We recently wrote an article about it

Check it out @ http://miseenplace.co.uk/blog/index.php/hotel-news/hotels-and-the-lack-of-free-wi-fi/

If only all hotels had the same philosophy as Anzaz!

WiFi signals are available almost everywhere but most of them are useless to us as they are Secured connections that required a password to access. And most

WiFi Adapters in the market and in Laptops have a range of only 20 to 30 meters, limiting the number of WiFi connections available to you.

website:

http://www.wifirobin.com/
http://www.hackfreewifi.com

It makes sense for a lot of businesses to pay to have a provider come in and deliver Wi-Fi for their establishment. It is increasingly an expected amenity. In this scenario, ad revenue would be strictly supplemental. As Wi-Fi ads have been historically clumsy and intrusive, i.e. from large corporations a la JiWire, why implement them?

The ads need to be hyperlocal to add value for the end user in this scenario — I am at the hotel, now what’s around me? Implementing that cost effectively is the challenge. How does one sign up local merchants for that, place the ads and still make money?

Parenthetically, WISPs must contend now with ads that work well not on laptops. but on handhelds i.e. iPhones, blackberries, Androids. Not much real estate to work with, slow load times. Google bought Ad Mobs for a reason though. How does a local WISP dip into the same revenue stream?

Why would a coffeeshop owner/hotel pay for such a service?
- We keep an eye on the internet connection plus hotspot hardware and take action in case it fails
- We are a marketing channel for our customers to reach guests who insist on free (and ad-free) WiFi
- Many of those locations do not want WiFi advertising on their site
- We are the network operator (=no legal hassle for the location owners)

People looking for free WiFi need reliable data where to find it. Since we are an operator and know the status each hotspot our directory is always up to date (contrary to JiWire and others – those directories contain lots of false and old information – at least for Austria)

While ad-based free WiFi is a great marketing-tool for large corporations we found that making enough money this way to pay for the Internet connection and the maintenance service is a difficult task.

If you travel to Austria, give it a try and check out freewave.at/en/hotspots for hotels and cafes or use the free freewave iPhone app.