Middle East Cruise News

Dubai’s QE2 floating hotel gets major Wi-Fi upgrade during refurbishment

Huawei has announced that it has been contracted to install a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi system aboard QE2 by the team refurbishing the former Cunard ocean liner for its new role in Dubai as a floating hotel.

The Chinese technology giant will install a ‘wall plate AP2050DN solution’ aboard the former ocean liner, which will provide a superior internet access experience for guests.

“The wall plate AP supports concurrent wired and wireless access, and provides pass-through and USB ports to conveniently use IP phones and charge USB devices,” Huawei explains in a press release.

QE2-hotel

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“The wall plate AP is designed to match the plate and can be easily installed on an 86-type box to fit the plate seamlessly to the wall,” it adds.

As well as not affecting the aesthetics of the guest rooms, it also does not occupy space in the room. As the wall plate AP is deployed in a room, the signal does not need to pass through the wall.

This makes the signal coverage and network bandwidth better than the traditional corridor settled solution, which covers four rooms at a time, but usually results in blackspots.

“This solution allows wireless signals to cover the entire room, without signal interference generated with other rooms,” says Huawei.

A wall plate AP integrates several access methods, such as wireless access, wired access of four PCs, and access of two phones.

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Wall plate APs can optimize guest room cabling, beautify the environment for guests, and improve the network experience. Wall plate APs also provide an emergency telephone line. Luxury hotels usually will have an analog phone in the bathroom to ensure that guests can use the phone in an emergency.

Huawei’s wall plate AP solution provides an analog phone port, ensuring that this ‘analog lifeline’ is not eradicated by the arrival of the digital era.

By using Huawei’s wall plate AP solution, guests of the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship hotel receive an ultimate Wi-Fi experience.

From the standard rooms to luxury suite balconies, and from the swimming pool to the golf course, all guests can conveniently and flexibly enjoy a mobile office as well as leisure and entertainment.

Carl Stephens, hotel manager, Queen Elizabeth 2 Hotel said: “We believe that, with the enormous help of Huawei’s Wi-Fi solution, the cruise ship hotel will identify new opportunities in the future. This will make various new services possible and help provide guests with an ultimate experience that will make them never want to leave.”

Queen Elizabeth II, more commonly known as QE2, was the fastest ocean liner in trans-Atlantic service for much of her career with Cunard, during which time she traveled over 8-million kilometers, which is equivalent to 13 roundtrips to the moon.

In 2007 she was sold to Dubai World Holdings and was intended to be converted into a floating hotel ship. Those plans were delayed for more than ten years, but finally refurbishment works appear to be nearing completion.

According to unofficial reports from DP World, the port operations arms of Dubai World, she is to be the centerpiece of Port Rashid Marina, a major redevelopment plan for Dubai’s primary cruise port that is currently in its first phase.

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