This week we talk about the sudden, and potentially experimental, introduction of free wireless internet at various Walt Disney World resorts! At long last, there was much rejoicing.
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I just wanted to comment that I work at a high end hotel and the issue of wifi is huge. We have a contract with a company that provides so-so service, but we early on signed a long term contract with our wired server. The other thing I’ve found in my travels is that the higher end the hotel is the more things you are expected to pay for. For example you get a free breakfast buffet, free parking and free in room internet access at a 2 star hotel, but at a 4 star hotel you pay $19 for the breakfast buffet, $30 for valet parking a night, and $10 a night for in room internet access. I believe the thinking in the hotel world is that if you can afford to stay at a high end hotel you can also afford to pay more for the extras.
I actually work for a major cable communication company and I have to I can imagine the nightmare it could possible be for them to install and maintain a WI-FI network. Depending on what type of infrastructure is already in place, install could be difficult. I know that the internet service they use is maintained by them and not a third party (Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner), so it would be determined by their infrastructure the amount of time and money required.
I was surprised that no one on the show mentioned 4g. I have both a Bionic and a 4g Samsung Mifi card which both work perfectly in WDW. I spent last week at the Boardwalk and tried the free wifi and found that both the 4g Bionic and the 4g mifi card were many times faster than free wifi provided. I really enjoy the podcast but am surprised that a Disney podcast about technology only discussed Apple products which of course are limited to 3g speeds which is now completely outdated.
I work for a Wi-Fi access provider and think that free Wi-Fi often is used as a copout to provide poor service. As mentioned on show, there are significant costs for setting up a Wi-Fi network. However, it was mentioned that the cost of providing the monthly access was flat. That is not necessarily the case as the cost varies by throughput requirements. Free Wi-Fi is often an excuse for the hotel to purchase minimal throughput to keep their cost low which means everyone who logs in a peak times has a poor experience. Try streaming or a VoIP call during that time, likely will not work. I think what we will see is hotels moving to a free but slow experience, but also offer a premium model that will offer an SLA with certain expectations set for throughput. Would not be surprised to see Disney do this.
Also, why just the deluxe resorts. Don’t forget Disney does a fair amount of convention business and those travelers may base their hotel choice based on Wi-Fi availability.
The last comment about 4G, good point but don’t forget that 4G networks will not be immune to congestion concerns even if their capacity is much higher than 3G. Some of the 4G providers are not in a hurry to pressure Apple to offer a 4G iPhone because they know their networks will start to get congested with the traffic. Many of the 4G providers are investing in Wi-Fi, and encouraging high traffic facilities to invest in Wi-Fi in order to have a nice avenue to offload that traffic to. Don’t be surprised if some of the major carriers is working with Disney to build up their Wi-Fi infrastructure to offload 3G and 4G traffic to Wi-Fi in a high density traffic area.
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