In a not too surprising move, Marriott International is to back down from its FCC request to block personal wifi devices (such as MiFi’s, Personal Hotspots on phones).
The company released the following statement
Marriott International listens to its customers, and we will not block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of our managed hotels. Marriott remains committed to protecting the security of Wi-Fi access in meeting and conference areas at our hotels. We will continue to look to the FCC to clarify appropriate security measures network operators can take to protect customer data, and will continue to work with the industry and others to find appropriate market solutions that do not involve the blocking of Wi-Fi devices.
Some common sense at last from the hotel chain, which has faced a backlash for their plans.
Mobile hotspots are used primarily as a method of connecting your computer to the internet and beyond – allowing mobile access on the move (for example, connecting to your hotspot to a computer to avoid outrageous fees that are charged at hotels and airports).
Marriott (and Hilton Group’s) request came “in the name of security” – that wonderful catch-all when it comes to anything these days, and after a $600,000 fine when it was caught blocking WiFi hotspots at the Marriott Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, TN – where equipment was installed to flood the area with “deauthentication packets”, allowing you to connect only to the Marriott hosted facility, and causing connection losses with any other equipment.
As WiFi moves from being a nicety to an essential in hotels and conference facilities (with an expectation of them to be present, rather than an old Ethernet cable on the table), yes – there is a balance in security required. But costs have to be reasonable along with good bandwidth – not near extortionate – to encourage users to switch off their personal devices and use the infrastructure provided.
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