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75% of people say that a week without WI-FI would leave them grumpier than a week without coffee. We are seeing more and more mobile devices needing WI-FI, to the point that it is becoming essential to attract the customer. So is Wi-Fi in hospitality needed?
When was the last time you booked a hotel without Wi-Fi? Hotel Chatter found that 94% of people cite internet access as their most important amenity, yet they found that only 64% of hotels offer it free to their customers. The hospitality industry should take note, as 38% of hotel customers say that they would book elsewhere if there was no Wi-Fi available.
Wi-Fi in the Hospitality Industry
Things to bear in mind when offering Wi-Fi include:
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Is it reliable?
- People are more likely to be put off by bad Wi-Fi, rather than no WI-FI
- You must factor in capacity as more and more people are carrying more than one or two devices (e.g. Work Phone, Personal Phone, Tablets etc.)
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Is it Fast?
- Can it support multiple devices uploading photo/video as well as voice and video calls simultaneously?
- Do you have the infrastructure and bandwidth on-site to handle the extra load once you offer Wi-Fi?
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Impact on staff/operations
- When offering this speed for your clients you must also look at:
- The costs of the bandwidth
- Allocations of speed and bandwidth to staff, client and business devices
- Ensure that you are not hindering your own core operational devices and services
- Permitting and monitoring staff access to Wi-Fi during breaks/out of hours.
- When offering this speed for your clients you must also look at:
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Legal
Is your guest Wi-Fi in line with government legislations for your city or country?
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Security
Wi-Fi is an easy target.
- Are you securing your business devices?
- How are you protecting your clients?
- Is your current solution taking up valuable IT resources?
So how do you meet these requirements, while keeping your technologically inclined and demanding customers happy?
You will need a Wi-Fi solution that covers the following:
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High Quality Business Grade Hardware
- Giving software reliability
- High Speed
- Durable Hardware
- Great Security
- Regular updates for both security and legislation
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Cloud-Based Management
- Allowing control of multiple sites
- Giving easy “big picture” monitoring and alerting
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Fast and Simple Deployment
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Easy Multiple SSID Control
- Allowing bandwidth control
- Allowing Separation of Data
In planning, designing and implementing a Wi-Fi solution for clients that need to tick all of these boxes, I found a solution that handles this and much more. This allows a smooth, non-invasive deployment, leaving a Wi-Fi resolution that is robust, easy to grow and light on IT Management resources.
We had a very positive experience with Meraki (Cisco Meraki) products to deliver best-in-class Wi-Fi solutions.
Written by James Ratcliffe – Project Manager at Towerwatch Solutions LTD
- For more information on Wi-Fi or IT needs within the hospitality industry, visit our IT solutions for the hospitality sector.
- Alternatively, see why the hospitality industry needs IT management.