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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Wi-Fi spreads its reach but connecting still troublesome

By Andrea Coombes
CBS MarketWatch

Finding hotspots

WiFinder: www.wifinder.com
Offers travelers a hotspot search tool with more than 4,300 U.S. listings, 2,300 in Europe, 1,800 in Asia, 200 in Australia, 35 in South America, and one in Africa — and that's a small portion of the worldwide total, said chief executive Oren Michels.

The Wi-Fi Alliance: www.wi-fizone.org/zoneLocator.asp?TID7
Non-profit trade association offers a search tool listing hotspots worldwide

Wi-Fi providers Boingo:
www.boingo.com, STSN
www.stsn.com, T-Mobile
www.tmobile.com/hotspot and Wayport www.wayport.net also offer ways to find hotspots
SAN FRANCISCO — Want to see the sights but can't stand the thought of being excommunicated from your e-mail or unbundled from the Internet? These days, connections are always just around the corner.

From airlines' in-flight e-mail services to the growing prevalence of Wi-Fi hotspots offering wireless access — not to mention Internet-connected computer kiosks at airports and cyber cafés — the possibilities for plugging in are legion.

The problem is, those options are not always up to speed. In-flight connections can be slow, Wi-Fi can be technically challenging and without a properly equipped laptop you may find yourself disconnected all the same.

"There are certainly hiccups," said Charles Golvin of Forrester Research. "It's certainly not seamless and fluid. It takes a little bit of preparation and knowing what you're doing helps, but things are gradually smoothing out."

An increasing number of hotels, cafes, and major airports are beginning to offer Wi-Fi hotspots where a wireless-enabled laptop or personal digital assistant can jump onto a nearby Internet connection.

Some estimates count 28,000 hotspots in North America, including airports, hotels and public areas such as telephone booths. McDonald's offers the service at about 150 restaurants in New York and San Francisco providing access, and plans to add 75 restaurants in Chicago. Also, Starbucks supports Wi-Fi in more than 2,300 stores nationwide, plus 50 in the United Kingdom and one in Germany.

Costs can vary dramatically, particularly in other countries, experts said. For instance, one hotel in Europe might charge $9.95, and another $58.00.

In the United States, McDonald's said it will charge $2.99 a day, but most providers charge about $7 to $10 per day, or about $30 a month.

But even the experts can have trouble getting logged on.

"It took me an hour and a half getting this running this morning, and I do this for a living," said Avi Greengart, an analyst with Jupiter Research, who had connected his computer at a Wi-Fi hotspot at San Jose International Airport in California.

"The configuration tool that ships with my Wi-Fi card is not especially user-friendly. If you don't know what you're doing, it doesn't prompt you or help you in any way," he said. However, "that situation is improving, from several different vendors."

As for cost, he said using that particular Wi-Fi hotspot was cheaper at $6.95 per day than the nearby Internet kiosks at the airport, charging 25 cents per minute. Still, those with Web-based accounts interested in a quick check of e-mail would be better off using the kiosk, he said.

While many new computers come Wi-Fi-enabled, older computers will require a plug-in card.

An alternative to connecting through a Wi-Fi hotspot is using a wireless modem that works on cellular networks. For travel in Europe, your computer will need a GPRS modem, and be enabled to work at 900 or 1800 megahertz, Golvin said.

Airlines eager to court business travelers are starting to roll out their own Internet-access options. United Airlines unveiled two-way e-mail, to be available on all domestic flights by the end of the year. It costs $15.98 per flight, plus 10 cents for each kilobyte of data over two kilobytes transmitted.

Continental Airlines offers the same service on some flights. Verizon Airfone, the service provider for both airlines, is in talks with US Airways and Delta Airlines as well, a spokeswoman said.