Why is wifi so expensive in hotels?

msmyth18

I used to work in a hotel ...

Business people need the internet at their convenience to get their work done!

Hotels have you cornered and can therefore charge you a fortune- Your not going to turn around to your boss and say Sorry i could file that report/send that email i wasnt prepared to pay the massive price for the internet!

Get a dongle as previously mentioned!

RFW

It's fairly shortsighted of the hotels to charge. They could provide a free service and earn from advertising on the log on page. Given the way the internet works they could earn far more from affiliate links and advertising on that page than they do from the internet charges.

Also they lose out on customers as I (and lots of others) very rarely choose a hotel that charges for WiFi.

It is the additional needless charges that large companies charge that decreases their repeat business and blogs, tweets and sites like this will hopefully see that fall away over time (I know I'm very green:o)

withabix

RFW, you are missing the point.

Hotel chains aren't bothered about guests who pay their own bills, who normally stay on weekends and on on special offer deals.

Most customers aren't paying their own bills or are on corporate deals (which often include breakfast and wifi), which is why they charge a lot for wifi, meals, drinks, room service and everything else.

woody01

usignuolo wrote: »

My OH is away at present, on a business trip, on his own account. He is struggling to find any sort of wifi at any reasonable price. The local Hilton where he is giving a talk, (but not staying as it is outside his budget) charges a minimum of £15 per day for connection to their wifi network. Another guest told him it is locked into a contract with a firm called Ibahn who provide network access for hotels and large restaurants.

So I accept there is an installation and maintenance cost, but a minimum charge of £15 per day for every guest who wants to log in and check their email? This is just blatant profiteering, like hotel phone calls used to be. Apparently Offcom or Oftelwhatever it is called, refuses to get involved saying it is a "nascent" sector.

Anyone on the inside know how much the likes of ibahn charge to server up a hotel for wifi and how much profit the hotel makes on Hilton type charges - which are by no means uncommon?

I travel around Europe and the Americas alot on business, and i can honestly say that £15 a day is actually very cheap.

I was in a hotel in Germany last week and the Wifi was 8euros per hour.

As for using a dongle:
1. Very expensive abroad, whether the company is paying or not
2. There are security issues with Wifi dongles that i cannot risk due to the nature of the business im in

As a company, we do use iPass though which i often use (though slow)

charlea

i use my mobile phone as a modem for my lap top

it works fine and cost me nothing as i have free internet included in my phone allowance so i dont get charged for this with tmobile but def check as some provider will charge but if they dont then its def worth it

if your husband has a phone that includes internet access then its worth trying
all you need is the usb cable that you came with the phone to plug into the laptop
you may have to download the phones software ie for blackberry its blackberry desktop if its nokia then its nokia pc suite and then just click on use phone as a modem ect
For surfing the web sending emails ect its fine and i spent hours on it over the weekend when stuck in hotel cardiff

p00hsticks

It depends on the type of hotel of course, but personally, I expect a clean comfortable room, basic TV, kettle, good en-suite facilities and plenty of hot water as a matter of course. But items such as breakfast, wifi, TV movies etc I'd prefer only to pay for if I want them, rather than subsidise other guests by having to pay for facilties I have no intention of using as part of the basic price of the room.