CLIENT: Can you test the hotel’s WiFi connection so we know if our application will work on the day of the meeting?
ET: We can, except testing is sort of pointless.
The hotel says they’ve got a 100MB broadband link that can adequately handle the client’s application but the connection is not an isolated line and the bandwidth they need is not guaranteed. A hotel’s WiFi is shared with hundreds of guest rooms and there is no way to predict or control how those other guests will use the service at any moment. Usage patterns aren’t consistent and any time traffic increases and network congestion grows, there is a risk that link quality will be compromised.
Do you know how many guest rooms and meetings are booked on the day of your event? Even if you could predict accurately, the risks stem not only from the other hotel guests, but from every other user in a city that shares public network infrastructure. Remember, to the ISP you are not special or a priority, you’re just one of millions of users. What if there are attacks on the network? If there is a problem, how quickly can the ISP or hotel’s support staff resolve the problem, considering their many simultaneous obligations other than just your event? By the time a problem is noticed during the event, it is to late to take corrective action.
The bottom line is, there is no way to test the hotel’s WiFi for your event because we can’t replicate the conditions. There are too many variables that are out of our control.
When WiFi performance is critical to your event, there is no better way to add certainty and guarantee success than to install a dedicated, isolated line which was engineered end to end to deliver low latency and the capacity required with plenty of headroom to spare.
Event Tech partners with experienced broadband providers that specialize in meetings and events. We help clients determine their needs, fit the budget, and create a plan to make it happen – relieving them of the burden of the technical details.
Inspiration for this article came from a conversation with Tom DeReggi of Rapid Broadband, Inc.
