Wireless Internet Access

[bricky]

Hello
I am new to this site which has been recommended as THE place to find out anything!
I am also new to laptop technology.
I have purchased a laptop with a wireless internet card.
I will be travelling in the future and wonder can someone tell me how to access the internet on my laptop in my motel room or at the local cafe.
Do you have to sign up for an account?
Am I able to access a wireless hotspot? Is there a charge for this?
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thank you

[mjc]

The answers are....maybe.

Many hotels/motels include free access with the room registration. You would need to check with the management about charges and access procedures.

The same goes for Internet cafes. I have even seen some McDonalds advertising as being hotspots (does this mean you can have McNet to go with that Big Mac and fries?). Some make you sign up and others don't...some charge a fee for any access others have a tiered system and charge only for 'unrestricted' access...others don'y charge at all.

[pangea33]

I just went through the same thing in my own life. The desktop finally croaked and I was starting a new contract gig, which lead me to my first notebook with wireless. Certainly some places will have secured networks that require authentication, but there are a ton of places offering free (legitimate) wifi access through unsecured routers. So far the places I've been don't use WEP encryption, but this allows you to access their network without needing a cheatsheet or a fee.

Where are you going to be geographically? I live in Florida, and it is really easy to find places. Being that they're unsecured you just open up your notebook, it will recognize available wireless connection points, and connect. Dynamic DHCP and DNS do their thing, and you're online for free in about a minute.

I know that there are free access points available at Moe's, Crispers, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Books-a-Million, Barnes and Noble, and Borders. Being that I need to get access from my hotel room, wireless was a dealbreaker in my search. EVERY place I called here in Tallahassee offered free wifi. Including the el cheapo roach motel. Additionally, even places like some run-down soul-food BBQ joints have "free wifi" signs in their windows around here.

Speed will obviously vary based on the network saturation, but I've been very pleased. I use Clearwire at home which is advertised as 1.5Mbits/s, but rarely exceeds about 180Kbytes/s typically. I'm currently staying in an extended stay Best Western, it's guests being a majority of traveling professionals, and I've been seeing speeds like 250KBytes/s. They've got wall jacks for those without wireless as well.

Sorry to go on for so long, I was just really suprised at how widely accepted free wifi service has become. At least that's the state of things here in FL.

[bricky]

Thank you for your replies.
I will be travelling to Canada - Vancouver area and then on to England.
This info is most valuable, thanks again
Kim