Scopetech

Being away from home for an extended period of time can be a stressful event. Although for years, travelers have been wondering who will feed the dog or get the mail, there is now a new question lingering when one embarks on vacation: how the hell am I going to get on the internet?

Wonder no longer, loyal readers. By following the three P’s of wifi, you will never again have to worry about getting behind on your Facebook friend requests.

Preparation
The first and easiest way to stay connected when you’re not home is to plan ahead. Various hotel chains offer free wireless either in-room or in the lobby. When making reservations, either choose one of the hotels from this list offered by WiFiFreeSpot or make sure to ask over the phone. There’s nothing like free wifi and a minibar to start a vacation right.

Hotels aren’t always the residence of choice during vacations. With free lodging and food, staying at a relative’s place is a hard option to turn down. If you’re staying at Aunt Mabel’s and her 56k connection just isn’t what you were hoping for, AnchorFree might be able to help you. Before you head out on your trip, try their free WiFi search engine to find hotspots close to you via Google Maps. Although there are many sites that offer a similar service, AnchorFree seems to be the most functional design. For the person always on the go, AnchorFree also offers a database of hotspots called WiPod that can be uploaded onto your iPod for access at any time.

Pirating
Let’s say you read this article and decide to totally ignore my first suggestion of planning ahead but still want to find some hotspots. The second P is for you. Finding a connection on your own is a little time consuming, but with the right methods it can work. First thing’s first: you need some kind of network detection utility. Personally I like NetStumbler for Windows and iStumbler for OS X. Once you have a network detection tool, simply hop in your car and find a connection.

Start your search at hotels. Going into various hotel lobbies until you hit a hotspot seems to be the most successful method because once you’re in, you’ve got a comfy couch and possibly even some hot coffee to enjoy while you browse. If you aren’t near hotels, the technique necessary is a little bit shadier. My favorite process is looking for the neighborhood with the nicest houses and driving through them slowly. I guarantee you will find at least one unprotected network with a name like “dlink” or “linksys”. This is generally only good for short email checks because it might generate some unwanted attention. Random vehicles driving slowly through rich neighborhoods aren’t quite kosher with the police. Before you decide to use this method, read this WikiPedia article pertaining to the legalities of using other people’s connections without their knowledge. It is a little sketchy and could possibly get you in trouble.

Paying
If acquiring your connection somewhat illegally is something you don’t really want to get into, paying is always a viable but expensive option. Every wireless carrier offers some kind of plan to keep you connected to the internet anywhere your cell phone gets signal. These plans usually run about $50 a month for unlimited internet on top of the price of a wireless card. If you don’t want to go through your wireless carrier, companies like WayPort offer subscription services that give you access to exclusive hotspots in places like McDonald’s, IHOP, Hertz, and many other franchises. WayPort subscriptions run about $30/month with a one year contract, or $50/month with no contract which isn’t that appealing of a price point considering you still have to find one of their hotspots. Although, what town doesn’t have a McDonald’s?

So there you have it. 3 different methods to help you stay connected even when you’re out on vacation. Preparation, Pirating, or Paying. But please, try to remember one thing while you are using these tips. YOU’RE ON VACATION. Use the internet to help find places to visit and new things to try, not to hole up in your room all day. You left your house for a reason, enjoy it!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Columns, Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.