Comments on: Wi-Fi at Conferences http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/ Damn that gravity : ramblings from a communications specialist, business person and scouter Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:58:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Free Wifi Hotspots http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/#comment-735 Free Wifi Hotspots Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:29:41 +0000 http://russellmcquillan.com/?p=206#comment-735 Hey, that's some saucy information you got there. I subscribed to your feed, hope to hear more soon! Hey, that’s some saucy information you got there. I subscribed to your feed, hope to hear more soon!

]]> By: Andrew Gribben http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/#comment-77 Andrew Gribben Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:42:43 +0000 http://russellmcquillan.com/?p=206#comment-77 You bring up a good point there, "as a favour" a lot of smaller conferences have someone like Matt trying to help out and end up getting the flak when something doesn't work out. I appreciate the time people put in for these events and although I want my wifi as much as the next person, I hope to never reach the point where it is expected or complain when someone has volunteered to do it off their own bat. You bring up a good point there, “as a favour” a lot of smaller conferences have someone like Matt trying to help out and end up getting the flak when something doesn’t work out. I appreciate the time people put in for these events and although I want my wifi as much as the next person, I hope to never reach the point where it is expected or complain when someone has volunteered to do it off their own bat.

]]> By: wiseguyrussell http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/#comment-72 wiseguyrussell Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:59:00 +0000 http://russellmcquillan.com/?p=206#comment-72 Evert : I never said 'Free was bad' as long as people realise that someone has to pay for it and nothing is for nothing, as you say yourself its just paid for in a different way 'This can be done without directly charging the user. It would make more sense to recoup the costs via a minimal increase in the charges for their other products or services.' Andrew, Hotel charging should be reflective of the price of your room, you can't really expect to get free Wi-Fi in Travelodge where you have to pay to borrow a hairdryer, as the price of the room goes up, the price of extras should come down. Although it appears you have been finding the opposite, the more you pay, the more you pay ! it seems ! With regard to Wi-Fi at events like barcamp, if Matt sets up Wi-Fi as a favour and it crashes because of some bandwidth thieves then fairplay, at least the thought was there! On the other hand tho if a company is being paid to set it up, it should either be done correctly or not at all ! Evert : I never said ‘Free was bad’ as long as people realise that someone has to pay for it and nothing is for nothing, as you say yourself its just paid for in a different way

‘This can be done without directly charging the user. It would make more sense to recoup the costs via a minimal increase in the charges for their other products or services.’

Andrew, Hotel charging should be reflective of the price of your room, you can’t really expect to get free Wi-Fi in Travelodge where you have to pay to borrow a hairdryer, as the price of the room goes up, the price of extras should come down. Although it appears you have been finding the opposite, the more you pay, the more you pay ! it seems !

With regard to Wi-Fi at events like barcamp, if Matt sets up Wi-Fi as a favour and it crashes because of some bandwidth thieves then fairplay, at least the thought was there! On the other hand tho if a company is being paid to set it up, it should either be done correctly or not at all !

]]> By: Evert Bopp http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/#comment-70 Evert Bopp Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:17:22 +0000 http://russellmcquillan.com/?p=206#comment-70 Russell, it seems the US government agrees with you: http://howtogetwifi.com/commerce-free-is-bad/ Russell, it seems the US government agrees with you: http://howtogetwifi.com/commerce-free-is-bad/

]]> By: Andrew Gribben http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/#comment-68 Andrew Gribben Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:29:43 +0000 http://russellmcquillan.com/?p=206#comment-68 I agree totally, wifi should be a 'free' service. I've stayed in some hotels in the last few months and have found the more exclusive the hotel, the more expensive the wifi. At BarCamp Belfast earlier this year @cimota was trying his best to fight against both the "Free Public Wifi" and bittorrent I agree totally, wifi should be a ‘free’ service. I’ve stayed in some hotels in the last few months and have found the more exclusive the hotel, the more expensive the wifi. At BarCamp Belfast earlier this year @cimota was trying his best to fight against both the “Free Public Wifi” and bittorrent

]]> By: Evert Bopp http://russellmcquillan.com/2008/12/11/wi-fi-at-conferences/#comment-67 Evert Bopp Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:03:10 +0000 http://russellmcquillan.com/?p=206#comment-67 Russell, I agree with you that quite a few free hotspots lack in quality and management. However it doesn't have to be like that. WiFi access is a service that people come to expect more and more from certain venues. The costs are so low (a few euro a day really) that it puts those operators charging ridiculous amounts for access (and no BitBuzz is not one of those) in a very bad light. As an example: I stayed in the Dublin Four seasons recently and wifi access was 22 euro a pop. Lunacy! Anyway, yes the service needs to be managed and supported but the venue can pay for that just as they pay for cleaners and water to flush the toilets. This can be done without directly charging the user. It would make more sense to recoup the costs via a minimal increase in the charges for their other products or services. Russell,

I agree with you that quite a few free hotspots lack in quality and management.
However it doesn’t have to be like that. WiFi access is a service that people come to expect more and more from certain venues. The costs are so low (a few euro a day really) that it puts those operators charging ridiculous amounts for access (and no BitBuzz is not one of those) in a very bad light. As an example: I stayed in the Dublin Four seasons recently and wifi access was 22 euro a pop. Lunacy!
Anyway, yes the service needs to be managed and supported but the venue can pay for that just as they pay for cleaners and water to flush the toilets. This can be done without directly charging the user. It would make more sense to recoup the costs via a minimal increase in the charges for their other products or services.

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