On the subject of consistency. I was staying at a Hilton a few years ago that was next door to a Crowne Plaza (I think it was Brussels). Both in my room and in the public areas you could pick up a strong wireless signal from "Crowne Plaza Free WiFi" so I just used the Crowne Plaza's free connection rather than paying for the Hilton offering. I suspect that the Crowne Plaza quite likes the fact they were getting free advertising in the Hilton.

I mentioned in the comments card that their neighbour was offering free wifi, I actually got a response a few days later saying that the Hilton was unable to offer free wifi due to an agreement they have with a particular supplier for all their European hotels.

So if the consistency is free wifi everywhere then it'd be a good thing, but if the consistency is to charge for wifi then it's a bad thing for those hotels that offer it for free or cheap.