Five Steps to Get a Five-star Rating for Your Hotel WiFi

Numerous hotel customer satisfaction surveys agree: WiFi availability and performance are important to guests. More than any other amenity offered, WiFi is now a baseline expectation of guests that drives the consumer ratings and repeat patronage of both business and leisure travelers.

1/ MEASURE AND MONITOR FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE

You may have used conservative guidelines on WiFi AP density when deploying your wireless network, but nothing beats actually measuring performance. Check real-world bandwidth by running Speedtest from each room, use free applications like Netspot to assess signal strength, and keep an eye on overall bandwidth usage – if it approaches or exceeds your Internet Service Provider (ISP) plan limits, consider upgrading to the next tier of service.

2/ ENSURE UBIQUITOUS COVERAGE

Guests expect coverage throughout the property – including the gym and lobby. It can be challenging to provide adequate service to areas where large numbers of guests may converge for brief periods. This makes it even more important to deploy enterprise-quality WiFi access points (AP) that can handle high user density.

3/ PROVIDE A FREE ACCESS TIER

Free WiFi access for all guests should be standard. Offering additional tiers of premium, unlimited bandwidth for purchase or to members of a loyalty program can augment access, but even luxury hotel chains avoid charging guests for at least basic service.

4/ PAIN-FREE CONNECTIVITY

Enabling guests to connect to your WiFi by providing an open network available to anyone within range is a simple, easy model that’s gaining traction with many hotel chains. However, when regulations or other obstacles make open networks unsuitable, configuring a user-friendly guest WiFi portal maintains customers’ access. Simply supply login details when guests check in.

5/ CONNECT ALL DEVICES

Today’s guests use multiple Internet-dependent devices – a phone with WhatsApp videos pending, a laptop with email presentations for work, or a Kindle to download in-flight e-books. So if your guest portal only allows one device per guest, it’s time for an upgrade.

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