High Speed Internet Access (HSIA): Mobile Internet

Can skype cause problems with a hotel Internet connection? It seems so depending on how skype is being used and the filters in place on the hotel’s system.

A blogger staying at a Best Western hotel in Canada posted about his experience trying to connect to the hotel’s high speed Internet solution. He couldn’t connect to the wireless system so tried the Ethernet connection without any luck. After several attempts and all the standard troubleshooting procedures he phoned tech support.

Apparently his skype session was generating an excessive number of Internet sessions and had tripped the hotel filter. He admitted to having around 10 individual chat sessions open but was still surprised at the incredible number of connections that skype was making. The only solution in this particular case was not to use skype, an answer he wasn’t impressed with given that skype was an important communication tool for him.

He does acknowledge the other side of the story and the problems that hotels have in providing a reliable, safe connection for all of their hotel guests but would prefer a solution where the ISP recognises applications like Skype and allows it within the filtering rules.

Here’s a link to the full story.

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