per the NY Times
Marriott and the hotel association say that if the FCC rules against them, some hotels might prohibit guests from checking in with Wi-Fi devices or restrict such equipment from some parts of their properties, a move that would only alienate their customers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/opinion/sunday/brazen-attempts-by-hotels-to-block-wi-fi.html
Wifi should be a basic included part of a hotel stay. There's a phone there in the room that most people don't use, wifi is basic modern communication technology and if a hotel either does not have wifi or charges extra for it, I will not book there.
As an aside, and imho, all these loyalty programs and credit card points deals only encourage this type of behavior by hotels and others in the travel business. We all pay for the "free" miles one way or another-for me it's our largest expense after wages and the cost of goods in our retail business. Don't support it! We all pay.
Marriott said today that they are not trying to block wifi devices in rooms or the lobby of a hotel. They want to block them in conference spaces only.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/05/technology/mobile/marriott-wifi/
@ dave,
when i was in Vegas late last year, the hotel i stayed at charged for wi-fi even though i didnt use it. In my opinion its another way for hotels (like bank and airlines) to boost their profits. I was warned by some fellow employees that many hotels in Vegas are doing this.
happy trails.
Well cmon, Vegas pretty much invented the "resort fee" of around $25/day that covers all kinds of unused and formerly included services "as a convenience." It's a great way to have a low rate come up on online searches; rental cars have been doing it for years.
And to the main point, if people are really putting up spoof wifi networks in hotels and airports (and apparently they do), just put up big signs on easels saying "the only legit network is named PUSSYCAT" or something to that effect.
In the United airport clubs every day they change the free wifi password and it's posted on chalkboards all around the club so only those inside the club can access it. Real Star Trek stuff.
