Do most hotels offer fast enough internet to host a zoom meeting?
Nov 23, 2021, 5:23 am
#1
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Do most hotels offer fast enough internet to host a zoom meeting?
We have to do a 4 day trip to a city far from here. We won’t make it back in time for our weekly Zoom Meeting. We reserved a room, but we aren’t sure how to ask the hotel if they offer sufficient upload speed (greater than 7). Do hotels offer faster internet for a fee, or what can we do if what they offer isn’t fast enough? This is the first time we need to do this.
Nov 23, 2021, 8:47 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,785
I think Zoom meeting bandwidth is scaled. If you don't have enough bandwidth, it would just scale down the quality of the video. Some hotels offer premium internet, but I think usually that just raised the download speed not upload speed. You could call ahead and ask. You can also have your phone's hotspot as a backup (if you have it on your plan). My T-mobile hotspot upload speed at my house is 35mbps LTE.
Nov 23, 2021, 12:42 pm
#3
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No. I personally would not count on any public, non-secure connection, if I were HOSTING an important zoom. Hosting uses more bandwidth than just joining a meeting, especially if you use the breakout rooms function. I learned the hard way back during lockdown. The more people who join, the more bandwidth is used.
In this circumstance, I would use mobile phone hotspot and just burn the data. You wouldn't want to look unprofessional if there is a hiccup in the hotel's connection (which can and does happen) and you get booted during your own conference.
In this circumstance, I would use mobile phone hotspot and just burn the data. You wouldn't want to look unprofessional if there is a hiccup in the hotel's connection (which can and does happen) and you get booted during your own conference.
Nov 23, 2021, 2:06 pm
#4
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A few other tips:
1) Hardwire. If it's an option, go for it. I carry my own travel router and try to go hardwire every chance I get. Might even be worthwhile to rent one of the hotel's conference rooms for this feature alone.
2) If using their WiFi, try to use 5GHz access points if you can. They usually are less congested than the 2.4GHz ones.
3) Some hotels do offer high-speed internet. I know Marriott often offers this, but more often than not I've seen every guest getting full speed lately.
4) Ask the hotel. If it's a larger hotel they'll have someone with some idea. If it's a smaller hotel, try to call outside of school hours, ie: when you're most likely to get a younger person to pick up the phone.
5) If you have any business friends in that town, see if you can borrow their conference room. I've borrowed people's conference rooms before and we've also loaned ours out. They'll know for sure if Zoom works or not.
1) Hardwire. If it's an option, go for it. I carry my own travel router and try to go hardwire every chance I get. Might even be worthwhile to rent one of the hotel's conference rooms for this feature alone.
2) If using their WiFi, try to use 5GHz access points if you can. They usually are less congested than the 2.4GHz ones.
3) Some hotels do offer high-speed internet. I know Marriott often offers this, but more often than not I've seen every guest getting full speed lately.
4) Ask the hotel. If it's a larger hotel they'll have someone with some idea. If it's a smaller hotel, try to call outside of school hours, ie: when you're most likely to get a younger person to pick up the phone.
5) If you have any business friends in that town, see if you can borrow their conference room. I've borrowed people's conference rooms before and we've also loaned ours out. They'll know for sure if Zoom works or not.
Nov 24, 2021, 5:49 am
#5
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A few other tips:
1) Hardwire. If it's an option, go for it. I carry my own travel router and try to go hardwire every chance I get. Might even be worthwhile to rent one of the hotel's conference rooms for this feature alone.
2) If using their WiFi, try to use 5GHz access points if you can. They usually are less congested than the 2.4GHz ones.
3) Some hotels do offer high-speed internet. I know Marriott often offers this, but more often than not I've seen every guest getting full speed lately.
4) Ask the hotel. If it's a larger hotel they'll have someone with some idea. If it's a smaller hotel, try to call outside of school hours, ie: when you're most likely to get a younger person to pick up the phone.
5) If you have any business friends in that town, see if you can borrow their conference room. I've borrowed people's conference rooms before and we've also loaned ours out. They'll know for sure if Zoom works or not.
1) Hardwire. If it's an option, go for it. I carry my own travel router and try to go hardwire every chance I get. Might even be worthwhile to rent one of the hotel's conference rooms for this feature alone.
2) If using their WiFi, try to use 5GHz access points if you can. They usually are less congested than the 2.4GHz ones.
3) Some hotels do offer high-speed internet. I know Marriott often offers this, but more often than not I've seen every guest getting full speed lately.
4) Ask the hotel. If it's a larger hotel they'll have someone with some idea. If it's a smaller hotel, try to call outside of school hours, ie: when you're most likely to get a younger person to pick up the phone.
5) If you have any business friends in that town, see if you can borrow their conference room. I've borrowed people's conference rooms before and we've also loaned ours out. They'll know for sure if Zoom works or not.
#1 seems interesting. You’re saying some offer faster internet in a conference room? I didn’t think of that. Something to ask about when we call.
We don’t want Wi-Fi anyway. We did that in 2020 eNough times to know that won’t work well. However, I’m not sure how a ravel router will help if there was only Wi-Fi.
Nov 24, 2021, 5:53 am
#6
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You provide no information about what city or country, or type of accommodation, so the best answer is ‘maybe’ or ‘ask the hotel’. In a top hotel in a large city it is likely to work better than a three star hotel in a city in the middle of Africa.
Nov 24, 2021, 12:02 pm
#7
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I didn’t think it mattered, but we’re going to the Detroit area. It’s in the suburbs (Canton), not in the city.
Nov 24, 2021, 3:03 pm
#8
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I would imagine that any 4*+ hotel in a major metropolitan area in the US will have stable internet for video calls. If in doubt (and I did this earlier this year when I spent two weeks on a remote property on Barbuda) have them run a few speed checks and send you the screenshots.
Nov 25, 2021, 10:28 am
#9
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit; Formerly Dubai
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Canton Michigan has no 4+ star hotels. It is Holiday Inn Expresses and Hampton Inns. That said, there is no problem with the internet in the city. I can’t speak to a particular hotel purchasing a plan which is subpar for its needs. I live three miles from Canton and know the area well.
Nov 26, 2021, 8:51 am
#10
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Canton Michigan has no 4+ star hotels. It is Holiday Inn Expresses and Hampton Inns. That said, there is no problem with the internet in the city. I can’t speak to a particular hotel purchasing a plan which is subpar for its needs. I live three miles from Canton and know the area well.
Oh yeah, we are not limited to Canton if there other places in Metro Detroit that have what we need.
Nov 26, 2021, 9:04 am
#11
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In Hyatt and Marriott family hotels in the USA. I haven't had problems using zoom to host meetings from my laptop, although my elite status tends to automatically give me the faster internet if a hotel offers it.
If you don't use a virtual background, think about where you want to position yourself for the meeting. IMO it's unprofessional to see a bed in the background, and you might not want it to be obvious that you're in a hotel room (sign on the back of the door, those random cardboard signs that have largely vanished due to COVID-19, view out the window, etc.).
If you don't use a virtual background, think about where you want to position yourself for the meeting. IMO it's unprofessional to see a bed in the background, and you might not want it to be obvious that you're in a hotel room (sign on the back of the door, those random cardboard signs that have largely vanished due to COVID-19, view out the window, etc.).
Nov 27, 2021, 1:11 pm
#13
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Also, in some hotels the internet only lasts 24 hours at a time. If you’re staying at the hotel, keep that in mind and login to the internet at a time which will expire long before or after your zoom session.
Nov 27, 2021, 7:31 pm
#15
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