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Marriott gives up on blocking guests from using personal Wi-Fi hotspots

Marriott gives up on blocking guests from using personal Wi-Fi hotspots

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Marriott's plan to block guests from using personal Wi-Fi hotspots in its hotels was always a pretty terrible idea. And after getting a ton of pushback from travelers and being dealt a fine by the FCC, it's finally abandoning the whole thing. A spokesperson recently told Inc, "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."

For some time, Marriott has said it had no desire to cripple hotspots in hotel rooms, but wanted the ability to shut them down in conference rooms. But that approach still outraged customers, who want the ability to use the smartphone tethering and other wireless connectivity they're already paying for rather than succumb to pricey hotel internet rates. Companies including Microsoft and Google came to the defense of hotel stayers, while the Marriott feebly tried to argue that it was only trying to shield guests from "rogue wireless hotspots that can cause degraded service, insidious cyber attacks and identity theft." No matter now: it seems Marriott has finally gotten the message and given up on making people pay twice for connectivity.