[87all] Pullman guests: plan for using wired net

[IETF Secretariat <[e-mail]>]

In preparation for the IETF meeting, the Pullman Hotel has set up a special wireless SSID ("event") for attendees in the IETF block, credentials for which are being handed out to guests in the block upon check-in.  Unfortunately, over the past 48 hours, early arriving IETF attendees have found its performance has ranged from passable to completely unusable.  By comparison, reports are that the wired network has been performing well.

The wired network and the Pullman's normal wireless net (SSIDs "m3connect" and "pullman") use device-specific credentials, separate from the shared credential for the "event" network.  If you need one of these, they are available to IETF block guests for free by asking the hotel's front desk.

Hence, if you are staying at the Pullman Hotel, you may wish to prepare to use the wired network in your hotel room.  Specifically, you may wish to bring with you an access point and/or a long ethernet cable with an RJ45 coupler.  Note that the ethernet cables provided by the Pullman (in at least some rooms) are both quite short and non-standard (pins 1 and 2 are swapped with 4 and 5), so neither straight cables nor standard crossover cables will work on their own. Accordingly, if bringing a long network cable, it may also be wise to bring an RJ45 coupler.

As a reminder, the IETF Network team deploys a network for the meeting space and endevours to augment the guest room and public space Internet in the headquarters hotel.  Overflow hotels such as the Pullman are unaugmented, using the normal network infrastructure.