Analyse your business first

Finding the right system to install in your hotel first involves a quick analysis of your business. Look at the type and age of buildings you operate in because they have an influence on the ability to run cables discretely between parts of the operation where guests reside. Although Wi-Fi is short for ‘wireless' it is not quite true to say that the installation of a Wi-Fi broadband system is completely devoid of cables! Wi-Fi access points need power and are frequently cabled back to the Gateway controlling the internet access to ensure they give out the strongest possible signal. Areas with suspended ceilings are far easier to cable than period plaster ceilings for example.

We can inject broadband signals through either your 3 Phase power cables or your CAT3 Phone system cabling there are ways of enabling your whole building quickly and with little disruption to either guest or business.

 

Customer profile Business, Leisure, Government, Conference

Also it is prudent to consider the Customer experience your guests might wish to enjoy. In some cases customers may be dictated to by their employers' to use only a ‘Wired' solution due to the confidential nature of their business dealings. Government contractors, National Health suppliers, certain Financial services companies often ban their employees from using their Laptops onwireless systems.

In a leisure hotel you may wish your guests to have the freedom to access wirelessly in their bedrooms as well as the public areas so that they can sit on their bed with a laptop instead of being tied to the desk for internet access.

 

Wireless and Wired together

You can have Wireless (Wi-Fi) and Wired solutions running in your hotel either independent of each other or alongside and joined together. Many Best Western hotels already operate both together.

Security of information

Although it is often said that a Wired solution is far more secure than Wireless, this is infact much more a matter of perception than reality. Both methods can be locked down with high security, however truly effective security often adds a degree of complexity which can be to the detriment of everyday guest access systems. So it is important to establish where you need high security and the areas that perhaps need average security.

Linking Management Systems to your wireless network

You can link your own management network to a wireless network shared with your guests without compromising your own security of information. But you would deploy different Log In procedures and run the access through a separate channel to enable access to your MI system. Macdonalds the world famous fast food company utilise ANTlabs gateways throughout Asia to manage both their own Sales and Management Information as well as offer customers their Internet access – both down the same 1 megabyte internet connection at each branch.

The right Gateway is critical to enabling a smooth user experience

A Gateway controls customers' access into and out of your network. Every wireless and wired network offering access to the internet has to have a gateway.

The ANTlabs Gateway incorporates Tru'Connect technology which enables both internet and mobile devices such as Laptop PC's & PDA's to connect via both wireless & wired networks seamlessly.

The single most critical factor in running a network for public internet access in a hospitality environment such as a hotel or conference centre is to enable guests to enjoy faultless easy connections every time they log on to your network. Traditionally on most other systems the Gateway requires new users to reconfigure their device to match their settings. With Tru'connect your customers can log into your public network completely effortlessly with no reconfiguration whatsoever. ANTlabs technology has proven this in over 2,500 Hotels and Conference Centres around the world, including The Harrogate International Conference Centre and many Best Western hotels in the United Kingdom .

In these locations by choosing ANTlabs tru'connect technology new clients can get secure instant access to the network and internet with a comprehensive set of access control and authentication solutions enhancing their security and that of the hospitality provider.