hotel and hospitality wifi news
Posts tagged wireless
Liveport expands service to the UK
Liveport just keeps growing! In North America, we surged past 350 hotels in early 2012 and then expanded into Australia, which is already proving to be a great success. We have now taken the decision to open up in the UK as well, offering the same great product, service and price (in pounds, that is).
We’ll be officially launching in the UK on October 1st and we will be attending the Independent Hotel Exhibition in London on the 16th and 17th. If you can’t wait until October, we’d be more than pleased to hear from you if you’d like more info on how we can provide wireless in your hotel, fully supported 24/7/365 all for the great price of just £2.99 per room, per month. Visit Liveport UK here.
Thanks for helping to make Liveport a continued success!
Hotels feeling effects of iPad on guest WiFi networks
11 years ago
by liveport
in Hotel WiFi Stories
The New York Times has an interesting piece on how iPads are changing the economics and speed of hotel WiFi.
Here’s one excerpt: “Largely because of the broad use of iPads and other mobile tablets, which are heavy users of video streaming, the guest room Wi-Fi networks that most hotels thought they had brought up to standard just a few years ago are now often groaning under user demands. ”
The piece points out that the demand for streaming video often surpasses the hotel’s ability to provide it for free. The writer feels there will be a move to a tiered system, where basic access for checking email and browsing the web will be free, but users will have to pay for higher bandwidth required to watch videos.
It is estimated that 10 to 15 percent of hotels in the United States now offered at least some kind of Wi-Fi service with fees for higher use.
How is your network coping? Have you made upgrades in the last few years, only to find yourself falling short of guest demands again? Liveport’s all-inclusive pricing model might be the solution. Liveport includes equipment refreshes for life, eliminating the need to pay for expensive and frequent upgrades. We also have the ability to provide the tiered networks discussed in the article, and our mesh-node technology is perfect for mobile devices like tablets and smart phones. Ask us how we can help or visit http://www.liveport.com.
Why wireless Internet is the #1 hotel amenity you can offer
12 years ago
by liveport
in Tips and Advice
Your guests expect a lot. But what’s at the top of their list? It’s not free parking or pillow-top mattresses. It’s not even free breakfast. It’s wireless Internet–and it better be good.
“Whether it is to connect a mobile device or iPad to Wi-Fi or to connect a laptop to access work files or to download a television show or a movie, guests indicate their most important hotel amenity is wireless Internet access,” said an article at Hotels News Now.
The article was based on the findings of a study of more than 53,000 hotel guests released this fall by J.D. Power and Associates. Across the industry, wireless Internet access was rated as the #1 most important amenity. Take a look:
But, the study notes, it’s not enough to simply install an off-the-shelf or home-made system. Guests are increasingly unhappy with weak connections and poor speeds.
“Where we have seen brands get into trouble in the study, however, is where they are not providing a quality Internet connection and one which is widely available throughout the property,” noted the article.
The study also noted that offering free wireless Internet has a positive effect on guest satisfaction. But keeping up with guest demands can be costly. Most big-brand hotels are spending $15 to $20 thousand for an average 100-room hotel to upgrade their properties.
But there’s an easier, more affordable system that’s just as effective–if not more.
For example, Liveport provides an all-inclusive service that provides equipment, installation and 24/7 support for $2 per room, per month. For that rate, you also get upgrades to new technology as it becomes available, and you’re protected against equipment loss, damage and theft.
“We’re looking to partner with hotels and be their long-term wireless provider,” said Ryan Detwiller of Liveport. “But we do that by continuing to provide great service year after year, and pushing technology to stay one step ahead of guest demands. There are no long-term contracts and no hidden fees–ever.”
You can read the full article on the J.D. Power and Associates findings at Hotel News Now by clicking here.