When it comes to Wi-Fi standards for hotels, many different types of considerations come into play when deciding when and how to upgrade the infrastructure. I worked for Marriott for over 20 years and designed the GPNS standards, and now at Nomadix, I’m focused on certification and compliance. In this article, we’ll review historically where we came from and what hotels should consider when planning over the next five years.
History of Wi-Fi Technology
Wireless technology was first introduced in 1997 and has continuously evolved into the anywhere, anytime connection we see today in hotels. The early releases (1997-2009) only supported a frequency of 2.4 GHz, and the bandwidth of these releases slowly increased, with the timeline of these releases typically in the range of 4-5 years.
In terms of supported max bandwidth, it has continued to increase from 2 Mbps in the initial release to 46 Gbps in the latest release. However, since Wi-Fi is half duplex, meaning that you cannot transmit and receive at the same time, the maximum bandwidth is generally not achievable by a client. Also, greater Wi-Fi coverage (i.e., distance from an access point) can be achieved at the lower 2.4 GHz frequencies but at lower bandwidth; alternatively, less coverage is achieved at the higher frequencies but at higher bandwidth.
Wi-Fi Standards for Hotels
In terms of the deployment of Wi-Fi in hotels, most properties prior to 1997 utilized Ethernet connectivity to provide guests with access to the hotel networks. Once the early releases of the Wi-Fi standard began, vendors began working on solutions, though it typically takes up to two years to develop a complement of products that supports the latest standard. Even though Wi-Fi was being deployed in hotels, applications had not yet been developed that required higher bandwidth, so the demand to utilize Wi-Fi was only beginning for guests. Once Wi-Fi became a guest requirement (around 2019), most hoteliers no longer supported wired Ethernet connections.
What’s the Challenge for Hotels?
Since Wi-Fi requires a distribution system for network connections between the access points and a switch infrastructure, the switch infrastructure may need an upgrade to support the higher bandwidth of the newer Wi-Fi standards for hotels. Unfortunately, hotels may not have the budget to upgrade the switches for the entire hotel, and since the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of an average network switch is 14 to 50 years, the hotel may use this as a reason not to upgrade the switch infrastructure.
Due to the increased maximum bandwidth supported on new Access Points (AP), the deployment of a new Wi-Fi standard may require switches that have higher bandwidth. However, if the hotel has not increased the WAN bandwidth to support the higher wireless bandwidth, it would not make sense to upgrade the switches since the higher bandwidth could not be achieved.
In terms of current guest access to the internet, guests are currently requiring a hotel to have sufficient Wi-Fi bandwidth and coverage to support both their business and personal access to the internet. The bandwidth required by guests continues to increase as more applications are ported to the cloud, as well as guest use of streaming video content.
Hotel Network Deployment Implications
What are the implications for hotel network deployments based on bandwidth requirements? Unlike a guest replacing one or more APs in their homes, hotels require the deployment of considerably more APs and switches that would need to be replaced as part of a Wi-Fi upgrade. In addition, upgrading the network may also require cabling upgrades, which adds additional cost to the overall upgrade.
Also, switches that support higher bandwidth may require additional cooling of the telco closet, adding additional cost to the hotel. Since it typically takes two plus years for a vendor to have a complement of products that support a new standard, it would make sense that a hotel would not have to replace the whole Wi-Fi infrastructure for at least five years (from the installation date of the last Wi-Fi standard APs).
Cost Effective Strategies for Upgrades
To address the above concerns, I would like to share a recommended strategy for a cost-effective deployment of a hotel network. Since public and meeting space will require higher bandwidth than guestrooms, it would make sense for a hotel to upgrade the hotel network in the following stages:
- If a hotel decides to upgrade to a new Wi-Fi version or upgrade WAN bandwidth, only upgrade access points in public and meeting space as a first upgrade.
- If the newly deployed standard does provide higher bandwidth, also upgrade the switches that connect to the new Wi-Fi standard APs. Decommission the switches and save as spares for replacement of failed switches.
- Upgrade the guestrooms’ Wi-Fi access points in the following year.
- Since the bandwidth required by the guestrooms may be less than public or meeting space, it may make sense to delay the deployment of new switches that support these APs until the following year.
- Since more IoT-based technology and devices requiring Internet access (e.g. IP TVs) are being deployed in guestrooms, it is recommended that the hotel deploys wall plate APs in the guestrooms.
Do you have specific questions to align to the latest Wi-Fi standards for hotels? You can learn more about our Nomadix Networks infrastructure on our website or book a meeting with us.