I recently stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott hotel — the Spa King rooms are wonderful — and each room is provided with free, wired, Internet access.
I was astounded at the slow speed of my Internet connection when I first started using the Marriott provided backbone — but I washed off the slow by not expecting much for free.
Then I kicked in my VPN client and the Marriott broadband connection
instantly came to life! I was surfing on the Internet at incredibly
fast speeds. What a delight!
When I disconnected my VPN client my speed remained fast and clean.
It was then I realized that Marriott loves business people and they
cater to the high end needs of those on the move.
Most regular patrons don’t require — or even notice — a slow
Internet connection while a business person will die-on-the-vine
without a fast broadband connection.
The next day when I started my Internet connection — the speed was slow again — until I fired up my VPN client.
The key to getting a great Internet speed at a Courtyard Marriott is
to fire up a VPN client — any VPN client — for a minute or two so the
Marriott system “sees” you’re a “business” client with VPN intent and
then stand back and watch out when you disconnect your VPN client as
your overall Internet connection blossoms in what you expect it should
have been from the start when making a regular web connection.
