My company has given me a new laptop which includes a wireless network card, which I’ve never had before. I have no wireless access in my office, so I was looking forward to trying this at the Seattle airport recently.
The computer was able to see a good, strong signal at the airport (green bars in the System Tray icon for the card), but I was never able to get to the internet. IE was set to “Detect Network Settings Automatically” but I couldn’t connect.
Signs in the airport concourse indicated that the area was “hot”, but didn’t indicate that I needed a daily subscription, special passwords or security settings.
I can’t find a general “How To” on Google or the SDMB, perhaps somebody can give me some advice or a website that explain how this works?
Wireless networks in Airports are usually broadcast for all to see but only those who subscribe are allowed to join. Access control can come in several forms.
One example would be a proxy server that limits requests to HTTP (web pages) if you have authenticated with a name and password supplied after you subscribed.
Another would be you can subscribe and they will add the unique address broadcast by your wireless card to a list of authorized users. Requests from authorized users are passed on, requests from unauthorized users are rejected.
Many wireless networks are not controlled. If you can see it, you can access it. I know that there is a wide-spread movement on the Pacific side of the country to blanket areas with free networks. Basically, people set up access points from which anyone can leech bandwidth. For this to work, someone has to be willing to pay for the internet connection and give it away to all comers.
Coffee shops are good candidates. Starbucks controls theirs, I think, but smaller chains or individual operations might have open networks.
College or University campuses.
Hotels. Wireless is more and more common at hotels. Some Courtyards by Marriott and Residence Inns have high-speed wireless access that requires only an agreement to license terms. No money. Others want ten dollars a day. You don’t have to sit in the lobby, either. Some hotel in downtown Chicago was giving wireless access away to their guests, but the signal reached to the coffee shop on the corner.
Sea-tac’s website says that their wireless internet service is provided by Wayport, whose pricing chart suggests that access is not free. $6.95 for a one-time connection in an airport, valid from purchase time until midnight. They also offer pre-paid cards and monthly and annual membership plans.
So if I can’t connect (regardless of a strong signal), chance are that the access has to be paid for…if the access is free, I would be able to connect and browse normally, right?
More than likely. There is a possibility you might have to change some settings in certain situations, but being new to the world of wireless myself, I don’t know much about that.
In the future, you should open a browser window when you’re in a location with public wireless internet access. Some hotels have free wireless access but you first must agree to their terms and conditions. Usually, this will be via a page that pops up as soon as you open a browser window.
You might try your local library. List of libraries with wi-fi access by the “Wireless Librarian” here.
From the Los Angeles Public Library page.Free public wireless Internet “Hot Spots,” available at Ascot, Baldwin Hills, Los Feliz, North Hollywood, Pio Pico-Koreatown, Sherman Oaks, and Westchester-Loyola Village Branches as well as at Central Library. Note:802.11B wireless access is available. Laptops must have DHCP enabled. LAPL Staff cannot assist in setting up laptops to work with the wireless access.
I was at Seattle airport a few weeks ago. They do indeed use Wayport. Even though service is not free, you should get their web page if you were to open up a web browser, as they have everything routed to one address (where you can purchase their service) until you are a paying customer.
ok, I know your question has been pretty much answered, but I figured I’d give you a simple guide for the future.
Provided your wireless drivers are installed and working:
Right click on My Network Places and go to properties
Find the Wireless Network Connection Icon, right click that, and go to properties
Go to the middle tab which should be Wireless Networks
If your computer is seeing a potential place to connect, it will be in the little window in that tab. Choose which one you want to get more info about, highlight it, and hit properties. It is here that you can play with certain settings to try to connect.
In the Association tab you can enable or disable WEP.
If you enable, try leaving the Key setting at 1 and check the box that says Key Provided for me Automatically.
And in the connection Tab make sure the “Connect when this network is in range” box is checked.
I know that with my Dell Axim, if a wireless hub has encryption, the name of the server has a little locked padlock icon next to it, while the open ones have an open padlock.