Calling all you road warriors out there. I have not connected to a hotel's Internet through Ethernet before, I have only done it wirelessly. Where we will be staying next week will have wireless in the public areas but wired in the rooms. Is there anything I need to know about settings and security? I will be using my G4 iBook running 10.4.7.

I assume they will also have some sort of instructions in the rooms, but I'll bet that it will be Windows based, so I thought I should ask here first. I do have my nice new 10' Ethernet cable that I got last week for $2.95 shipped from PC Microstore, so I have the wire part of the wired access.

Any advice will be appreciated since I don't want to have to go the lobby every time I need to check in on you guys, or check my email.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

>
> don't want to have to go the lobby every time I need to check in on you guys
>


Hey - we're all gonna be in the hot tub anyway

: - )

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my guess is that it will be set up for DHCP and it will just work. Every time I have done wired while traveling, that's all I needed to do.

Hey - we're all gonna be in the hot tub anyway

Then I'm going to need a much longer Ethernet cable.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Same here Racer X. Also if your hotel is a bastage, they will have a page that loads for you to input your CC number to get service.

As for security, come on, you serious? Firewall enabled, most ports should be closed already anyways. Security is an issue you have to worry about if you are running Windows unprotected.

Carm

why is an Ethernet connection inherently any different than a WiFi connection in regards to settings and security?

No doubt they'll have instructions in the room--just like they had instructions in the room when you connected via WiFi. And you handily ignored those and got connected, right?

The net of it is, there is no difference between wired and wireless with regard to anything you've asked about or will encounter. You've connected in hotels before and not worried about those Windows-centric instructions; there's no need to worry about them now just because you plug a wire in as opposed to click "join network" from the Airport menu.

Question: have you EVER plugged this iBook in via wire, or has it always been WiFi? If this is your very first time EVER plugging this iBook in via wire, you may run into configuration issues in your system that are unrelated to anything about the hotel or its internet service. It may be that your iBook has simply never been configured (or configured properly) for wired access of any kind, period.

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In the words of DharmaDog: "it may or may not be utter horse@#$%&, but it shouldn't be dismissed simply because it doesn't agree with your opinion."

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Trying is the first step to failure. -- Homer Simpson

No worries, basically just plug and play. Just remember to launch your browser before you launch your mail program (if you use two separate programs.)

Have fun!
DM

1: Plug in ethernet cable
2: Start Mac
3: Open browser
4: Surf net
5: Exercise same precautions you would using any network you don't control

I expect it to be acknowledged that, at no point have I joked about what she should do if by some horrible chain of events, it fails to work when it gets stuck in while on her vacation.

No "try the little blue pill" or "But is it long enough" or "Is it in all the way? try and wiggle it", and the one I was really resisting, "Try turning over and pushing it in again"

Question: have you EVER plugged this iBook in via wire, or has it always been WiFi? If this is your very first time EVER plugging this iBook in via wire, you may run into configuration issues in your system that are unrelated to anything about the hotel or its internet service. It may be that your iBook has simply never been configured (or configured properly) for wired access of any kind, period.

That was why I asked. I have never connected this iBook via Ethernet, only dial-up and wireless. I have set up other Macs to connect via Ethernet, but that was a set it and forget it type of thing. It was pretty much automatic, but I wondered if it being a different provider it might required different settings. If it would help I could connect this via Ethernet before we go, but I didn't know if that would help or hurt.

I was just assuming that I would go into the system preferences and select connect via Ethernet and configure using DCHP and leave the Ethernet to "configure automatically". If that isn't what I should do then someone please chime in.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

most decent hotels I've been too lately have this figured out and it's plug and play.
Most have also charged $ 5-10 per 24 period.

It's funny to see all us "businessfolk" in the lobby scoring the free version.
Great sales pict for the hotel.

Last week at the Rad Biscayne there were 10 or more taking up all the chairs for 30 minutes or more. We weren't eating or buying drinks.
So lame in this day not to offer free Fi in a busy biz hotel.
We all decided to screw the breakfast too, even though it was pretty convenient. Figured they didn't need that bread either.
But at least the drinks at the bar were overpriced and made by amateurs.
You bet I enjoyed myself.

And if you get stuck there, there's a place up a couple blocks called the Daily. Great breakfast burritos and good coffee and capp. Breakfast under $10.

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!#$@@$#!

proofraed by OwEn the c@t.



Nobody remembers their first download, but everyone remembers their 1st LP.

Use the cable once before you go, so you know it works.
Odds of it not working are extremely slim.

A broken lock clip can be a pain with a short cord.

Thanks for all the tips so far. I did try the cable out the other day when I was testing my mom-in-law's Ethernet connection and I thought her cable might be bad.

And RacerX, I do know what goes where and what to jiggle if it doesn't work. After all, I have done this at home, I just wondered if it would be different somewhere else-go ahead now and make some of the comments that I know you are dying to make.

BTW, I think that the internet access is free in the rooms, since they did not mention a charge and it is a resort and not a business hotel, but I will see when I get there.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2007 06:58PM by rgG.

Sometimes things just work differently in strange hotels.

Fritz is staying in the wrong hotels.

