December 9, 2009 -- Ruckus Wireless announced that Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants has selected and deployed the Ruckus ZoneFlex dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi system to support the simultaneous distribution of IP-based high-definition (HD) video on demand (VOD) and high-speed Internet access services (HSIA) at Kimpton's newly-opened Hotel Palomar Philadelphia.
The wireless LAN systems provider and Kimpton claim that Hotel Palomar Philadelphia is the among the nation's first hotels to implement an 802.11n Wi-Fi system to support the simultaneous distribution of IP-based VOD over Wi-Fi.
Ruckus Wireless maintains that recent advances in Wi-Fi technology that extend the range of signals and increase the reliability of Wi-Fi connections, now make it possible for Wi-Fi to support delay-sensitive applications like video. Historically, Wi-Fi has suffered from erratic performance and the inability to cope with interference and other obstacles that degrade performance. Patented Wi-Fi technologies such as those developed by Ruckus Wireless effectively eliminate these problems.
"Our plan was always to deliver IP-based VOD to the TVs in our guest rooms at the Hotel Palomar," says Donald OGrady, director of property technology at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. "During the project, we decided to move to the wireless VOD solution. Based on a pilot test of the solution, we knew it worked. This was a fairly easy choice for us."
Ruckus Wireless says that whether the situation is a renovation, a new development or an existing property, the benefits of its Smart Wi-Fi solutions include the elimination of cabling, and greater flexibility to deliver services anywhere throughout a hotel while minimizing disruptions that might otherwise require shutting down rooms for days or weeks for hotel in operation. For existing hotels without cabling and with limited budgets, Ruckus says its solutions can bring guests the latest and video applications and content more cost effectively.