Automatically configuring computer network at hospitality establishment with reservation-specific settings

A method of configuring a computer network of a hospitality establishment, the method comprising:

• storing details of a plurality of reservations of the hospitality establishment;
• wherein a particular reservation of the stored reservations includes a registered device setting for affecting behavior of the computer network toward a user device having a specified device identifier, and the registered device setting specifies that the user device having the specified device identifier is to be allowed Internet access without being required to log in during the particular reservation;
• tracking current time;
• automatically configuring one or more network components of the computer network when a start time of the particular reservation is reached in order to activate the registered device setting;
• and
• automatically configuring the one or more network components when an end time of the particular reservation is reached in order to deactivate the registered device setting;
• wherein the one or more network components at least include an access control device controlling access between the computer network at the hospitality establishment and the Internet, the access control device by default requiring user devices to log in at a login portal before gaining access to the Internet;
• and the method further comprises:
• automatically configuring the access control device when the start time of the particular reservation is reached to allow the user device having the specified device identifier to access the Internet from the computer network at the hospitality establishment without logging in at the login portal.

An apparatus comprising:

• a storage device storing details of a plurality of reservations of a hospitality establishment;
• wherein a particular reservation of the stored reservations includes a registered device setting for affecting behavior of a computer network at the hospitality establishment toward a user device having a specified device identifier, and the registered device setting specifies that the user device having the specified device identifier is to be allowed Internet access without being required to log in during the particular reservation;
• a network interface coupled to the computer network;
• a clock chip tracking time;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the storage device, the network interface, and the clock chip;
• wherein the one or more processors are configured to automatically configure one or more network components of the computer network when a start time of the particular reservation is reached in order to activate the registered device setting, and to automatically configure the one or more network components when an end time of the particular reservation is reached in order to deactivate the registered device setting;
• the one or more network components at least include an access control device controlling access between the computer network at the hospitality establishment and the Internet, the access control device by default requiring user devices to log in at a login portal before gaining access to the Internet;
• and
• the one or more processors are configured to automatically configure the access control device when the start time of the particular reservation is reached to allow the user device having the specified device identifier to access the Internet from the computer network at the hospitality establishment without logging in at the login portal.