I was wondering about hotels that claim they have data ports in every room. Is this a T-1 line, or just an extra phone line? And, do they usually charge for the use of the data port vs. a local call I could make by unplugging the phone in the room???
What do the SDopers of the open road and information highway have to say about this? - Jinx
Most hotels hardwire their phones so you can’t steal them. Can’t answer about the dataport, but the ones I’ve seen appear to be phone line vs. cable.
IIRC the data port doesn’t go through their normal phone systems, which work at a higher voltage and can damage modems.
It depends on the hotel.
Last week I was in a Courtyard by Marriott that had a T-1 line available for $9.95/day
About 8 miles from that hotel is a Holiday Inn Express with free T-1 in every room.
Both of these rooms had phones that had an extra port for the modem which was available for no charge, assuming that you incurred no toll / long distance charges on the call.
To sum up T-1 / cable / DSL lines are available in more and more hotels. (no where near all)
I can’t off the top of my head recall the last time I was in a hotel whose phone did not have a data / line 2 jack on the phone. Most of the time these calls are free subject to toll / Long Distance charges. Although I stayed at one spendy hotel in Seattle (rymes with Eastin) that charged for any toll free call over 30 minutes. :wally PITA
Data port usually means a dialup line. It is somewhat safer then disconnecting the phone as the phone might be digigital and could blow out your modem if you connected directly to the phone line. It uses the same dialtone as your room phone an is charged the same.
Some hotels offer high speed access, but usually state that it is high speed and not just a data port.
Question from a networking newbie: OK, so you’ve brought your laptop and network cable/dongle. You plug in to the T-1 jack. Then what? Does the hotel’s network automatically detect you/set you up, or do you have to do some software mumbo-jumbo?
Depends on your OS. My company craptop runs NT and it won’t detect shit.
XPon the other hand is pretty good at setting itself up.
Usually there is a set of instructions in the room with a help line.
Some hotels and other multi-tenant units which have switching equipment use the phone lines in the following way:
There is a DSL modem in the room with the corresponding filter or splitter so you have both phone and DSL service from the same copper pair. The DSL modem is often hidden to prevent it from bein stolen and what you have visible is an empty box.
Voice and DSL bot go to the phone switch using the same copper wired (so there’s no need to rewire for data). At the switch there are filters which separate the two. Voice goes to the switch and data is routed out via a high speed internet connection, often using fiber.
So, basically yuou are getting DSL in your room. Whether they charge or not is up to the hotel.