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Lack Of Service A Problem For Hotspots
The first time I ever used a Starbucks Mobilestar (that’s what it was at the time) hotspot, I asked someone at the counter if he knew whether or not they had wireless internet access and he gave me a completely blank stare. Prior to T-Mobile taking over Mobilestar’s hotspots there wasn’t even any literature around. I finally got it working by just sitting down and trying it myself. Now, as more and more places start offering WiFi hotspots (whether paid or free) they’re also discovering that there are service questions that come with it. If the access point is down, is it the coffee-serving clerk’s job to fix it? Does Starbucks suddenly need to be training employees to both make coffee and troubleshoot internet access problems? Of course, this is a bigger deal for sites that have chosen to go with fee-based WiFi, since customers have much higher expectations (as they should). Yet another reason some sites need to think twice before deploying fee-based WiFi. Who’s going to handle support?
