System and method for provisioning internet access

A system for provisioning internet access to guests of multiple travel facilities, said system comprising:

• a plurality of travel facilities, each respective one of the plurality of travel facilities comprising:
• a number of access points, each configured to receive connection requests from personal electronic devices in wired or wireless connection with any of the number of access points;
• a gateway device in electronic communication with each of the number of access points for the respective one of the plurality of travel facilities and configured to receive the connection requests;
• a property management system (PMS) for the respective one of the plurality of travel facilities, wherein said PMS is in electronic communication with the gateway device and comprises identifying information for guests registered with the respective one of the plurality of travel facilities;
• and
• a router in electronic communication with the gateway device for the respective one of the plurality of travel facilities and an internet;
• an API gateway, remote from each of the plurality of travel facilities and in electronic communication with each of the gateway devices for each of the plurality of travel facilities by way of the internet and configured to provide a user interface for display at any of the personal electronic devices requesting access at any of the number of access points of any of the plurality of travel facilities;
• and
• a central destination server in electronic communication with each of the gateway devices and the API gateway by way of the internet, comprising IP addresses for at least some of the personal electronic devices, and comprising software instructions which when executed configure the central destination server to:
• receive a request to connect to the internet from a respective one of the personal electronic devices relayed by way of a respective one of the number of gateway devices, wherein said request to connect comprises an IP address of the respective one of the personal electronic devices attempting the connection;
• determine if the IP address matches one of a number of IP address stored at the central destination sever and identified as having been previously granted internet access for a duration of stay;
• if said IP address matches one of the number of IP addressed stored at the central database, retrieve the duration of stay associated with the matching IP address:
• determine a current time;
• and
• relay a command to the respective gateway device to grant internet access to the respective one of the personal electronic devices if the current time is within the duration of stay.

A method for provisioning internet access to guests of multiple travel facilities, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing, in each of a number of travel facilities, a number of access points configured to receive connection requests from personal electronic devices, a gateway device in electronic communication with each of the access points for each respective one of the number of travel facilities and configured to receive the connection requests for the respective one of the number of travel facilities, a property management system (PMS) in electronic communication with the gateway device for the respective one of the number of travel facilities and comprising identifying information for guests registered with the respective one of the number of travel facilities, and a router in connection with the gateway device for the respective one of the number of travel facilities and an internet;
• providing an API gateway in electronic communication with all of the gateway devices of all of the number of travel facilities by way of the internet;
• providing a central destination server in electronic communication with all of the gateway devices of all of the number of travel facilities and the API gateway by way of the internet and comprising executable software instructions;
• periodically retrieving said identifying information from each of the PMS of each of the number of travel facilities;
• populating said central destination server with IP addresses for the personal electronic devices, wherein each of said IP addresses is associated with a duration of stay, wherein each duration of stay is determined as a continuous length of stay across multiple of the number of travel facilities as determined from said identifying information periodically retrieved from each of the PMS of each of the number of travel facilities;
• receiving a request to connect to the internet from a given one of the personal electronic devices at the gateway for the respective one of the number of travel facilities, wherein said request to connect comprises an IP address of the given one of the personal electronic devices attempting the connection;
• relaying the request to the central destination server;
• determining that the IP address matches one of the stored IP addresses;
• retrieving, form the central destination server, the duration of stay associated with the matching IP address stored at the central destination server;
• determining a current time;
• determining that the current time is within the duration of stay;
• and
• relaying a command from the central destination server to the gateway device of the respective one of the number of travel facilities to grant internet access.