In brief
How long after check-out should a hotel guest's internet stay on? Designing coupon validity as stay length plus tolerance, with no PMS integration at all.
A question we often hear from hoteliers: "The guest checked out and the internet is still on. Is that a problem?" Short answer: not if it is a designed tolerance; yes if it is an uncontrolled leak. This post covers coupon design based on stay length, the remembered-device window and what to tell reception. No hotel-software integration is involved; the box does not offer one.
Why "exactly at check-out" is the wrong target
Cutting the internet at the minute of check-out sounds neat, but three things go wrong in practice:
- The guest hands in the room, waits for a taxi in the lobby, and the internet drops. A complaint follows.
- A guest with a late check-out loses the connection off schedule.
- Doing this automatically means connecting to the hotel software, which is another integration and another point of failure.
Set the target differently: the internet switches itself off a reasonable time after the stay ends. You decide what "reasonable" is.
The design: validity = stay length + tolerance
The box lets you generate and print coupons in bulk. Each coupon is tied to a plan and carries a validity period. The formula is simple:
Coupon validity = number of nights × 24 hours + tolerance
A tolerance of 6 to 12 hours is a sensible range. Examples:
| Stay | Validity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 night | 36 hours | Noon check-in, until 6 pm the next day |
| 2 nights | 60 hours | 48 + 12 |
| 3 nights | 84 hours | 72 + 12 |
| 7 nights | 180 hours | 168 + 12 |
Reception keeps separate stacks of 1-, 2-, 3- and 7-night coupons. The guest gets one from the stack matching their stay. If the stay is extended, they get a second coupon; if it is cut short, the few leftover hours fall within the tolerance.
The nice part of this design: no system has to tell the box that "the guest has left". The coupon runs out on its own.
Session length and device remembering
Coupon validity is the ceiling; two more settings sit below it.
Session length. Our lab suggestion for lodging is the "long" template: 15/5 Mbps, 24-hour session, 3 devices, 5 GB per day. The session renews every 24 hours; while the coupon is valid the guest reconnects without entering a code again.
Device remembering. A verified phone is remembered for the period you set and the portal does not reappear. The template uses 7 days. A subtle point: keep the remembering window in step with coupon validity. A 30-day window is pointless for a 2-night guest; the device stays "known" long after the guest has gone. If your typical stay is 2 to 3 nights, about 3 days of remembering is enough. For long-stay apartments or dormitories, 7 days or more makes sense.
Random MAC settings on phones occasionally break remembering. The guest re-enters a code or coupon; nothing else is affected.
What about the SMS code path?
Coupons are not mandatory. Guests can get an SMS code with their phone number. Then the "after check-out" question is answered by plan settings: when the session length and remembering window run out, the portal reappears, and a guest who is no longer at the hotel simply cannot connect. The SMS path creates no work for reception; the coupon path gives a person-linked session without asking for a phone number, which helps with foreign guests and guests who prefer not to share their number. Keeping both open is the most common choice.
What to tell reception
One page is enough:
- Give the guest a coupon from the stack matching their stay. Put it in the key-card sleeve.
- Note which room received the coupon in the reception log (or your own list). The box records the coupon and the device; who received the coupon is something you know.
- If the guest extends, hand out a new coupon. No need to cancel the old one; it expires.
- If a guest says "my internet stopped", check the coupon validity first. If it has run out, give a new coupon. If not, the guest may have hit the device limit (3); ask them to remove an old device.
- If a guest loses the coupon, point them to the SMS code path; the portal is always available.
What happens on the record side
For every session the box records the coupon code, the device MAC, the assigned internal IP and the session start and end. Daily records are chained with SHA-256 digests, time-stamped under RFC 3161 and kept on the box for 2 years. Which sites the guest visited is not recorded. Who received which coupon is the hotel's own record, which is why the reception note matters.
What Law 5651 expects from a public-access provider is that internal IP assignment records are kept and their integrity protected. A coupon that stays valid a few hours past check-out does not affect this; the session is recorded for as long as it lasted.
Summary
- Do not aim for an instant cut-off; set a designed tolerance.
- Coupon validity = nights × 24 hours + 6 to 12 hours.
- 24-hour sessions, device remembering close to your typical stay length.
- Coupon stacks and a one-page instruction for reception.
- The box records the session; you note whom the coupon went to.
Hotel setup details are on the industries page and product options on the products page. For a plan sized to your room count, write to us.
This article is for general information and is not legal advice.