Wireless internet when travelling - lesson learned

Over the last two years or so, I’ve started taking free wireless internet access for granted. Whenever I travel, my assistant always checks to make sure the hotel has wireless available (for hotels I visit regularly, she even knows which rooms are closest to the access points, and makes reservations accordingly). The number of hotels providing free wireless access is exploding, and I’ve never had any trouble getting access.

Until last week.

I was staying at a hotel I had never been to before. When making the reservations, my assistant asked whether wireless was available in the rooms. The answer wasn’t merely a yes, but a confident “of course.” Upon arrival, I had no trouble locating the network…I just couldn’t access it. Turns out, the wireless I detected in the room was the hotel’s private network (confirmed by the manager; technically, they hadn’t lied to my assistant). Internet access in the rooms was only provided through the data-port-lamp that I’ve learned to hate so much over the years. And the kicker? $12.95/day for wired access.

I needed access and didn’t have time to find alternative arrangements, so I paid the fee and worked through the lamp for three days. I didn’t have a patch cable with me, so I was forced to stick it out at the desk each evening.

I decided to honor the Boy Scouts, and vowed to be prepared the next time I’m faced with this situation.

I considered buying a 25′ patch cable and always carrying it with me, but the cost of such a cable (probably $25-35) didn’t seem worth the investment considering the bulk I would have to carry and the fact that I would still be tethered to that lamp. Next, I looked at a class of devices I didn’t fully understand until after this experience…portable routers/access points. These are compact devices that you connect to any broadband connection (such as the lamp) to create a wireless internet connection. Perfect (it doesn’t eliminate the access fee, though…). I read several reviews (making use of my $12.95 for one particular day), and settled on the SMCWTK-G from SMC Networks (product page here, review in Laptop magazine here). Now I’m prepared anytime I’m confronted with the lamp problem.

I’ve even thought about using the SMCWTK-G at home. Why? Another level of security. I have a wireless network at home. Its WEP-encrypted, but, the wireless is always on and WEP is not without troubles. With the SMCWTK-G, I could just plug it into the nearest ethernet jack whenever I need wireless and unplug it when I’m done. I could do this with my existing wireless access point, but the SMCWTK-G makes it so easy.

For the hotel problem, I also thought about buying a wireless sniffer. These products detect wireless networks and save you the trouble of booting up your laptop and becoming a wi-fi zombie (wandering around with laptop in hand, focusing on nothing but the wi-fi signal bars on the screen). But, I’ve decided these devices aren’t ready for prime time yet. There are plenty that will do an acceptable job, but I want a device that does more than just tell me if wi-fi is present. I want to know the SSID of the access point and whether or not the network is encrypted (i.e., is it available to me). I thought I found the perfect solution with the Canary Wireless product, but further investigation revealed some problems with the device. For example, the device doesn’t detect the presence of several wireless access points, including popular models from LinkSys and D-Link. I’m watching this product, though, and will likely buy it once these problems are resolved.

Lastly, I tried to determine which wireless directory is the best. I settled on JiWire. You can search by geographic area, and can even limit your search to hotels, airports, etc. Best of all, though, is the downloadable directory…its perfect for those times you find yourself in an unfamiliar area without a connection.

I did check, and JiWire would likely have saved me the $12.95/day on that recent trip. A cafe just outside the hotel has free access. I could have avoided the lamp altogether had I been prepared….