Marriott Will Not Block Wi-Fi Devices

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Marriott International put out a press release today stating that it has abandoned its plans to block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices.

Marriott International listens to its customers, and we will not block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of our managed hotels. Marriott remains committed to protecting the security of Wi-Fi access in meeting and conference areas at our hotels. We will continue to look to the FCC to clarify appropriate security measures network operators can take to protect customer data, and will continue to work with the industry and others to find appropriate market solutions that do not involve the blocking of Wi-Fi devices.
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Pretty sure they have to comply with Part 15 anyway...
 
Translation: "We're very upset that people discovered we were working to screw them for profit. I guess we'll follow the rules... for now..."
 
A bullshit practice that shouldn't have been there in the first place. It's like releasing a statement saying, "Recently we've been looking to the FDA to clarify some of its regulations and have decided that we will no longer have our housekeeping service secretly poison any food or drinks you've packed that didn't come from our mini-bar or attached restaurant."
 
GushpinBob said:
A bullshit practice that shouldn't have been there in the first place. It's like releasing a statement saying, "Recently we've been looking to the FDA to clarify some of its regulations and have decided that we will no longer have our housekeeping service secretly poison any food or drinks you've packed that didn't come from our mini-bar or attached restaurant."
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I think you just gave Marriott an idea.

Jerk.
 
Deciphered: "We tried a money grab, and it bit us in the ass. We continue to look for ways to accomplish this in a more discreet manner"
 
They will however block access to anything but their shitty hotel tv service.

I stayed at a Marriott for a week not too long ago and brought my firetv stick to catch up on some queued movies. Couldn't change the input on the tv or change the cables for the current input due to locking devices. Hell they even had all the power outlets behind the tv inaccessible. Front desk wouldn't help or even give a valid reason as to why the input couldn't be changed.
 
To play devils advocate:

Now before everyone makes Marriot out to be bunch of bastards

I can understand the concern about WiFi spoofing. A number of large defense contractors and government personnel stay at the marriot. And if their means of internet access is comprimised by man in the middle attacks by spoofing, it could jeopardize their business and give them a bad rep.

And add to the fact that wifi bandwidth is extremely limited, when you have a couple hundred guest working off a shared bandwidth, you try to discourage internet use by raising the prices of access thereby restricting access to those who truly need it, and not those who do things like try to watch hi-def movies on netflix.

That said
They might have also just been raping their customers because they could.
 
Might? Weren't these the asshats fines 600k for this shit? No "might" to it. Take that word out of your last sentence and it reads correct.
 
ChedWick said:
They will however block access to anything but their shitty hotel tv service.

I stayed at a Marriott for a week not too long ago and brought my firetv stick to catch up on some queued movies. Couldn't change the input on the tv or change the cables for the current input due to locking devices. Hell they even had all the power outlets behind the tv inaccessible. Front desk wouldn't help or even give a valid reason as to why the input couldn't be changed.
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Why would they want anyone dicking with the input? You think they want to get calls that the "TV isn't working" from the next person who stays in the room, because the previous jacknall left it on the wrong input? It makes sense from a management standpoint.
 
DPI said:
Why would they want anyone dicking with the input? You think they want to get calls that the "TV isn't working" from the next person who stays in the room, because the previous jacknall left it on the wrong input? It makes sense from a management standpoint.
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Or people just damaging the inputs. I've seen quite a few monitors and video cards ruined at work from people trying to move their own PC's and just jamming things in upsidedown and what have you.

However a lot of hotels are starting to offer little aux-input boxes near the TV so you can plug in whatever you want without damaging the TV itself. Really nice being able to watch Netflix like I'm at home.
 
DigitalGriffin said:
To play devils advocate:

Now before everyone makes Marriot out to be bunch of bastards

I can understand the concern about WiFi spoofing. A number of large defense contractors and government personnel stay at the marriot.
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Really? The Marriott is specifically known as the hotel that defense contractors stay at?


And if their means of internet access is comprimised by man in the middle attacks by spoofing, it could jeopardize their business and give them a bad rep.
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Running personal wifi hotspots is vastly more secure than hotel wifi. If the CIA is using guest wifi to conduct business then they are already a threat to themselves, whether anyone is trying to trick users into joining their spoofed Marriott-wifi network or not. Which by the way only works when some hacker just happens to be staying at a Marriott.

And add to the fact that wifi bandwidth is extremely limited, when you have a couple hundred guest working off a shared bandwidth, you try to discourage internet use by raising the prices of access thereby restricting access to those who truly need it, and not those who do things like try to watch hi-def movies on netflix.
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No, it's not that limited. I've stayed at hotels in Vegas and hit 150mbps through speedtest on wifi. There are plenty of ways to mitigate bandwidth issues via wifi when you hire the right engineers to design it. It's not like all 1000 guests are literally connecting to a single wifi router.
 
DigitalGriffin said:
To play devils advocate:

Now before everyone makes Marriot out to be bunch of bastards

I can understand the concern about WiFi spoofing. A number of large defense contractors and government personnel stay at the marriot. And if their means of internet access is comprimised by man in the middle attacks by spoofing, it could jeopardize their business and give them a bad rep.
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I, as a marriot guest (the same as said defense contractor) have the same right to open air protocols as they do.

If they're a DoD contractor, they should know how to secure their shit. Their lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part.
 
I guess the Marriott's guests have forgotten that there are wires that can transmit signals and that its still possible to go somewhere else.
 
McFry said:
True. The best solution to a criminal act is to ignore it.
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I know, but its hard for other people to realize that they're not law enforcement and it's like a million times worse when its done by armchair police. Sure people in forums usually get more emotional than normal, but I'm glad to see someone totally gets it.
 
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