Nice plug setup in a hotel

wkearney99

Senior Member
We stayed at the Hyatt Times Square recently and they had these in the furniture adjacent to the TVs:
 
ta8930_mediahub_tl_2.jpg

 
http://www.teleadapt.com/hospitality-products/mediahubs/mediahub-tl
 
Made for a convenient way to connect a Chromecast and a phone microUSB cable (for charging).
 
Along the same lines, our hotel on St. Maarten had outlets on the nightstand table lamp bases.  Much handier than having to move furniture to get access to outlets.
 
Don't know whose lighting controls they were using, but the scene control was nice.  Didn't take a picture myself, but here's one I found elsewhere:
 
hyatt-times-square-3.jpg

 
Interesting to see the clever ways vendors are stepping up to integrate technology.
 
 
Am I the only one who is typically always hesitant to plug my phone into a provided USB jack? I'm always wondering who's backing up my files if I were to plug in...
 
I've seen things like this before in high end hotels.  I think the last one I saw was in Spain.  They also had some sort of fairly advanced lighting control system.  Was awesome!
 
I doubt that the hotel would have or know much about the technology relating to using a USB port to access your SD card stuff on your phone.   That said it is probably just a USB charger port.
 
None the less.
 
I always bring my own USB charger.
 
I never plug in to the network whether it is wired or wireless directly.  Always utilize my microrouter.
 
I agree it's always best to use your own charger as opposed to just some random USB socket.

I also use my own microrouter, or a hotspot on my phone. But even with those I prefer to use an openVPN connection back to my router at home. That way any of the services and things that I use will still come up from my own ISP subnet. You do need to make sure however your device isn't also reporting its own location information. If just to avoid country restrictions for things like Netflix.
 
Movie wise still utilize an old Patriot Box Office media player with a Tb drive in it. 
 
It has analog, HDMI, component video out on it and its just a bit bigger than the hard drive. 
 
Historically just disconnected TV antenna and / or  plugged in the media player. 
 
pete_c said:
I doubt that the hotel would have or know much about the technology relating to using a USB port to access your SD card stuff on your phone.   That said it is probably just a USB charger port.
 
None the less.
 
I always bring my own USB charger.
 
I never plug in to the network whether it is wired or wireless directly.  Always utilize my microrouter.
 
It doesn't have to be known to the hotel. The company who installed it could play a part, as could the guest who was there before you...
 
This is the same reason thumbdrives are banned on military bases....big issue a few years back when China flooded the local stores surrounding them and had malware/spyware hidden on them.
 
I've been to Hard Rock hotels that typically have that setup. I never use the USB ports, not because of spying, but because they are abused and who knows if they work? If you really care about privacy, make sure you use a VPN on the hotel Wi-Fi.
 
Unrelated / related a bit to OP here many years ago went to a combo in a single duplex box POE AP and network port in the garage.  
 
It was made for hotel use.
 
inwallPOEwireless.jpg
 
I quit using it after moving to an Ubiquito AP. 
 
Not wanting to run more Cat5e also went to a HP / 3Com mini POE mini managed switch (Intellijack) in a single duplex box behind the nightstands in the MBR.  Mine is smaller and fits inside of the 1/2 duplex box. This mini POE switch takes care of the two night stand POE connected tabletop touchscreens.
 
intellijackMBR.jpg
 
Googling this morning found a combo 4X4 AP, NIC, USB charger thing.  This would be something you could utilize in a detached garage.
 
Here lately when tinkering with my automobiles watch you tube videos either on the tablet or laptop.
 
Googling this morning found a 4X4 AP, USB charger, 2 port switch ...KY-928
 
It lists for $24.95.
 
371214.jpg
371214_1.jpg
 
Looks to need a non-US style mounting box.  That and the specs list AC power.  I didn't see anything documenting what those two wire terminals are on the back.  Which may present problems with electrical code compliance.  
 
That and I'm not sure you can get the kind of output it suggests using PoE only.
 
Most importantly, it doesn't list anything regarding the firmware being used for the AP.  No way I'd want just some random bit of junk connected to my network. 
 
Doesn't appear to have any UL or CSA type approvals for use in North America either (no surprise).  Love the packing list:
 
Packing List
1 x Wi-Fi AP repeater
1 x Chinese manual
 
 
Cheers
Al
 
Yeah here just googling found this device.
 
Relating to small footprint wireless / switches stuff just about every SOHO combo AP today is using same or similiar chip set wherever you purchase it or however much you pay for it. 
 
One of the first microrouters I played with was 120VAC.  I modded it powering it up with 5VDC.  I am guessing this one would be similarly designed to use 5VDC for the main board eliminating the need to utilize 120VAC.  I would probably just use one POE connection to it for powering the device.
 
Looks like the USB port will also work with a USB 3G stick.  It looks too like it just extends POE. 
 
Found it for $16 USD and it is sold for hotels et al and it appears that the OS is a modified OpenWRT.
 
pic-1.jpg
 
pic-2.jpg
 
Back
Top