Using wireless connection in a hotel?

[Bateman]

I am off abroad tomorrow for a few days and the hotel I am staying in says it has free hi speed wireless connection points in the lobby. So how does that work then - do I just sit down at the wireless point with my laptop and the wirless dongle plugged in, and it will automatically establish a connection? Or is there something else I need to do/prepare before going? Is it really that simple?

What about security - can someone potentially capture my connection and log into my computer? Or does specifying the WEP prevent that.

Additionally, the rooms have free hi spped wired connections - do I just take a network cable, plug it in and hey presto it will let me connect to the internet?

 

[unshift]

do I just take a network cable, plug it in and hey presto it will let me connect to the internet?

the front desk should give you a basic config sheet for the wireless, the points in the room usually need to be "activated" - you just request it and dhcp does the rest

treat the hotel network as the internet, ie - have your own firewall and updated antivirus on your laptop and you will be as safe as you are at home

 

[Cheesy Mike]

Public internet access via Wifi almost never uses WEP or other encryption. As someone who stays in hotels frequently - just turn on, scan for networks and connect. It's as simple as that. If the hotel isn't charging you then all you probably have to do is accept the terms & conditions when you start your browser, then you're on the net.

In the USA some hotels provide wireless and/or ethernet Internet access all over the hotel. Sometimes it's free sometimes you pay a flat rate of US$10 until checkout time the next day. The situation in the UK is much different. For those hotels that provide Wifi it is normally via someone like BT Openzone or TMobile so you pay a fortune for a per-hour connection. Money grubbing scum!

Mike