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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."
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
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)
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
That's great to know. Have you told the guide people yet?
From their site:
Methodology The information in this chart was collected and compiled by TravelPost.com's editorial team. All information was accurate at time of publication, but providers and airports may change their pricing at any time. Pricing and coverage area information presented here was obtained from the service providers' web sites, supplied by the service providers' official representatives or confirmed directly with airport personnel. This chart will be updated periodically to maintain accuracy. Please send us any updates, corrections or additional information.
Thus their reference to "guide" and not "Perfect list of costs". tell them http://www.travelpost.com/contact.aspx so they can check out the information, change the guide, and improve the service. If you don't bother to let them know please stop tossing comments "not completely accurate". Perhaps a more helpful approach would be a titled "Hey guys, SNA needs to be updated, $$$$" or something to help make a better product.
Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
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
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.