Hotel internet download speed: 250 kbps in Silicon Valley ?

[steve2470]

Yes, you read correctly. I'm using the internet at a 3 or 4 star hotel in Silicon Valley, and I'm only getting 250 kbps. I"ve already spoken to the front desk and to tech support. The front desk clerk promised to forward this to management, and tech support said that was all I was going to get.

Is this a common download speed for hotel internet across the country ?

on edit: 250 kilobits per second, so sorry. I also corrected the subject line.

[ret5hd]

1. Isn't 250 meg a second pretty damn fast?

maybe you mean 250k

[steve2470]

3. No, it's only 250 kilobits per second or 31.25 kilobytes per second

on edit: corrected faulty figures

[originalpckelly]

4. I getcha, sorry!

:rofl:

That's sloooooooww!

[steve2470]

6. look again, I made a mistake nt

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. I get 5Mbs here...

And that's the highest tier, and that's pretty damn fast for DSL. I would say you are rocking.

And yes, I do know what I am talking about, strangely enough. ;-)

[steve2470]

9. big mistake initially, it's 250 kilobits per second. nt

[originalpckelly]

11. Of course if you get VD, then it'd be faster.

Qwest is a part of internet2, and they've been literally testing 26 mbps downstream 3 mbps upstream service.

Look here:
http://www.qwest.com/vdsl/learn/vdsl.html

[ret5hd]

8. oh, you got it.

on edit: you got it.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. Well, that pretty well sucks.

Especially for a Silly Valley 4 star hotel. Yeah, they either got themselves a problem or they get their connection from an overloaded cable loop.

[whistle]

2. Try moving over to the Ritz Carlton

[Schema Thing]

5. look for kinks in your ethernet cable

no need to thank me; I'm here to serve. O8)

[steve2470]

12. I talked to tech support at length and went through the usual diagnostic things

Ethernet cable is fine, afaik. I asked the tech support guy if 250 kilobits per second was all I was going to get, and he said yes.

Again, sorry for the initial mistake, 250 megabits per second would be phenomenal. It's 250 Kilobits per second.

[Xithras]

13. Fairly standard, yes.

Very few hotels actually manage their own internal Internet access. Most farm the service out to companies like Waypoint, which in turn installs its own hardware into the hotel. The benefit for the hotel is that they can claim "High Speed Internet" without having to spend a penny. The advantage to Waypoint and its competitors (you didn't mention which company) is that they've got a captive audience. Since you ARE captive, they generally offer the lowest cost "high speed" connection they can manage. 250K is usually cited as the lowest-end broadband you can get, so offering that speed saves money while technically staying true to their advertising. For users paying $10-$25 a day, the service is appalling.

If the hotel is a chain, complaining to the manager isn't going to help. These types of partnerships are usually handled at the corporate level and are imposed on the hotels. The hotels rarely have any direct access or oversight of the network itself.

[steve2470]

17. I think it's Eleven Wireless Inc. Not 100 % sure though nt

[frazzledmom]

14. I travel all the time, spend much time in hotels.

250k is not unusual. The funny thing is that in most major hotels you have to pay for internet access, Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, etc, all charge per day for a crappy, not much better than dial up internet connection. But places like Choice Hotels, Days Inn, Best Western, usually have free wireless access at much better speeds than what you get from a more expensive chain. Go figure.

[AllieB]

16. Most Marriott Courtyards and Hilton Garden Inns don't charge

for internet. It's funny that their more expensive cousins charge. Courtyards and Garden Inns aren't as cheap as the other chains you mentioned, but they're usually well-equipped for the business traveler.

[soothsayer]

15. my treo gets 2.4mbps, so i use that in a pinch!

[Wiley50]

18. I'm getting 595kbps Down and 135kbps Up on a Verizon Wireless WWAN National Access Cell phone

card in my laptop.
I'm well satisfied because it works wherever I am. I don't have to find a hotspot.

It's fairly expensive I've heard, but mine is deeply discounted because I get it through my ex-wife who works for Verizon.

I pay $50/mo with insurance for my card or $40 without ins

[Steven_S]

19. WOW, that would drive me nuts....

a short trip, but anyway...

I'm spoiled rotten by 30,000kbps downstream and 2,800kbps upstream. I click - it's there.