Hotel - Motel Internet Connections
Posted by Administrator on Jul 13, 2007
If you look at an ad or signage on a Hotel - Motel you’ll typically see something like “Free Internet”, “Free Wi-Fi”, or “High Speed Internet”. However, if you’re a business class user not all Internet connections are created equally. If a good Internet connection is important, there are some questions you may want to ask.
As an example; I chose a hotel in Hot Springs Arkansas which stated in its ad that it had “Free Wi-Fi”. When I checked in and inquired about their Internet connection, the person at the front desk informed me that the hotel down the street had “Free Wi-Fi” and I could piggy-back off their connection if I had a good wireless card. Needless to say we went on down the road and stayed at Embassy Suites which charges for their Internet connection ($9.95 per night) which was decent, but not impressive.
As more business users, travellers and vacationers require a “decent” Internet connection, I believe this will become a key factor in hotel - motel ratings. In my previous post I mentioned Crown Plaza. They chose to blame the ISP rather than having a backup or solution to solve poor wireless connectivity issues.
Crown Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio - Internet Review
Posted by Administrator on Jul 13, 2007
During vacation this week my family and I stayed at the Crown Plaza hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio on our way home from New York. My two primary criteria were an Internet connection and swimming pool. Both ended up being a dissapointment. The Crown offers wireless Internet (more on this in a later post), but had different zones within the hotel. I just happened to get a room in a bad zone. By the time was done jacking around with my Internet connection the pool had closed and gates chained for the night.
After calling the front desk, I was informed that I had two options; Call the Internet Service Provider or move to a room on a higher level.
I called the ISP and they said if I was connecting to the network there was nothing they could do to help me. The front desk blamed the poor Internet connectivity on the ISP. Next, I tried plan B, I went up to the fifth floor with my laptop to see if I could get a better connection in a different zone. This proved fruitless as well.
This has prompted me to work on another post to discuss Internet connectivity and how much it varies from one hotel to another and an a funny story to help emphasize my point.
There was one highlight with my stay at the Crown Plaza… they have some of the best crab cakes I’ve ever eaten.
Why Is Flash Blocked On My PC?
Posted by Administrator on Mar 16, 2007
If you work for a large company or enterprise corporation you are probably already aware of this. Many large companies and businesses block flash at the network level which in turn blocks Flash from the desktop user.
In work I’ve done for real estate companies, auto dealers, and even some of my web hosting customers have all witnessed this. Some companies will block Flash to preserve network bandwidth and prevent employees from watching movie trailers or playing Flash games on the company nickel.
I was prompted to write this article as I had an opportunity to sit in on a vendor meeting in which the vendor pointed out that they had one of the fastest deliveries available for an online product. Everything was coded in Flash. When I asked the vendor if they were aware that by virtue of the application being Flash based a certain percentage of potential customers would be unable to view his offering….He looked at my like I had three heads and recited the marketing line from Adobe / Macromedia regarding 93% of all desktops having some version of Flash installed out of the box.
This is a great number, but it is doesn’t speak to the growing number of networks blocking multi-media type files.
Are thinking of developing a web application in Flash? Be sure to take into consideration the percentage of potential customers, viewers, or prospects that will not be able to view your Flash files. How could this affect your bottom line?
Do you work for a company that blocks Flash on the network? Share your story with our visitors.
Network Solutions Certified Offers vs. AfterNIC
Posted by Administrator on Mar 14, 2007
Have you ever bought and sold a domain name? Thinking about buying and selling a domain name or two? I have sold numerous domains through AfterNIC, but never sold a domain through Network Solution’s Certified Offer program.
Recently, I sold a domain name through AfterNIC and completed the transaction in a single day and received my funds within 24hours to my paypal account. AfterNIC keeps a small percentage of the sale, but things can go very quickly if everyone is on the ball.
In the case with Network Solutions, It took me nearly a month to complete all the back and forth requests and I’m now told I will need to wait another 3-4 weeks to receive a check in the mail. In the mean time, the buyer has full ownership and use of the domain name. Network Solutions does not charge the seller via their Certified Offer program, but the wait is not worth it in my opinion.
Want to complete a domain name sale / transaction quickly? Use AfterNIC
I do a fair amount of business with Network Solutions and their customer support is awesome, but in the case of domain name sales I will not use them again in the future.
SmartPhones: When Is Too Much Technology Too Much?
Posted by Administrator on Feb 25, 2007
At hearing the news of the Apple iPhone I’m in a bit of a quandry. After trying and using nearly all of the major devices I’m fed up with wasting time with smartphones that only function two thirds of the time when you need them most. But hearing about the iPhone makes me want to give this phone a try.
I have personally used the Palm Treo, iMate SP3i, SX66/MDA III, TMobile DASH, and a host of other phones I’ve tested. All of these phones had their good and bad points, but at what cost to productivity? With phones packing in so many features, the business user has to think critically about what functionality is most important. Also, I find when I talk with most cell phone users that have the latest smartphone, most features or functionality rarely get used.
One of the factors that rarely gets considered in my opinion with the use of smartphones is the amount of time wasted testing, tinkering, and talking with tech support to fix issues. Backing up and making sure you don’t loose data is another issue. I have found that no matter how often I backed up my software, I always had occassions where I lost some data because I wasn’t in the right place at the right time.
After my latest use of the TMobile DASH I’m going to the Blackberry 8700G and will start using my daytimer again to prevent from loosing billing data and other information I don’t want to risk on a smartphone. So when is too much technology too much with a smartphone? Sure, they are supposed to make our lives easier and more productive, but I’m not so sure that’s the case right now.
Here are a few if my personal experiences with bleeding edge smartphones:
- Most cell phone companies don’t test enough before putting a new smartphone into the marketplace.
- Cell phone companies typically know of existing issues with smartphones, but play the odds when it comes to customer complaints
- Poor validation of compatible third party software applications.
- When in doubt… Reset - A poor excuse for troubleshooting
What are your thoughts on smartphones? What types of issues have you experienced in using your smartphone for business?