Elfiq Hotel Bandwidth Best Practices

One of the most affected business verticals in the context of bandwidth is hotels and convention centers. Over the years, Elfiq has gained hundreds of customers in this space and at the same time a lot of experience, therefore we have developed some best practices we’d like to share:

• At least two circuits from two carriers using two different technologies: the idea is that diversification mitigates risk, should one carrier fail the other needs to be able to pick up the traffic. If both are the same type and connecting to the same central office, your risk of seeing your whole bandwidth doing down simultaneously are quite high (see points of failure and bandwidth diversification)
• Based on your room count, you should forecast that for every 50 to 100 rooms an incremental link might be needed. Since DSL and cable modems are inexpensive, adding more is not really an expensive proposition. It is not uncommon to see a property with a T1, a DSL and a cable modem if not two. If the Internet is performing to guest expectations or better, they will come back to the property and refer people as well (peers, colleagues). So an extra $100/month is well spent!
• Think bandwidth shaping: at a minimum your property will need the ability to make sure your bandwidth is not eaten up by a few users using a few applications. The ability to define Quality of Service rules to promote the “important” taffic types like HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP and VPNs is a key to success. That way you can make sure these traffic types get the bandwidth they require so guests are well served, and keep a rule for “other” types to make sure these apps with a lesser priority have room to work (online games, Slingbox, etc.)
• Time-based bandwidth allocation: when guests are not in their rooms but in other sites or your own conference rooms, having the ability to shift the bulk of bandwidth from one network to another will save properties money as the same bandwidth can be allocated appropriately
• Many properties are merging their front desk and guest room bandwidth, when doing this make sure you keep the administrative network separated from the guest network by a firewall so you maintain your PCI certification (link)

Questions on hostel bandwidth best practices? Feel free to leave a comment or contact us directy!

Also, please see www.elfiq.com/hospitality, white papers, case studies and testimonials to learn how bandwidth management can help.