The hotel's export bandwidth is an operating cost that requires sustained input, and the user's demand for network speed seems never to end.——High-resolution video, cloud games, large file downloads, and videoconferences consume bandwidth. If not managed, the use of a few major traffic flows may result in network congestion across the hotel and affect most people’s experiences. The bandwidth management and flow control function of the WiFi certification system at the hotel is to achieve equitable distribution, secure criticality, limit misuse, and provide each tenant with a satisfactory online experience through a sophisticated strategic configuration of bandwidth resources.
Challenges and objectives of hotel bandwidth management
The bandwidth management of hotels faces unique challenges: first, the high mobility of users and daily changes in the number of occupants, with each resident using different usage habits and bandwidth requirements, cannot allocate fixed bandwidth to every fixed user as is done by the enterprise network; second, there are large numbers of terminals, with a room with three to five simultaneous online terminals (cell phones, notebooks, tablets, smart watches, etc.), and a hotel peak of 100 rooms with possibly 300 to 500 simultaneously online at a maximum of 100 rooms, demanding capacity for processing; Third, the traffic pattern is complex, the occupants' Internet access is varied and there are video viewers with downloading documents, video players with video games, videoconferencing and social media with different applications requiring different bandwidth and delay; fourth, peaks are evident, hotel network use is clearly high (usually between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., and the users return to their rooms with intensive use of the network), and bandwidth usage during peak periods may be three to five times higher than average, while usage is low from early morning to morning; fifth, cost constraints, hotel export bandwidth is monthly, bandwidth costs are higher, broadband is more expensive and bandwidth budgets for economic hotels and mid-end hotels are limited and cannot be extended indefinitely. The objective of bandwidth management is to achieve, under these constraints, the following: first, equity, with every tenant receiving basic bandwidth security and not being denied access by others because of the large flow of a few; secondly, safeguards, which must be ensured through the experience of key applications (e.g. web page browsing, instant messaging, mail, videoconferencing), without undue loss of access to pages, unmailable and videoconferences to Caden; and thirdly cost controls, with minimal bandwidth costs and avoiding over-emplacing for extreme needs of minorities, provided that the basic needs of tenants are met; Four are differences, and tenants of different types of houses and members can have different bandwidth services, reflecting differences in value and incentives for upgrading; five are observable, managers can see the use of bandwidth in real time, the flow rankings of each user, application traffic distribution, and ease of checking problems and optimizing strategies. Bandwidth management is not simple."Speed limit"It is an art that achieves optimal distribution with limited resources.
Bandwidth limits per user
Per-User Late Limited is the most basic and effective strategy for hotel bandwidth management. The system sets a single upper and lower bandwidth ceiling for each terminal (or the resident account), which cannot be exceeded by any individual terminal traffic. For example, if you set a bottom bandwidth cap of 10 Mbps per user, the upper bandwidth limit of 2 Mbps, then even if a tenant downloads it at full speed with a thunderbolt, he can download only at least 10 Mbps, without using the full export bandwidth to affect other occupants."Bandwidth."The key is a rational setup of bandwidth ceilings: too high (e.g. 50Mbps) can be unrestricted, and individual users may still occupy large amounts of bandwidth; too low (e.g. 2Mbps) can affect the regular use experience of residents, with HD video and big file downloads limited. Generally, every user in an economic hotel can have a bandwidth between 5Mbps and 10Mbps, with a medium-end hotel between 10Mbps and 20Mbps, and a high end hotel between 20Mbps and 50 Mbps, which requires a comprehensive assessment based on export bandwidth, number of rooms, type of guest. The bandwidth limit per user can be based on the terminal MAC address or a resident authentication account number."Per terminal"Limit. Multiple terminals of a resident calculate bandwidth independently; account-based limitation is"Every tenant"Limit, all terminals of a resident share the same bandwidth pool. For hotels, based on MAC addresses"Per terminal"Restrictions are usually more appropriate, because when the cellular phone and notebooks of the occupants are used at the same time, they have separate bandwidth security and experience. Each user bandwidth restriction can also be associated with a resident’s identity: the normal tenant uses default bandwidth, VIP members or administrative floor tenants use higher bandwidth to reflect differential services. The bandwidth limit configuration should be centralized in WiFi certification systems, distributed through RADUSA protocols to access devices (AC or gateways) at the time of authentication, with actual speed limits being implemented by accessing equipment.
