Posts Tagged ‘hotel wireless’

Capacity and Growth

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Went to a party on Saturday night. The conversations ranged from the World Cup, LeBron James, and when’s dinner. As dinner became delayed the Apple devices came out. iPhones 3G, 4G, and iTouch. (I left my iPad at home). I became impressed with a friends tech savvy son “RC” and his knowledge using his iTouch.

RC – A student in junior high – budgeted his hard earned savings and purchased an iTouch. (with some help from the bank of DAD). It goes without saying that RC is a very bright boy who schooled me on the latest game apps. Now I am hooked on Flight Control and Angry Birds. High five buddy!!… or should I say fist bump?  

The evening reminded me that when we design, install a WiFi network, (or any network infrastructure) we must take into account future capacity and room for expansion. With capacity for future mobile devices, with more apps and more users. Network design must choose applications and hardware that will allow the network to grow.

Quick example: Wireless systems that utilize the 5 GHz band (802.11a) for the wireless mesh backhaul. A significant advantage, since the 2.4 GHz band is heavily used to the point of being crowded.

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it”.  Margaret Fuller

WDC iPhone4 WiFi fail

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (iPhone4) on Monday June 7, CEO Steve Jobs had an embarrassing onstage moment. He lost his WiFi connection during his presentation as he tried to demo the difference between an iPhone 3Gs and the new iPhone 4. The download failed and his demo crashed on the new iPhone 4 because he couldn’t maintain a solid WiFi connection.

Apple was using the Moscone Center WiFi network but these issues could have been prevented by setting up a quality WiFi network.

The presentation could have been much more impressive with Steve Jobs opening the web browser on the iPhone4, logging into the wireless controller* and disabling all active wifi users and announcing “now that I have your attention let’s continue with the demonstration.” (Thus maintaining his demigod status). No flops, no downtime, no issues, in fact this blog would not need to have been written.

*From a web browser a wireless controller can manage all the access points, the connected users, per user (device) bandwidth usage, multiple SSID’s. There are several features and options that would have allowed for complete control of the wireless network.

About SF WiFi:

SF WiFi specializes in Hotel and Business WiFi solutions. Our design solutions provide seamless wireless to clients of small offices and large projects including 18 story hotels. Wireless issues after an installation are very rare which allow for high TripAdvisor rankings for our hotel clients.

SF WiFi guarantees wireless uptime and full signal coverage with our 30 day free installation guarantee.

WiFi while traveling

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Sitting at the Honolulu airport and traveling back to the mainland a co-worker used her iPad to access the web, email, and of course Yelp to find the best stores for shopping while on the stop over. Used the Japan Airlines wireless. Very good setup. No issues, No portal, easy streaming. Great job JAL.  Many people interested in looking in at the iPad.

USPH – San Francisco

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Great new web site at the Union Square Plaza Hotel !! Designed by Shaw Web Designs. New look with the blog, language translator, weather and updated services.

 http://www.usphotel.com/

Shaw Web Design and SF WiFi have now teamed up on many projects offering clients, web design, network installations and IT support.

Wireless network installation at the Union Square Plaza Hotel provided by SF WiFi. In most hotels, the main concerns in designing a wireless solution are wireless signal coverage, network user capacity, user applications and of course budget. SF WiFi specializes in hospitality wireless solutions by installing faster, more reliable Wi-Fi services at a lower overall cost of ownership. SF WiFi designs, installs, and continues to support the wireless networks that keeps guests happy and satisfied. A number one complaint of hotel guests is the lack of available and dependable Wi-Fi coverage. Wi-Fi has become an essential element and a major draw within the hospitality industry.

Hospitality Wireless Solutions

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Whether providing the traveler a comfortable room, television entertainment, or continental breakfast, our clients consider great hospitality is paramount. Our most recent client, The Majestic Hotel of San Francisco, offers the gracious traditions of yesteryear and today. They realized one of the essentials of the modern traveler is having seamless, reliable, and secure access to the Internet but with the present down economy the hotelier required a wireless solution which didn’t exceed their budget.The Majestic Hotel contacted us about installing a more powerful and efficient wireless network than their existing system. They had been using Hotspotzz as a wireless solution but coverage was lacking in signal strength among other issues. As a result, guests’ computers were constantly dropping off the Internet. This was causing the hotel to lose revenue so they contacted SF WiFi to propose a guest wireless network solution for their 33,000 square foot property and we were awarded the project.

Case study and more to come.

Free Hotel WiFi – it is becoming the standard

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Good Blog, we have to agree. the trend is free hotel WiFi. It is a basic utility - and expected to be free.

http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-it-time-for-a-free-the-wi-fi-campaign-for-hotel-guests/