I've never paid for net access at a hotel, ever. And I stay at biz hotels.

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In the words of DharmaDog: "it may or may not be utter horse@#$%&, but it shouldn't be dismissed simply because it doesn't agree with your opinion."

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Trying is the first step to failure. -- Homer Simpson

The cheaper the hotel chain, the more likely it is to have free internet access, wireless or otherwise.

I stay in lots of hotels and have found this to be true throughout this country but I can't speak to policies elsewhere.

DM

I was in a hotel last week where the wireless in some rooms was complimentary and in other rooms required a credit card. Turns out that the difference was distance to the business center where wireless was free (even with two Windows desktop machines sitting there).

Never could figure out how to connect to a printer though. Don't know if there WAS a wireless printer connection, so I could not tell if it was my ignorance or the setup. I wanted to print my boarding pass and would have preferred to use my Powerbook. But a boarding pass is a boarding pass whatever browser setup is used to get it!

To clarify my earlier statement, this is what I have found in the midwest and east coast:
Sheraton Four Points- no charge
Sheraton, W and Westin- charge (but they waive it if you are a preferred member)

Marriott Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, Townplace Suites- no charge
Marriott- hit or miss if they charge or not

Hilton- charge
Hilton Embassy Suites and Doubletree- hit or miss but it seems most have gone to no charge
Hilton Hampton Inn, Garden Inn, Homewood suites- no charge

DM

I think dmann is correct about the better hotels gouging for internet. When we were in Vegas last year they wanted about $20/day IIRC for in room access at THE Hotel, part of Mandalay Bay. I didn't even take my laptop so it didn't matter, but I thought that was steep for a nice hotel. You guys were on your own for that trip and I think you did fine.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Call before hand to find out if there will be a charge or not at the hotel you'll be staying.

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SoCal for now.

Holiday Inn Express and Country Inns and Suites also have free wifi. same level in my opinion as Hampton Inns, and Fairfields.

Comfort Inns also have free wifi. a level below the above but still my fallback chain. the one Hilton Garden i did last year did charge for internet.

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elmo3
Fritz is staying in the wrong hotels.

I've never paid for net access at a hotel, ever. And I stay at biz hotels.

me neither, but it may be that I stick to the same few chains, and they all have free high-speed wired. I can't have wireless on my work laptop.

I think mid-range ones in areas with some competition try and stay competitive by having ammenities like this free, when the cost to them is minimal. When I work at our eastern Washington facility, the whole county is fiber-optic wired, and the municipal airport is free wi-fi. Most motels have free internet and one or two premium cable chanels free.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2007 07:26PM by Racer X.

I suggest you deploy a thin wire behind you, like a TOW missile. That way your normal carrier that you use at home will be who you connect through, same as always.

Oh yeah- in Vegas and Disney they don't want you in your rooms- they want you out playing and spending REAL $$.

DM

Quote
5percentTHD
I suggest you deploy a thin wire behind you, like a TOW missile. That way your normal carrier that you use at home will be who you connect through, same as always.

Can't I just set up some sort of GIANT canteena instead, so I can still connect wirelessly? That would seem to have less of a chance of getting tangled up along the way. ;D

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

well, if you can't get the internet working, you at least have a handy 15' bondage tool.

Now, there is a proper RacerX reply.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Why, it's Thirstday!

As far as security. Remember that if you're on a hub you don't even have the limited benefits that a switch will provide you. Think that as you send your data along the hotel's network on its way to the web, someone could use packet sniffing tools to capture unencrypted data. Just as with an unprotected wireless network. If you connect to website which start with https you should be fine. Of course, some sites pull a trick where the login page is https, but say the webmail creation and sending page is regular old http.

There is no easy way for you, the average user, to figure out if you are on a hub or switch.


Nathan

It offered free Wi-Fi but Comfort Inn on Harbor Drive in San Diego, CA was one slum of a motel! I have seen better Motel 6.

Kap

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SoCal for now.

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kap
It offered free Wi-Fi but Comfort Inn on Harbor Drive in San Diego, CA was one slum of a motel! I have seen better Motel 6.

Kap

most Comfort Inns are adequate. that being said, i just told my brother this evening that i rarely book a hotel i can't see pictures of on the internet first. i do about 30 - 70 hotel nights in any given year. i think tonight is #25 for 2007.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2007 11:59PM by graylocks.

Quote
graylocks

Quote
kap
It offered free Wi-Fi but Comfort Inn on Harbor Drive in San Diego, CA was one slum of a motel! I have seen better Motel 6.

Kap

most Comfort Inns are adequate. that being said, i just told my brother this evening that i rarely book a hotel i can't see pictures of on the internet first. i do about 30 - 70 hotel nights in any given year. i think tonight is #25 for 2007.

That was three years ago. Perhaps the franchised place has been improved. The Comfort Inn on Colorado in Pasadena, CA is well maintained. It is always booked up.

What is the nature of your job graylocks since you stay in the hotels more frequently than an average Joe like I am?

Kap

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SoCal for now.

What is the nature of your job graylocks since you stay in the hotels more frequently than an average Joe like I am?

have guitar - will travel.

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