With the growing dependence of youngsters on internet and its social networks, you tube, movies, music, etc, should internet be paid or free. I ask this not as a big investment from the hostel but as a business opportunity in the hostel
15 years
I think it's better to offer free Internet, but if you charge make it relatively cheap.
I think if you have a large hostel or if the (for-pay) Internet cafe is open to the public it can be a significant amount of extra income -- even an entire separate business.
I think wifi should be generally be free. People don't want to pay an hourly rate for wifi use.
15 years
I think it's better to offer free Internet, but if you charge make it relatively cheap.
I think if you have a large hostel or if the (for-pay) Internet cafe is open to the public it can be a significant amount of extra income -- even an entire separate business.
I think wifi should be generally be free. People don't want to pay an hourly rate for wifi use.
I agree with all of this - if you have a larger place in the city you could easily make money from paid for access. If you're smaller, maybe rural and with little non resident custom, you may as well make it free in my opinion. Paid access has overheads, such as software, coin box and /or supervision. If you have it free the guests love it. We have it free here and people are very happy with it. It would also depend on how expensive /reliable access is in your country too.
15 years
I think wifi should be free as well, but it must be a good connection or the guest will not appreciate it. The hostel I worked at had free internet but the service was unreliable and often the computers would crash rendering them useless for hours or even days! I would also say keep the computer area clean and tidy as guests tend to eat and drink while surfing and do not always clean up after themselves. From a HK perspective clean and disenfect the Keyboards daily as this is a great way to spread germs and bacteria that can get your guests and staff sick.
15 years
Paid access has overheads, such as software, coin box and /or supervision.
At one hostel I worked at there was eventually one employee running just the cafe during peak hours, because requests to use the computers were putting pressure on the front desk, especially during check-ins. (Coin machines might have been an option, but the computers were open to the public.)
There is a Wiki page that lists some free Internet cafe software -- like OpenKiosk.
From a HK perspective clean and disenfect the Keyboards daily as this is a great way to spread germs and bacteria that can get your guests and staff sick.
The average computer keyboard is apparently dirtier than the average toilet seat
(but cleaner than a cell phone) :)
I use rubbing alcohol (~70%) to clean my laptop keyboards.
15 years
The best solution for anyone who has a 50-bed hostel or larger and wants to charge for internet time, is to use a PIN machine to sell/dispense the login codes (assuming that you are also using an internet cafe software program). Not only does this free up your receptionists' time and allows them to focus on helping guests, it will also boost your sales. You can also sell phone cards through the same machine (you can receive phone card PINs on an excel spreadsheet instead of the physical cards). When I first installed one of these machines I figured it would help with the internet sales, but I was really surprised at how the Phone Card sales went up.
I give away the WiFi in my hostels, but if you want to charge for both I would suggest using TrueCafe.net
A PIN Machine costs about US$4,500 (taxes and transportation included), which may sound like a lot, but a 120-bed hostel will make this up in increased revenue in about 4 months. Or if you are paying someone 8 hours a day just to sell internet time, you'll make your money back in less than 60 days.
I use PIN machines from Opal Manufacturing out of Toronto, Canada. Although I haven't done it yet, they can also be configured to take credit cards.
- Marc
15 years
Dear Friends,
Thank you Marc for recommending our software!
Just wanted to pay some attention that we don't only provide a complete Internet cafe software (desktop PCs + wi-fi terminals):
...but also a separate CuteHotspot wi-fi billing solution, which is the same Internet cafe software but withouth desktop PCs support:
I hope you find our products helpful. Please let us know if you have any questions, comments, etc.!
Regards,
Serge.
15 years
A PIN Machine costs about US$4,500 (taxes and transportation included), which may sound like a lot, but a 120-bed hostel will make this up in increased revenue in about 4 months. Or if you are paying someone 8 hours a day just to sell internet time, you'll make your money back in less than 60 days.
I use PIN machines from Opal Manufacturing out of Toronto, Canada. Although I haven't done it yet, they can also be configured to take credit cards.
- Marc
Hi everyone,
we in Europe use a company (www.daphi.de) based in Berlin. I am working with them for years and they are excellent. They offer a pin Machine as well as a software for accounts which you can buy at the reception.
15 years
we in Europe use a company (www.daphi.de) based in Berlin.
Thanks, I added that to the Wiki too.
Related Pages
Log in to join discussion