Apply recognition and intelligent limit stream
Limiting the overall bandwidth per user is not enough, because different applications require a large variation in bandwidth and network quality. For example, page browsing requires only a small bandwidth but is sensitive to delays, video stream media need greater bandwidth but are not sensitive to delays, P2P downloads consume significant bandwidth and are not sensitive to delays, videoconferencing requires stable bandwidth and low delay, and online games demand extremely high rates of delay and drop-out. If application types are not distinguished, a resident P2P download may fill his 10Mbps bandwidth, leading to his simultaneous opening of pages and microletters becoming katon as well. Applying the recognition-Aware Qos is the technology to solve this problem. The system identifies the type of application of the flow through DPI (infra-package testing) and then assigns different bandwidth scales and priorities according to the type of application. Common application classification and processing strategies include: first, key applications security, where web browsing (HTTP/HTTPS), instant messaging (micromail, QQ), mail (SMTP/POP3/IMAP), videoconferencing (Zoom, Teams, tem conference) applications are marked as high priority, with minimum bandwidth safeguards allocated (e.g. at least 2 Mbps per user for critical applications), even when the total bandwidth is occupied; The second is the restricted stream of video streams, with online videos (excellent, Aichi, troupe, YouTube, Netflix, etc.) and short videos (twitching, fast hands, TikTok) marked as medium priority, limiting the bandwidth of individual users (for example, no more than 4Mbps per user), preventing individual users from viewing 4K videos overbands; the third is the strict limits on P2P downloads, and the P2P download tools such as BT, thunder, electric donkey are marked as low priority, severely restricting at peak times (for example, not more than 1 Mbps per user), or even blocking them, and appropriately easing at low heights; The fourth is the optimization of games, with online games (heroes' leagues, royal glory, peace elites, etc.) marked as high priority, guaranteeing low delay and low drop packages and enhancing the game player’s experience; the fifth is the modest management of social and content platforms, which are labelled medium priority, without severe restrictions but integrated into overall bandwidth management. The key to application recognition is timely updating of the identity library because new applications and protocols are emerging and old ones may be updated, and systems need to update their profiles regularly to ensure accuracy. A mature hotel WiFi certification system should have built-in application recognition libraries that cover mainstream Internet applications in the country and support custom application rules. Smart flow strategies should be dynamic: systems automatically adjust their current limit strategy to real-time bandwidth usage, easing restrictions when bandwidth usage is below a threshold (e.g. 50%) to allow users higher speed; and tightening limits on bandwidth use above a threshold (e.g. 80%) to safeguard critical applications and equity.
Time- and region-based dynamic strategies
Hotel network use is clearly uneven in time and space, static bandwidth strategies are not adapted to this imbalance and require dynamic strategies based on time and region. Time-based dynamics strategy: the system implements different bandwidth management strategies at different times (from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.). For example, during peak periods (from 10 Mbps to 5 Mbps), tight bandwidth ceilings per user (from 10 Mbps to 5 Mbps) are tightened, P2P downloads and video stream media are severely restricted, web page views and instantaneous communications are guaranteed; standard bandwidth policies (10 Mbps per user) are implemented during normal hours (7 a.m. to 8 p.m.), with moderate traffic limits; At low peaks (11 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day), easing bandwidth restrictions (20Mbps per user or speed limit) allows large traffic downloads and high-resolution videos, as bandwidth resources are available at this time. Time-based strategies can also be associated with holiday holidays and special events such as more frequent weekends and holidays, more intensive web usage, which allow for stricter bandwidth strategies; hotels can temporarily raise bandwidth security in conference room areas when organizing major conferences or events. For example, standard bandwidth strategies are implemented in guest areas (10 Mbps per user) to safeguard the basic experiences of tenants; more stringent bandwidth strategies (5 Mbps per user) are implemented in lobby and public areas because of high levels of mobility and non-residential use in public areas to prevent their abuse; high bandwidth strategies (50 Mbps per user or higher per user, with low delay guarantees) are implemented in conference rooms and business centres to support videoconferencing and large file transmissions; and moderate bandwidth strategies (5 Mbps per user) are implemented in restaurants and bars, mainly to meet the needs of mobile phones and social media; Staff areas implement strict bandwidth strategies (two Mbps per user, limiting non-operational applications) to prevent overuse of the network during working hours. Based on regional strategy needs, the system is linked to AP position information, judged by end-connected APs and then applies a corresponding bandwidth policy. When terminals move across different regions (e.g. from guest rooms to lobby), the system automatically switches to the respective area strategy. Time- and region-based dynamic strategies can make bandwidth management more precise and efficient, avoiding it."One cut."The strategy should be configured in a visual way in the WiFi authentication system management interface, and managers can configure and adjust the policy in a visual manner through time axes and regional maps without having to prepare complex rules.
