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Comprehensive Airport Wi-Fi Guide
An anonymous reader writes, "Travelpost has a
new guide to Wi-Fi in 141 U.S. airports. The chart includes pricing information and multiple service provider info for many of the airports — something you rarely see. A good, comprehensive resource for travelers who are constantly online."
Free wifi in Capitol City! It makes a bum feel like a king. Capitol City!
I am encouraged by how many free services there are out there. I am surprised anymore when I pull out my LifeDrive and find free service.
Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
Travelpost has a new guide to Wi-Fi in 141 airports
Only 141? I could have sworn that Apple had sold more wireless basestations than *that*.
Push Button, Receive Bacon
So many European airports have free wi-fi, with such good speeds if you open up a file-sharing program that missing a connection there and being delayed doesn't seem much of a problem at all. It's a pity that off the continent, in England and in the U.S., one has to pay for access.
It wasn't clear to me how the list was ranked. Anyone have more info?
Offtopic, I think it's disgusting how expensive short-term Internet access is. If Panera can give it away for free, don't lie through your teeth and tell me it costs $10 for 24/hr access at O'Hare, one of the busiest airports in the world. (Obviously, the answer is "I want lots of money" but that doesn't make me like it...)
That said, it is a good list.
-Trillian
Now that they're on a roll, they can do this for those who are using airports in the rest of the world, like me. Some countries can obviously be skipped.
Many airports with a Starbucks have T-Mobile Hotspot access points, for some reason they're not listed.
For instance, at SJC (San Jose/Mineta) in Terminal C you can use T-Mobile throughout most of the pre-security areas since there is a big open Starbucks right in the middle.
I think this also goes for airports with integral FedEx/Kinkos locations.
Their table doesn't seem to include some important information. For example, is the wifi run by idiots (*cauatlantagh*) and blocks only outgoing traffic to port 80?
/notice/ you're trying to get me to pay for access until I've been using it for 20 minutes, you're doing something wrong.
If the Anchorage AK airport can give away free wifi (and you know Ted Stevens personally trucked all those bits up to the frigid north), I'm sure as hell not paying some git $10 a day for it. Not when (s)he can't be bothered to block IMAP and SSH. HINT: If I don't even
High-speed Road Trip (18.000KPH)
Anoyone else who thought this was about Apple's Airport?
I'd hardly call the list comprehensive --- it seems to only list the companies which the airports have contracted to provide wireless. There's a lot it doesn't list. Another poster already mentioned T-Mobile near Starbucks but the list doesn't mention, for example, that most of Terminal 1 at ORD is blanketed by T-Mobile coverage thanks to their partnership with United's Red Carpet Club. Or that in many airports it's possible to get a free wifi signal from Continental's lounges.
I happen to know that SNA has free wireless accessible. I fly out of there about twice a month and always have my laptop with me. It would surprise me if it was operating from outside the airport - it's a massive complex.
Internode has just set up free wireless access in Adelaide and Darwin Airports.a rwinairport.htmd elaideairport.htm
Here are some links to their press releases:
http://www.internode.on.net/about/news/20060814-d
http://www.internode.on.net/about/news/20051009-a
Unexpect the expected!
It seems to me that all those pieces of "hardware" just need your PC DC current from the USB port.
A very nice advance in technology!
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
As of last week, PHX's free WiFi connectivity works very well for general surfing, but they block VPN connections. That makes it more or less useless for many business travellers. I've been meaning to track down the people responsible and ask them why in the world they'd do that.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
cracking the crypto keys on any of these airports' networks and trying to get free access? Even MAC-filtering can be fooled, so how are these networks tied down?
Just an innocent question.
Is the guide for those who wish to leech onto the free wi-fi provided by many of the frequent flyer lounges - for their customers, that is. Eg, "Gate A12 in Terminal X at ******** Airport is exactly below the American Airlines lounge......good signal, lotsa geeks hanging out, may have to share a wall plug for juice, etc".........:)
Kinda the hitchhiker's guide to the wi-fi galaxy.......sorry, someone had to say it..>:)
Coming on top of all the articles on Steve Jobs' Keynote I thought this story was about Apple - Airport Express. Don't get off topic guys, back to analysing the keynote please.
-- Just a boy in a beard
that we can get wifi throughout most airports in america (well assuming we will pay for it) but we can not brush our teeth once past security since our fucking toothpaste has been confiscated.)
god fly sucks now.
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
I'm writing right now from a free wi-fi AP from internode inside the Adelaide Airport in South Australia! At least, it's as free as they make it: No SMTP/MSN/any protocol apart from 80.
The easy part was getting the brain out, but the hard part was getting the brain out.
When the apple airport first came out, I thought the main purpose of the wireless port on the macs was to provide free wireless access in airports...
So, now with the "you're-not-allowed-to-bring-anything-whatsoever-o nto-the-plane", you won't really bring your notebook into the terminals. So what's the use of those wireless connections, ehe?
However, a big problem is phishing.
Most people are using pretty weak systems that are easy to crack or intercept. From there its just a matter of sniffing to get at least a handful of credit card numbers. The fool on the other end will think that the network or their computer is broken or that it simply didn't work and the first try. Due to being in transit, illegal use of that card number won't be caught for hours or even days so there is plenty of time for the criminals to max out the card. Odds are that both the person and machine used to capture the card numbers is in a different state or country by the time the compromise is noticed.
Free access, or skimming a flat fee from all tickets, elminates that risk. No credit card use == no risk of credit card abuse.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
If you travel enough to need this guide, you don't want just a connection in airports. You want it in taxis, hotel lobbies, customer sites that don't allow network use for external people, restaurants, malls, and parks.
