MuniWireless

The New York Times looks into hotels, airports and other venues that offer their guests free and paid Wi-Fi. Many hotels require guests to pay for Wi-Fi in their rooms but offer free service in the lobby. Others like the Denver Airport moved to a free, ad-supported model. But McCarran airport in Las Vegas has always provided Wi-Fi service free of charge because the revenue from user fees was too small to justify charging for access and the airport felt that requiring passengers to pay, when they are pressed for time, deters them from using the network.

What the Times does not mention is that in so many hotels, there is not enough bandwidth to serve the guests’ needs, even if they pay. Andy Abramson (VoiPWatch) writes: Free service gave me 300 k down, and 150 k up. That’s not really broadband. The paid service is giving me between 330k and 500k down and between 150 and 500 k up over a series of tests.

Another thing that the Times fails to address is the cumbersome login procedures that many venues require, whether or not you are paying for the service.