With so many hotels now promoting high-speed Internet access, you might think downloading e-mail messages in your room would be as easy as ordering a cheeseburger from room service — and twice as quick.
But analysts and business travelers offer something of a reality check on the message of faster connectivity that is being pushed by the hospitality industry, saying that although such service is becoming more common, it is not something laptop-toting business travelers can count on when they check in.
Among the issues business travelers report are hotels that advertise broadband in most or all of their rooms but only have enough capacity for a limited number of guests to log on simultaneously, cables that get unplugged, routers that are down, and services that require special hardware or software that guests may not be traveling with (or do not want to deal with after a long day or a late flight).
