[elizilla]

I've noticed that more expensive hotels are more likely to charge for it, too. My theory about that used to be that they were the early adopters, and they signed contracts for it, that were based on the idea they'd charge for it, and now they've got this contractual expense in their business model. And for your money, you get some kind of minimal IT support, there's an 800 number to call if it's not working, a company whose job it is to maintain the equipment, etc. I'm not saying they do it well, but they at least have a plan for something besides dumb looks from the clerk at the front desk when the internet doesn't work. Lately, though, this style of internet service is becoming more common with the free hotel internet, too, at least in the midrange places. So those vendors must be coming down in price, or the hotel industry is getting adjusted to them just as a normal infrastructure cost, or something.

Meanwhile the cheap mom-n-pop motels jumped on the bandwagon after the decision makers started getting broadband at home, and they discovered that they could get the equipment for $50 and have their 14 year old kid set it up for them, and they can hook it into their cable tv for hardly any more money per month. They can pay a fixed monthly price for a barely adequate pipe, and since it's "free" it need not be reliable.