatisticof 2014 from http://purple.ai/best-Wi-Fi-statistics-2014/)