Wi-Fi

I Was brought a Wi-Fi enabled Laptop for my birthday a couple of months ago but I've never really used it outside of the house.
I'm off to florida at the beginning of November and thought this would be a great opportunity to use it. (Could post my trip report on arrival [y]).
As I've never used it before I'm a bit confused about how to connect/Pay for the service whilst away. I'm staying at a couple of Doubletree Hotels, a Best Western as well as using the lounge at Mia as I'm flying UC (all of which boast Wireless access).
So the question really is do I need to subscribe to a service like BT openzone before I travel or do the hotel charge you for using the service in their Lobby areas?. Also as I'm staying at different locations will I have to deal with different service providers?

Thanks in advance,

-Steve

Steve

it will depend upon the hotel. Some offer free access where you have a code to log on with, which is issued by reception. Others you will have to log on and pay via credit card for the service provider - you can usually purchase for different time periods.

hope this helps.

Richard

Cheers Richard,
I had a feeling it would be different from location to location. I'll just have to ask at reception or just turn the thing on and see what it does[?]

-Steve

[Nottingham Nick]

Wi-fi is a very easy thing to master. On my laptop there is a radio button to turn it on, then an icon in the bottom right toolbar.

Simply right click on the icon and you will be given the option to search for available networks.

Once the available networks are displayed, just double click on the one you want.. usually the strongest signal on a 'non-secure' network and the computer will log on to this network. If you then launch your internet browser, you will either get your homepage or (if the network is a pay facility) the homepage of the service provider.

If it is the latter, you will either be asked to enter your credit card details or, as Richard has said, a code that the hotel / owner of the facility will provide.

You will find in the US that there are often multiple networks available at no charge. In the UK that is less common and your are likely to be offered a T-Mobile Hotspot or a BTOpenworld connection.

There are various payment options for these networks, all well explained in their homepage.

Wi-Fi... it's the future [}:)];)

Nick

Most hotels in Florida seem to be pretty clued up with WiFi these days. My last 3 visits to Hampton, Holiday Inn, and Marriott hotels, all of which have had free WiFi.

As others have said :

Once you boot up your laptop make sure that the WiFi is enabled, and then in the case of my iBook it automatically finds the network.

Then open up your Browser which normally opens up to the hotel site, and bingo ...

Some hotels like Hampton require an access code that you get from reception, and which changes on a daily basis.

It's also worth packing a network cable (CAT 5 Lead) as some hotels use this access method rather than WiFi. They will rent you a cable but it's expensive ... Failing that go to Walgreens Office Depot etc ... to buy one.

The only time I've been asked to pay was in Boston where a 56K connection was free, above that was chargable [:0]

PM me if you need more info

If you are staying in a major area, like Miami, Ft Lauderdale, actually, any significant town, you will normally find a public wifi network. Mostly you just let your computer do the deciding. If it finds an open network, it will attach to it if you have your laptop set up to do so. I very rarely find that I can't find a public network. For hotels, I would say they are normally free, but may require you to enter a code, or they simply may be hidden, and you just need to enter the network name to access it.

Have a good time!