Internet access for meetings and events has become something of a headache for planners. With attendees increasingly pulling out their smartphones, laptops, and iPads during sessions, access in the meeting room is a requirement. But the need doesn’t stop there. Attendees have come to expect complimentary high-speed access in their rooms, at meals, and even at the gym. The task of assessing your data needs and negotiating a fair price is daunting, at best.
Here’s what the experts in Internet access for meetings and events recommend to take some of the guesswork out of the process.
Site Inspection Questions
The site inspection is a planner’s best opportunity to put a property’s Internet setup through its paces — and ask the tough questions. Pete Nava of Nava Associates, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based meetings and events consultancy specializing in technology, advises asking first what type of service comes in the building.
“The answers to expect are DSL, ADLS, satellite, T1, or T3,” says Nava. “Each one of these will give an indication of the bandwidth available. As the landscape of Internet access providers flourishes with new technologies like cellular, 3G, 4G, and WiMAX point-to-point satellite, it is getting increasingly hard for hotels to demand as high a rack rate as two or three years back.”
Fiber-optic connections like T1 and T3 lines are generally faster than cable, satellite, or phone connections, but what matters more is how data access is handled, rather than just how it’s wired into the building. Ask about individual access points that cover your meeting space to see if the service the property offers meets your needs. “The general rule I follow is 20 to 30 clients per non-commercial access point, and 40 to 60 for higher-end commercial
access points,” says Nava.
Steve LaManna, director of national accounts for eTech Events, a meetings consultancy specializing in event technology and digital signage with offices in Orlando and San Francisco, agrees that access points are mission-critical.
“Remember the Steve Jobs presentation where he asked everyone to turn off their phones and access points? There is a physical capacity for Wi-Fi within a room and a maximum number of users — you just can’t see it,” notes LaManna. “In the early ’90s, we used to have the same issues with phone lines, when people would dial out all at once and tie up a hotel’s phone system.”
La Manna also sees on-site service as a key factor. He suggests asking if the property has an expert on staff and, if so, what the expected response time is for issues that arise.
“Most venue providers have a centralized support model with the ‘experts’ potentially many time zones away,” LaManna says. “Also, many venues do not have staff skilled at handling complex connectivity issues. Even venues that claim these services frequently have freelancers, or sub-contracted [personnel] who are provided only to troubleshoot, not plan in advance.”
And finally, put the property’s Internet setup through its paces during the site inspection. “We test the advertised bandwidth by going to one of the many speed test sites like Speakeasy.net with a simple laptop,” says Nava. “We test both the Wi-Fi access and the hardline ports.”
The Problem With ‘Free’ Wi-Fi
Cost is the number-one complaint Nava receives from clients, and no wonder. “Free” Wi-Fi is a tempting perk, but what are you really getting?
“Free insinuates that someone else is paying for it,” says LaManna. “There are many problems with this model. First is that due to the surge in the use of tablets, smartphones, and laptops, bandwidth needs are increasing at an enormous rate, year-over-year.”
He points out that the equipment necessary to support a property’s Internet infrastructure is expensive and has a three- to five-year life cycle, and that an experienced IT staff is very expensive as well. “This is assumed to be a utility similar to electricity, but we’re still in the infancy of the Internet’s development. It will continue to change and adapt over the foreseeable future.”
A small meeting usually can be accommodated with free Wi-Fi, but larger groups will need to dig deeper into their pockets. “We have run into many situations where the free Wi-Fi sounded good but was not up to par in the end,” says Nava. “These instances were due to an increased on-site demand on bandwidth versus what the system could handle. For example, even though access points can [theoretically] remember more than 2,000 clients and actively handle up to 255 clients, [in practice] 255 is too large of a number for smooth traffic flow.”
But don’t dismiss free Wi-Fi offhand for larger events; it can be a good jumping-off point for planners. “In the case of just not enough access points, getting a few hardline drops and adding temporary Wi-Fi routers may help,” says Nava. “If the issue is at the trunk service, bringing in an external vendor to provide a temporary, wireless, high-capacity solution may be an option. This would have to be a completely independent solution that does not require access to the facility’s infrastructure. Another alternative is 4G service via a WiMAX vendor like Service Point.”
Security Concerns
Another factor to consider is security; free Wi-Fi can be accessed by virtually anyone.
“Security on most public networks is almost nonexistent,” notes Nava. “The best protection is to make sure computers connected to public networks have security measures that are active and running up-to-date anti-virus software.”
LaManna adds that “Wi-Fi is inherently not secure and generally a free public spectrum for anyone to use as they wish. Many issues we see at events are related to attendees or exhibitors inadvertently setting up their own wireless access points. Users can very easily be confused and connect to a rogue Wi-Fi service where it would be possible to observe the traffic originating from your device or infect your machine with a virus.
“You need to make sure whomever is managing this for you has the capability of overlaying security, particularly for sensitive information,” he continues. “Most venues have no guarantee or capability to do this. You are just getting raw bandwidth with no protection whatsoever.”
Dollars and Sense
Once you’ve determined your data needs — and that your venue can meet them — it’s time to get down to brass tacks. “Negotiation and evaluation of the venue’s capabilities must be done during the site visit, and prior to signature,” says LaManna. “You can no more negotiate this later than you can the room rate.”
He advises fixing a price for basic bandwidth and then letting a vendor manage from there. If you don’t have an outside vendor, you can still benefit from some tricks of the trade.
“The most common mistake we see is over-purchasing bandwidth and excessive charges for cabling and network equipment,” says LaManna. “Charges for these services are the last great Wild, Wild West of the meetings industry. You have to be careful.”