WLAN in the hotel - When there is a surfing lull

Nowadays, it is common practice for hotels and restaurants to provide their guests with free Wi-Fi access. Especially abroad, guests can save on roaming charges, which can be very expensive. However, even with free Wi-Fi, there are some pitfalls that can quickly spoil the fun.

So-called captive portals can be used to provide guests with simple and secure access to the Wi-Fi network. Guests can create their own access via such a portal. All they have to do is enter a few pieces of information that were stored at the guesthouse during check-in. This can be, for example, the room number, date of birth or e-mail address. Based on this information, the guest is clearly identified and an access voucher is automatically issued. This is valid for a limited period of time and only for the duration of the stay. This ensures that only customers of the restaurant can access the WLAN.

Even if a good signal strength is achieved in every corner of the pub, this does not mean that reception is equally good everywhere, as guests are usually not evenly distributed. While it is relatively easy to plan the occupancy of rooms, it is more difficult with restaurants, leisure and conference rooms. Here, the load is not evenly distributed and especially during meals or events, there can be a high density of terminals during peak times. The signal strength is apparently good even in such a case, yet the guest wonders why no stable connection to the internet can be established. This detracts from the overall impression of the guest establishment.

The reason is often a combination of poor Signal-Rausch-Abstand and access points that are overwhelmed by the number of connection attempts from end devices. Such problematic environments should already be taken into account during the planning phase so that appropriately powerful access points can be placed in a sufficient density.

Outdoor facilities should also be taken into account, if the host establishment has them. Outdoor access points are a good choice here. For larger areas, for example, there are models with sector antennas, which allow an area to be covered without having to position the access point centrally. This not only facilitates installation, but also enables clever placement of the access points so that, ideally, they cannot be seen by guests.

If a WLAN infrastructure is already in place, a heat map can be used to visually display the actual use and utilisation of the WLAN and the access points. Based on this information, targeted infrastructure upgrades of individual locations can be planned.