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The Bellagio is among eight MGM Resorts International casinos on the Las Vegas Strip that will be offering free Wi-Fi
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 | 9:49 a.m.
MGM Resorts International will be offering free Wi-Fi at eight of its resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, the company announced today.
There will be no fee or password required to access the wireless local area network (LAN) via smart phones, laptops and tablets.
Officials at MGM Resorts said they completed installation of the Cisco Systems network at four casinos last month, with four more scheduled to get service this year. MGM says it's the first hospitality company in the nation to offer such a powerful LAN system. The company compares the Cisco services to Wi-Fi available at last summer's London Olympics.
"No one else in Las Vegas, and even the U.S., can offer the scale, quantity and quality of wireless services we now have available," John Bollen, vice president of technology strategy for MGM Resorts, said in a statement.
Details of the new Wi-Fi services became public as the International Consumer Electronics Show opened in Las Vegas.
The Cisco system will make each resort a wireless hotspot with access available in the casino, at the pool and in the lobby and restaurants. The MGM Grand expects to have Wi-Fi in all of its rooms by March.
Those wanting more bandwidth may buy upgrades. Hotel guests will receive the faster service as part of their stay.
MGM and Cisco have already added the system to public areas at the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and the Mirage. The Wi-Fi service is scheduled to be added this year at the Monte Carlo, New York-New York, the Luxor and the Excalibur.
The new system promises to be up to 30 percent faster than similar large-scale wireless networks. The Bellagio has 330 access points, more than Wi-Fi networks at some large theme parks, officials said.
"By working with MGM Resorts, Cisco is taking the customer from basic connectivity to an uncompromised user experience," said Sujai Hajela, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Wireless Networking Group.
The network will also allow MGM to upgrade its apps to include resort maps with turn-by-turn navigation, interactive restaurant wine menus and the ability to push out offers for members of its Mlife customer loyalty program.
Conventions are also receiving better web access.
MGM's previous wireless service offered support for as many as 4,000 users at a time. The new Wi-Fi deployment has a capacity for 120,000 concurrent users. Convention organizers can pay for tiered services and larger private networks for their attendees.
All 8 Resorts belong to MGM? Well, then they should come up with something MUCH MORE important: Extend the City Center Tram from the Monte Carlo Station to NY, NY, and then from there to Excalibur! That would give everyone this excellent free of charge transportation option for the south half of the strip, from Bellagio to Mandalay Bay! And maybe, one day, it gets extendet from Bellagio over Cesars down to Fashion Show Mall, that would certainly be the BEST THING for all Hotel Guests, staying in one of the MGM Resorts! And regarding Wifi, free Internet for everyone is something, that has been overdue for a long time! The Mayor of Las Vegas should consider finding a sponsor, who would turn the whole strip to a free wifi-zone, similar to San Francisco's plans to offer free WiFi in its city center!
@elvegas
The Strip is not part of the City of Las Vegas; therefore, the mayor of Las Vegas has no jurisdiction over it.
About "free" wifi: Doesn't MGM charge resort fees? If that's the case,the cost of the free wifi is subsumed within that charge.
It's amazing. The LV Sun can find out every detail of this new addition to MGM services but they can't find out why the chief executive at CityCenter abruptly "resigned"? A 10th grade high school newspaper reporter could have uncovered that one. It's amazing how the Casino industry is protected in this town by the media.
@iwonder: I didn't know that. I'm a frequent visitor from Europe. About the free wifi: Last week, I was at the Bellagio. You can log into a free wifi-net, then a welcome screen appears, where you can select a free 264kb access, only by typing in an email address. Faster options are not free, however even this slow connection is great, and as a european traveller, I am totally thankful for that service. Do you know, how expensive data roaming is, if I use the 3G or LTE Network with my european iPhone? It is 14.99 US$ per Megabyte! So just checking emails could possibly cost me 150 bucks each time. Ridiculous. And this is, what they call "Globalization"?
Elvegas: This is the USA, unlike most other countries we don't have inexpensive or high-speed internet.
Casinos: Thanks for the wi-fi. Now, please have staffed charging booths featuring friendly booth attendants who will check and recharge phones in exchange for a tip.
MGM Grand has now WI-FI or OR WILL HAVE IT IN MARCH. The article is not clear on that.
It's about time. They have been offering free wifi at hotels and motels across the country for years. I hope the other hotels on the Strip will follow suit.
Nothing is ever 'free'... you can trust the cost of this is built into the price of the room - someplace - resort fees would be my guess.
@TomD - right on!!
Every comment here is head on. High density wireless is nothing new. Big bad MGM with Big Bad Cisco, more promotional lip service. This performance is old news in India, Europe and Asia and for you big brother types, Cisco's Access Point GPS can track were you are... Cellular operators hose visitors and how nice it is that MGM is doing this out of the "kindness" of their hearts... Beware of the Trojans. NO One offering this service quality, maybe not in gaming hospitality but my 9000 square foot office can support 300 concurrent users on our system, with test reports to prove it. We do this for small businesses all day. Of course these guys can claim anything. Prove the effective bandwidth by application... And when you connect read the disclaimer! I do like the wee free zone! But wait that might cut into big business profits and give small business a chance to thrive. Can't have that !
They can get a free signal from my house anytime 24/7 - strong enough to reach not only the MGM in Las Vegas but the one in Reno also.
Now you are telling, just waiting a next time to join international campaigns.
Communication security, please be welcome.
Now only if any of the MGM casinos offered favorable blackjack rules or slot machines that paid out, I might actually stay there.