Hotels might have to consider offering tiered fees for better wifi service
Hotel wifi has never been the best internet connection for many people, but it might actually have gotten worse recently. The New York Times reports an increasing number of complaints about hotel wifi so slow you can compare it to dial-up connections of old. The culprit, according to hotel and meeting industries information provider?iBAHN, is Apple's iPad.
More people now carry multiple mobile devices on the road, and the iPad in particular is used for bandwidth-heavy tasks like streaming videos due to its relatively large screen real estate. "The bits used for video streaming and downloading increased thirtyfold on our network in one year," says iBAHN chief executive David W. Garrison. In that regard, you can say that tablets of similar size share the responsibility of clogging up hotel wifi connections. But since the iPad accounts for a massive 97% of tablet-based web traffic, it's getting all the blame.
The growth in hotel internet bandwidth demand compels owners to rethink their wifi services. Studies conducted on the subject for iBAHN all result in the same thing ? free wifi is essential when choosing hotels to stay in. But as the quality of internet connection matters as well, hoteliers now have to choose between continuing to offer free but crappy wifi or introducing a tiered fee system.
A tiered system retains a free wifi option, although it comes with limited capabilities. Only those who are willing to pony up some cash for premium connectivity during their stay can get the best coverage possible. Yes, it will hurt your wallet, but if fast internet connection on the road is essential for higher productivity, then perhaps setting aside some cash for the best hotel wifi connection is worth it.
NY Times via TUAW
This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca
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