I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express recently that was deploying wireless "real soon now" but in the short term had one access point that covered the common area and the office. My room was close enough that if I held my laptop up in the air with my left hand and aimed just right I could surf email typing with my right hand. The things we do to try and remain current on the PIClist. :-) -----Original Message----- From: "M. Adam Davis" Sent: May 24, 2004 3:28 PM To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: [PIC:] Microship project Typically those that require fees show a page when you first connect which allows you to purchase subscriptions. I suspect some allow per hour connection charges, but most have at least a month-by-month subscription. There are several different providers that do this, though, so it's unlikely that you'll be able to subscribe to one network and get all the internet you need on such a journey. However, many people buy wireless routers for their high speed connections and leave them completely open (most neighborhoods in my area have at least a few 'linksys' nodes and occasionally a 'netgear' node.) If you can't find a free one along the freeway you can just travel through a few neighborhoods and you might get lucky, especially near universities and larger or more tech oriented cities. There's also a few online databases of open access points. Not very well populated, though, but they can be useful. A number of hotels in business districts also offer free highspeed internet. The interesting bit is that it's easier and cheaper to provide wireless than wired to each room. Some are providing daily passwords to limit usage to guests, but many are (for now) leaving it open and easy to use. -Adam llile@SALTONUSA.COM wrote: >This is all part of my snowbird fantasy: > >OK, if you dispense with the satelite idea, and depend on Wifi hot spots, >that might not be so bad. Flying J truck stops, KOA campgrounds, many >other truck stops, and all airports have Wifi hotspots. Oh, and decent >coffeehouses. The list is growing every day, and soon you may be able to >get a Wifi conneciton most anywhere you park. > >I haven't ever tried to use Wifi hotspots. I have been told that they are >problematic, because there are a Tower of Babel of different providers, >and if you aren't signed up with the right provider, you don't get on the >net. Is that the case? Or do you just sign on and surf? > > -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body