Wireless access in airports?
 

I was flying this weekend, and due to a string of weather delays, ended up spending a *lot* more time in airports than I had planned on.

During this time, I grabbed the laptop and went searching for wireless access in the Philadelphia airport. I didnt find any.

I thought that many larger airports had wireless access, and was surprised that Philly didnt. I asked two attendants about it--one didnt even know what wireless was, the other said that the whole airport was wireless--clearly not true as none of my wardriving tools picked up the first thing.

Am I just wrong? I coulda sworn most did now...

Most airports that I have been to lately (Orlando, Sandiego, Chicago, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, LAX) all have wireless. Most have signs up advertising "Wireless Hotspots."

I am surprised to find that Philedelphia is without, tho since I have never been there I have no idea I suppose.

Seattle doesn't except in the north satellite. And then you have to sign up with a CC.

This may not be any help to you but IAD in Virginia/Washington D.C has t-mobile hotspots in the terminal, never tried it but heard it was expensive though...

When I flew to Colorado they had it there. Hotspots ran by Intel are free from what I've seen. AT&T may require a credit card for thiers.

I know there's a place called Laptop Lane just outside the B concourse in Philly. I didn't go in, but I think they at least have wired connections you can rent. Don't know about wireless there.

Out here on the Left Coast, most Starbucks have T-Mobile hot spots.

Yeah, and as I recently found out at those Starbucks hot spots, they have brochures where you get a free day of broadband with T-mobile but you have to sign up with a very expensive plan just to get the free day.

Wrong side of Pa, but Pittsburgh airport has great free wireless access in the foodcourts. No advertising, but it works great.

Dallas (DFW, don't know about Love) has lots of hot spots, but all the ones I could find weren't free.

Rochester, NY has free hotspots.

I have gotten on in Raleigh, NC before, but last time it didn't seem to work.

SFO has them in the American terminal, but you have to pay.

The most common hotspot provider in the US is T-Mobile. You can check out where they have their hotspots, before signing up, by looking at http://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot/defa...&WT.mc_t=Other

According to this URL, they do in fact have a hotspot in Philadelphia International Airport.

T-Mobile offer "all you can eat" plans for as little as $29.99 per month. This is excellent value if you are a regular business traveller. Alternatively you can get a "Day Pass" for $9.99 or pay as you go at around $6 per hour.

Another alternative is I-Pass, a global ISP aggegrator that now provides wireless hotspot access along with their normal analogue service. You can check out I-Pass at http://www.ipass.com/index.html and look for a "broadband location" (both wired and wireless) at http://ipass.jiwire.com/

I-Pass tends to be a more corporate service, and I'm not sure if you can sign up individually.

As a regular business traveller, I can tell you having high-speed internet access along with a VPN client, is an absolute life-saver. Now roll on the adoption of Boeing's Connexion service, so we can have live, wireless internet services in planes!!!


Mr Mephisto

Thanks for the help, ya'll. I dont fly all that often, but thats definitely some good info. Ive decided to bring a phone cable with me so that I can dial into a provider (there were plenty of places to jack in) and get more info on hotspots. As it was this time, I hadnt planned to be in the airport for more than one hours, but it ended up being more like 5-6, so I didnt have any reason to research hotspots before I went.

One of those T-Mobile spots was in the place where they wanted me to pay $30 for *one day*. It wasnt operated by T-Mobile, though, it was operated by the US Airways club. What a rip.

$30 per day is a complete rip-off.

The benefit of T-Mobile is that you can setup your own account, independently from local resellers, and use it when and where-ever you want.


Mr Mephisto

The T-Mobile Hotspots at each Starbucks is quite convenient considering there are several Starbucks locations on every corner :) If I had a real need for it, I would probably sign up for it..

Its available in the noth, and south satellites and in the main terminal. (For a fee, of course). I've only used it from baggage claim, though.

How bout the free ones in NYC? Why can't I ever get onto these. It seems like I'm getting close, but it just doesn't work(ie even though I connect I cannot acquire a network address).

Also what about the ones that Verizon supposedly provides free for its customers?
[ https://www33.verizon.com/wifi/login...ons-remote.jsp ]

I love the free access at the local panera bread. Best part is that i can sit outside on my lunch and have access and never enter the building to buy anything, if you go in thay just want you to order something and as long as your eating or drinking anything you have access.

yeah thats a great sales tactic. I dont know why more coffee places and general lunch places dont have them. for 50-75 a month, they could bring in a good amount of business.