I also want it at soccer practice fields where I'm waiting for my kids, as with Karate dojos and the the like.
Finally, I don't want to have to hunt down and sign up for multiple providers -- many of whom I'm very unsure about. I've seen crackers at airports with fake airport wifi sites set up.
It's not terribly cheap -- but compared to multiple pay as you go places it it's not bad. Practical speed is about 800k/sec download and way less upload (60k or so) which is exagerated but typical consumer bandwidth black hole hell. Not good for file sharing up loads, but that's not what I use it for.
Most important -- it is reasonably secure (at least I know where I'm calling), reasonably fast, and available most places now (though there are some big holes that piss me off, like MAINE.)
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
I confess that I had the same reaction, and expected to read about a guide to Apple's Airport technology.
I ranted about this a while back in my blog. Basically using laptops in airports has 2 problems. Power and internet access. Neither of these has a good solution.
For power, there are nowhere near enough outlets. What little outlets you can find, are always either taken, or otherwise have people sitting around them blocking your access. This is the most annoying problem of all, since what you really want to do at an airport is top off your battery before the flight. Why? Well, even though some morons say "all airplanes now have DC power jacks", the truth is that almost none of them do. (the last time I found one was on an Orlando->Atlanta flight, which is under an hour, and pointless, and found none on the trans-atlantic flight that followed)
For internet access, everyone wants to nickel and dime you for service. This really bugs me, because while $6.95/day may seem like a fair price, I'm only there for an hour or two. (and the extended plans are useless unless I frequent the same exact trip regularly) All I really want is a quick E-Mail check, and maybe an IM or two. Thankfully, I can do that with my cell phone now. By the time I get lunch/dinner, get my laptop out, find power, discover their blocked access points, it's 20 minutes until boarding.
BWI has free wifi service; the article is wrong. I was just there midsummer using it, and you can even read the press release here for the rollout.
I just looked at logan airport in boston and they say verizon at 7.95/day when in reality it is comcast and free (guess how i am posting this)...
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
hmm.... they are probably all free! for dns! -Tom
Thankfully, my company outfits its laptops with iPass Connect, which gets me access to just about any fee-for-service aiport hotspot in the U.S., and quite a few other locations, too. This has been particularly useful in airports: let iPass find the network and log on, fire up the VPN, and let my company pick up the tab. Nevermind that most of what I then do with the connection is random surfing.
I'll also note that my dinky local airport, which has all of four gates, has free wifi access. Unfortunately, it didn't make the list for some reason.
They list HNL as having a pay connection, but when I was there in February I found a free network at the Hawaiian Airlines gate. I don't know if it was run by the airport or the airline.
No sig? Sigh...
So you have this wifi in the airports but you can't use it because the computer you are using could be a bomb or used to trigger a bomb or used to tell someone else to trigger the bomb or used at a particulare tramsmition frequency to interferre wiith the aircraft controls aor even to take over the controls and fly said plane into a building. So giving free wifi is great and the costs are minimal because no one is allowed a computer in the airport to use it.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
Those little sausages are pretty good. And potted meat. Mmmmm..... potted meat!
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Unlike what the summary suggests, purchasing access ad hoc is a very poor way to get access at airports. It's expensive. Rather, people who frequent airports or travel often are better served by subscriptions, available from a number of providers (T-Mobile, for example, is pretty easy to find hotspots in major cities).
Another option for these people is a bluetooth-enabled phone with EVDO or some other 3G/4G wireless capability. I just got a Sprint PPC-6700 and love it. I have the unlimited data plan, and I can pair it with my MacBook Pro and get online with very respectable speed (better than the T-Mobile WiFi at DFW last month). It's exceptional. Plus, it's a decent smartphone. If you're going to pay $30 to T-Mobile every month to use their limited coverage hotspots, you should consider a wireless data plan instead and get one of these phones. It may cost you less (Sprint is $15/mo. unlimited EVDO).
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Modem airliners are fly by wire. Soon they will be fly by air (radio), and of course it will be shielded and encrypted so that extraneous noise does not interfere with it. But, some crack pot terrorist will come up with the idea (ala liquid binary explosives) that if he had a scanner build into his laptop he could use it on the plane to locate the frequency and then use code cracking software to decode packets and then take over the controls of the plane and fly it into a building. They will be caught, some politically appointed "terrorist expert" will panic, not bothering to ask a technically competent person, say a high school electronics teacher, if it is 'practically and operationally ' possible in a "real world environment". Then the next thing you know all laptops, cell phones, PDA's, hand held game consoles, radios, hearing aids, pacemakers etc... will be banned.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
It's good to know so many places offer free Wi-Fi. I'll refer back to this page next time I choose a layover so I don't get screwed like the last time I went through Dallas.
;-)
However, I seem to always run into problems finding power near a place to sit for my battery-challenged laptop. An airport guide for this would be super-handy. Sure, if I want to sit on the floor or unscrew floor outlets I have a number of options, but I'd rather have a comfy chair with wall power and good Wi-Fi coverage. Heck, I might just "miss" my flight.
Anyone know of a guide for this?
This is Sam Shank, founder of TravelPost.com, and I wanted to thank everyone for the great feedback we've received, both in this thread and directly to our site. We're listening! and we've made several updates to the page (the last one a few minutes ago) that addresses many of the comments raised here. We'll be vigorously updating and maintaining this page as a resource to travelers, as well as expanding the range of information provided. Thanks again, and travel well!