I hate WiFi

[happygeek]

Specifically I hate hotel WiFi, apart from those odd few times it actually works.

Take last night, staying in a very expensive ($750 per night) central London hotel - it's OK, I wasn't paying the bill :)

I had been out delivering a keynote speech to a collection of the great and good in the corporate IT security business in the UK, returning to my room at midnight.

Of course, being a good geek, the first thing I do is fire up the lappy. My aim, in fact, was to check everything was OK at DaniWeb, maybe post a blog, do a bit of forum housekeeping, yada yada yada.

Apart from the fact that the in-room wifi wasn't working. And not was anyone who could fix it at that time of night. I wasted an hour trying to get it working from my end, running down my battery in the process.

So while one of the best known hotels in London could not provide me with WiFi, the train on the way home could. What's more, in my first class carriage (you really can tell I wasn't paying can't you) that access was totally free as well.

Shame my battery ran out after just 30 mins though. Another reason I hate WiFi.

I'm hopeful that my new 3.5G equipped MDA Vario II smartphone (a t-mobile version of the TyTN) will, finally, provide me with relaible web connectivity wherever I need it.

So, do you hate hotel WiFi as well, or is it just me?

[tgreer]

My biggest WiFi complaint isn't hotels. I hate Airport WiFi. What I generally find is that the smaller regional airports have good, free WiFi access. Once you reach a major airport or hub, though, you have to pay. I also find the rates ridiculous. I can buy "all day access". Oh, yippee. The mere thought of spending "all day" at the Delta wing of the Atlanta airport is enough to give me hives.

[happygeek]

Some outfit, whose name escapes me (something like CredECard or similar) have been doing a marketing push in the UK so I have a collection of £10 pay-as-you-go topped up cards that let me access The Cloud hotspots across the country. Works wonders at most airports here :)

Agree with you in general though, airport WiFi stinks.

I wonder what it's like in an airport hotel? Never having stayed in one, a trend I sincerely hope continues, I wouldn't know...

[tgreer]

...and in the "strangest WiFi" category is the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain. Can there be a better combination than sauce-slathered chicken wings and touch-typing? The complimentary "wet-nap" can double as a screen cleaner.

[John A]

WiFi's great when it works... I like the fact that it's free in so many places, and at least when it's free, you don't have to expect as much as if you were paying.

Another thing I find I have to watch is that I'm sharing all these things, such as iTunes and files on my LAN. Then, when I connect to a public WiFi with a stupid router, I have to remember to turn off all the services that are on (or password-protect them).

[happygeek]

Oh yeah, agreed, when it works it is great.

Trouble is, when I need it rather than just want it, it doesn't work. Hardly ever.

And I'm just so fed up with all these hotels that think by simply having an AP on each floor that's the job done. Support doesn't seem to come into the equation...

[FireSBurnsmuP]

The thing you have to learn is that there is always a way to get free WiFi, if you're willing to try hard enough.

http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/448

[mesamb1]

What i wonder is why there is WiFi networks in strange places, are there enough of us geeks out there to make it worth their while? My local Krystals(you can tell that i am in the south) all have WiFi and my wondering is who bothers to use it? not to mention no employess having a clue how it works

[happygeek]

The thing you have to learn is that there is always a way to get free WiFi, if you're willing to try hard enough.

HeHe, I am more than capable of a little drive by wifi hacking if I wanted to, trouble is when it is 1am and you just need to check your email from the hotel in a strange city, the last thing you want to do is be wandering around the streets with your laptop...

[happygeek]

Just to add to my own ranting, I was at the HQ of Fujitsu Siemens Computers just outside Munich on Tuesday and, guess what? Yep, no wifi, and no network access.

Well there was, obviously, but not for the group of a dozen journalists they had gathered from as far away as Israel, US and Croatia. Apparently nobody thought we would need the ability to connect to the Internet to check email file our stories etc, while there. And apparently there was nobody at FSC who was capable of opening up a connection for us.

Grrrr.

If it wasn't for the fact that the Oktoberfest happened to be on in Munich at the same time (hic) I might have got really annoyed by it all :)

[FireSBurnsmuP]

HeHe, I am more than capable of a little drive by wifi hacking if I wanted to, trouble is when it is 1am and you just need to check your email from the hotel in a strange city, the last thing you want to do is be wandering around the streets with your laptop...

Heheh, true, true. But if you clicked the link, you'd find a recipe for a very effective wireless antenna. You can use that in a hotel at one in the morning, if you're willing to fiddle around a bit. Ah, that brings me back to the days before cable... I can hear it now...

"Go fix the antenna." Take a step, then "STOP! don't move, the picture is really good now."

[happygeek]

Building a cantenna isn't usually a hotel room option either :)

[mesamb1]

if you really want the internet then being that resourcefull IS neascary

[happygeek]

If you really want the Internet then you book into a hotel, on the business floor, expecting to get the service as advertised.

You don't expect to break open the Pringles can and pliers at 1am...

[darrenw89]

just read that virgin are planing to kit out a few of there trains with 49mb/s wiMax,starting it all off with standard hotspots at some of the stations they use, gner i believe is doing a similar thing but with a satalite downlink and 3g uplink, dont think it'll be able to match 49mb/s wiMax though :d

[happygeek]

I use the GNER service regularly as I travel by train from Yorkshire to London rather a lot. The in-carriage WiFi works remarkably well although speeds can vary, but it does keep the connection even through longish tunnels which is cool.

The latest rolling stock is all equipped with WiFi now, and in first class it comes free of charge (well, at the price you pay for a first class ticket it's hardly free) with the addition of an AC power socket by every seat to charge your lappy while you work.

[mesamb1]

That deffenietly sounds like living the life in computer luxury

[darrenw89]

looks pretty cool; http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/wireless/0,39020348,39283514,00.htm

[FireSBurnsmuP]

Luxury, indeed, but you have to be able to afford it. I never had that luxury. That's why the pringles can solution works pretty well for me. And I've definitely broken out the pocket knife and soldering iron (or green flame lighter, in this case) at 1AM because I wanted to listen to some music from my computer on the old boombox below it. If you're desperate enough, you'll MacGyver your way to whatever, whenever, wherever.

[darrenw89]

im liking that, although whats the pringle pot for?