....Keith Pierce, president and CEO of Parsippany, N.J.-based Wingate Inns International Inc. says he has enlisted free Wi-Fi as his newest weapon in a technology arms race to attract budget-minded business travelers. Pierce says Wingate, a division of travel conglomerate Cendant Corp., started offering free wired Internet access four years ago as part of an all-inclusive room rate that also included free local phone calls and free use of on-premises business centers.
Now that competitors have started to offer free wired Internet service, Pierce has raised the ante by rolling out free Wi-Fi throughout the chain, with all 100-plus properties expected to offer the service by the start of next year.
....Apple Core Hotels Inc., a New York-based operator of six budget hotels in mid-Manhattan that cater to business travelers, knew it needed to offer free Internet access for competitive reasons, says Vijay Dandapani, the company's chief operating officer. Dandapani says Apple Core chose Wi-Fi instead of Ethernet because it was far easier and cheaper to install in the company's hotels, which are rehabilitated buildings that are all at least 100 years old.
Installing Ethernet connections would have required drilling into walls and "making a mess" of wallpaper and carpet, Dandapani says. Installation of the Wi-Fi service went quickly, he adds, taking about six weeks per property.
....Beachfront Hawaii might be the last place you'd expect to find a Wi-Fi hot spot, but Waimea Plantation Cottages on the island of Kauai operates what's probably the westernmost Wi-Fi service the U.S., free or paid. It's five miles from the end of a dead-end road on Kauai's western shore.
Liz Hahn, a spokeswoman for Kikiaoloa Land Co. in Waimea, Hawaii, which operates the cottages, says the company decided to offer free Wi-Fi as a perk to guests to enhance their vacation experience. "People can get up in the morning, check their e-mail and then spend the rest of day relaxing," Hahn says. Okay, now you've gone too far. I take that back, we have taken laptops to Hawaii and checked our email, BUT NOT EVERYDAY.
Article comments
1 - Mac Diva
Eric, I've been involved with the personal.telco.net, the free Wi-Fi provider in Portland, for a while, but the problems never seem to end. PTN lost its major access point, in the heart of downtown, for months, when the business providing the location relocated to another state. Prior to that, there had been a conflict with the Starbucks at Pioneer Courthouse Square that shut out PTN's signal. Starbucks agreed to change channels, but I still have problems accessing PTN in that area. Many of the access points the free service offers are not real. Some were planned, but never activated. Others once existed, but don't anymore. The ones closest to my home are too weak in signal strength to be of any use. Too many areas don't have any access points at all.
The result of all this is that my T-Mobile WiFi account is now in its second year. As much as I like the idea of free Wi-Fi, I haven't found it workable.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone who is having a good experience with free Wi-Fi in his or her city.
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks, very important information