Citymax Hotels....Al Barsha
Citymax Hotels, Aruba to provide WiFi connectivity to guests
DUBAI, December 15, 2014
Citymax Hotels, the hospitality division of the UAE's Landmark Group, has leveraged Aruba Networks' wireless infrastructure to establish WiFi networks in its Al Barsha and Bur Dubai properties.
With the deployment, hotel guests can now avail of high-speed wireless internet access via a multitude of personal computing devices through the entire premises of the two hotels including elevators and basement parking lots, said a statement.
Amit Kanchan, head of IT for Landmark Hospitality, said: “Today, we summarise our customers' primary requirements with three Bs-Bed, Breakfast and Bandwidth. When guests enter our hotel, they don't want a welcome drink, they want to connect immediately. We have therefore had to adapt our business and focus on our WiFi offering.”
The primary objective was to provide ubiquitous access across each property and enable guests to transition seamlessly between Access Points (APs) without any noticeable change in performance- thus allowing them to roam throughout the hotel without losing internet connectivity, said the statement.
The team decided on a barbell strategy, to address the pressing short term challenges while also accommodating for future requirements and found Aruba's wireless infrastructure solution fit perfectly with its strategic objectives, it said.
Supported by Aruba's implementation partner, CADD Emirates, Citymax Hotels settled on an 802.11n solution from Aruba Network which could provide 600Mbps throughput and coverage to a large number of guest devices.
Aruba 103 Series Access Points were selected as the primary APs for the deployment due to their multifunctional capabilities, affordability and ability to work in medium-density WiFi environments while minimising interference from cellular networks.
An Aruba Networks 7200 Series Mobility Controller has also been deployed to manage authentication, encryption, VPN connections, IPv4 and IPv6 services and deliver other advanced security features.
The guests will connect via a single SSID thereby eliminating the need to repeatedly search for and log into the WiFi network as they move around the hotel.
The system has also been designed to provide the same high-level of service throughout the premises. A major benefit of Aruba's deployment was the efficient utilisation of existing infrastructure such as the network cabling.
Russell Sharpe, chief operating officer of Citymax Hotels, said: “Today we can proudly say that Citymax hotels is a very contemporary technology enabled hotel which is ready to welcome the guests of today and the future.
“We intend to move on to the next stage wherein we will be able to use our admin technologies, staff technologies and guest facing technologies on this WiFi infrastructure. We also intend to use VoIP for our internal communications and see Aruba's solution as being a long term investment.” - TradeArabia News Service