Flow quotas and equitable use strategies
In addition to bandwidth restrictions, the flow quota (Data Quota) and the Fair Usage Policy are important tools for hotel bandwidth management. The traffic quota is a total flow cap that can be used by each tenant or terminal over a certain period of time (for example, 24 hours or during a shop), with post-quote systems taking measures such as speeding down, offline, or extra charges. For example, the daily traffic quota of 5GB per tenant is set to reach 1 Mbps at a later speed, so that even if a resident downloads 24 hours a day, his overall flow is limited to reasonable limits. The weakness of the traffic quota is that it may affect normal users’ experience.——If quotas are too low, users who normally view videos and browse web pages may also be able to do more than the quota is lowered. Therefore, traffic quotas are usually set in a relatively loose way (e.g. 10 GB to 20 GB per day), targeting mainly extreme large-flow users, without affecting most normal users. Equitable access strategies are a more intelligent way of managing traffic: the system does not impose rigid traffic quotas but monitors traffic usage by each user in real time, temporarily reducing the bandwidth when it is tight, guaranteeing bandwidth to small-flow users, restoring normal speed for all users when bandwidth is relaxed."Priority is given to guaranteeing basic experiences for the majority of people in times of resource constraints, and to providing high speeds for all when resources are available"For example, when the export bandwidth usage rate exceeds 90%, the system automatically identifies the top 10% of current traffic, temporarily reduces their bandwidth by 50%, releasing it to secure basic experience for the other 90%; when bandwidth usage is below 70%, restores normal bandwidth for the downtime user. Equitable access strategies do not require rigid quotas, full transparency for normal users, and temporary restrictions on large-flow users are only applied in extreme cases, which is a more humane way of managing."Safety valve"In the case of high-end hotels, strict flow quotas (which may affect the experience of high-end customers) are not usually recommended, but rather in a way that uses equitable use strategies + higher bandwidth guarantees; for economic hotels, they can be an effective means of controlling costs, but they should be set at sufficiently loose levels to avoid affecting normal users.
Bandwidth monitoring and analysis optimization
Bandwidth management is not."It's a good thing to set it up once."The hotel WiFi certification system should provide a well-developed bandwidth monitoring and analysis function to help managers understand the use of the network, identify problems and optimize strategies. Real-time surveillance: the system provides real-time bandwidth dashboards showing current export bandwidth usage (up/down), number of online terminals, region-wide bandwidth usage, real-time traffic ranking for each user, application flow distribution (video, web page, download, social networking, etc.). Managers can keep abreast of the overall situation of the network and quickly detect anomalies (e.g. an unusually high terminal flow and a sudden increase in regional bandwidth usage). Historical analysis: The system records and stores historical bandwidth use data, supporting trend analyses in days, weeks, months, years. Managers can view the temporal distribution curves of bandwidth usage (knowing peak hours and peaks on a daily basis), comparisons between regions (knowing which region has the largest bandwidth needs), trends in application flows (knowing how residents are used for their applications, average and peak traffic (appraising the reasonableness of bandwidth strategies). These historical data are an important basis for bandwidth planning and strategy optimization. Abnormal detection: Automated analysis of bandwidth use data by the system, and detection of an anomaly pattern and warning, such as sudden increases in a terminal's traffic to more than 10 times normal levels (possibly malicious software or viruses), sudden increases in bandwidth usage during irregular periods in a given region (perhaps unauthorized access or internal misuse), sudden abnormally larger traffic ratios for an application (perhaps new P2P tools or attack flows). Anomalous testing can help managers to detect and address security problems and resource abuse in a timely manner. Reporting: The system regularly generates bandwidth usage reports (daily, weekly, monthly) that include bandwidth statistics, peak time analysis, user traffic rankings, application flow distribution, regional comparisons, trend predictions, etc. to support the export of PDF or Excel formats. These statements can be used to report network performance to hotel management and can also be used as data support for bandwidth and budget requests. Strategy optimization: Data based on monitoring and analysis can be used by administrators to continuously optimize bandwidth policies. For example, if data analysis shows that bandwidth usage between 9 and 10 p.m. often reaches more than 95 per cent, indicating that current bandwidth deficiency or flow limit strategies need to be adjusted, further tightening of the stream during this period may be considered, or applications for export expansion bandwidth; if data analysis reveals a traffic ratio of less than 5 per cent for P2P downloads, it suggests that the P2P limit flow strategy can be appropriately relaxed; if data analysis indicates a higher volume of videoconferencing in working hours, it suggests a need for higher QoS security for videoconferences."Surveillance→Analysis→Optimize→Re-monitored."The cycle is constantly improving the efficiency of bandwidth resources and the Internet experience of tenants.
The bandwidth management and traffic control of the WiFi certification system at the hotel is a key technological tool for achieving optimal user experience with limited bandwidth resources."Bandwidth."To influence others, through the application of knowledge and intelligent flow guarantee experiences, to adapt to the imbalance in network use through time- and region-based dynamic strategies, to control resource consumption by extreme users through traffic quotas and equitable use strategies, and to optimize management through continuous surveillance analysis and strategy. For hotels, bandwidth management is not."Restricted guests"But..."Equitable allocation of resources, guaranteed experience for the majority and control of operating costs"A good bandwidth management strategy that allows hotels to significantly increase their customer satisfaction online without increasing bandwidth costs is an essential core capacity for the hotel WiFi operation.