The tweens taking up the seventh floor are instant-messaging while listening to Internet radio and downloading a pirated version of "Twilight" to watch later. The 200-person meeting in the ballroom has a full interactive multimedia presentation going for the next hour. And you do not want to know what the businessman in room 1208 is streaming on BitTorrent, but it is probably not a productivity booster. These are just a few of the guests eating bandwidth at hotels today, and it is enough to break the average network backbone, or at least create bottlenecks. And no one-not those multitasking kids, not the conference attendees and certainly not the businessman on the top floor-is happy when that happens. Strain on hotel networks is nothing new, but it is quickly becoming issue No. 1 for industry IT executives. Guests demand WiFi more than any other high-tech amenity, according to 82% of lodging executives surveyed last year by the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Some studies have shown that for business travelers, availability and quality of Internet connections is roughly as important as the bed, shower or cleanliness of the room. At the same time, customers are eating available bandwidth as quickly as hotels provide it, whether they are bringing along their SlingBoxes or using groupware for a corporate presentation.
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