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Automatic internet activation for registered user device upon detecting its device identifier on network of hospitality establishment during active reservation

  • US 10,044,724 B2
  • Filed: 08/23/2015
  • Issued: 08/07/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:

  • detecting a device identifier of a user device in network traffic transmitted on a local area network of a hospitality establishment;

    determining that the device identifier is not already cleared for Internet access from the local area network;

    after determining the device identifier to not already be cleared for Internet access from the local area network, querying a reservation database of the hospitality establishment to determine whether the device identifier corresponds to a registered device of an active reservation of the hospitality establishment;

    when determining that the device identifier corresponds to at least one registered device of at least one active reservation of the hospitality establishment, determining an initial zone of the hospitality establishment at which the user device is located, the hospitality establishment having a plurality of different zones from which Internet access can be requested;

    adding a device-specific rule to a firewall controlling access between the local area network of the hospitality establishment and the Internet, the device-specific rule causing the firewall to allow the user device to access the Internet from the local area network while the user device is located in the initial zone;

    wherein adding the device-specific rule to the firewall automatically activates Internet access for the user device from the initial zone and prevents the user device from needing to display a login portal before gaining access to the Internet while the user device is in the initial zone;

    setting an Internet access expiry time for the device-specific rule according to a default Internet access time entitlement of the initial zone, wherein at least two of the plurality of different zones at the hospitality establishment have different default Internet access time entitlements;

    monitoring when the Internet access expiry time is reached; and

    after determining that the Internet access expiry time has been reached, removing the device-specific rule for the user device from the firewall thereby deactivating Internet access for the user device from the initial zone;

    wherein the firewall is preconfigured to by default prevent unauthorized user devices from accessing the Internet from the local area network and to cause the unauthorized user devices to display the login portal.

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