On Feb 26, 2013, at 5:45 PM, Jeroen van Aart <jer...@mompl.net> wrote:

> On 02/09/2013 07:55 PM, Constantine A. Murenin wrote:
>> When you are staying at a 3* hotel, should you have no expectations
>> that you'll be getting at least a 3Mbps pipe and at least an under
>> 100ms average latency, and won't be getting a balancer that would be
>> breaking up your ssh sessions?
> 
> Correct, one should not have expectations of fast reliable internet with low 
> latency in a hotel.
> 
> For many reasons:
> 
> - internet connectivity at a hotel is just another free amenity like after 
> shyave or a hair net, be glad you can at least check your email :-)
> 

This argument fails when compared to my real world observations.

In general, my experience has been that the hotels that offer wifi as a free 
amenity have relatively uncomplicated systems, you get a password (if one is 
required at all) when you check in or when you ask for it and it just works.

In contrast, the more expensive hotels that charge have elaborate systems 
designed to make sure they can capture that revenue and that nobody gets on 
without paying. These systems are often poorly implemented, poorly managed and 
extremely prone to various forms of failure resulting in a loss of 
connectivity. The people at the other end of the phone when one calls about 
such problems tend to think nothing of rebooting WAPs, etc. in order to try and 
"shotgun" the user's problem, creating a multitude of additional failures for 
all the other users.

> - a hotel room is (should be) used for sleeping, having sex, watching the tv 
> idly, not for work (except emergencies and the likes), even when you're on a 
> work trip. Use an actual office for work.
> 

This is a rather arrogant value judgment for you to think that you have a right 
to inflict on everyone else.

> - such internet connectivity doesn't exist to begin with for the average 
> consumer in the USA
> 

I'm not sure I go quite that far, but, yes, it is not uncommon for people to 
have less than this level of connectivity in their residential environments in 
the US.

> Granted if a hotel markets itself as a business hotel in a business area it 
> should include at least half decent internet connectivity, otherwise forget 
> it and be glad you can spend some time away from the hedonistic attractions 
> of "the net".

Yet my experience has been that to a large extent, the reverse is true. I am 
more likely to get better internet connectivity from a low-budget tourist motel 
in a tourist area than from a "business hotel" in a business area.

Hilton owned properties are among the worst in this respect and my recent 
experience at the Hilton LAX has confirmed that they haven't gotten any better.


Owen


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