Top 25 Wireless Tips & Tricks

Want a better Wi-Fi experience on the road? The two keys are a long-range Wi-Fi card and a Wi-Fi travel router. With a long-range card, you can connect to even the weakest hotspot signals, and maximize throughput. With a travel router, you can unwire your hotel room, or even set up a temporary Wi-Fi net at your parents' house during the holidays. Read on for our top five tips for the wireless traveler.

1. Finding Hotspots on the Road

Question: How can I find a hotspot when I can't get online to search for one?

Answer: Making it easy to find and connect to Wi-Fi hotspots all over the world is what JiWire is all about, so naturally we have lots of advice for you on this topic! JiWire's massive directory of more than 120,000 distinct hotspots in 128 countries includes most Wi-Fi provider networks, such as Boingo, T-Mobile, Wayport, iPass and many more, as well as independent sites, airports and municipal hotspots. Even better, nearly 10,000 of those hotspots are completely free of charge -- just check the "free" button in the search box to limit your results.

While the online directory always stands ready to serve you, when you are on the road and need to find the nearest hotspot, that presents a chicken-and-egg dilemma -- you can't get online to find a hotspot, without BEING at a hotspot. So we've also created an offline search solution, called Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder. Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder for Windows installs as part of the JiWire Hotspot Helper utility suite (more on that on the next page), and maintains a database of hotspots in areas you specify. You can choose any combination of locations to keep track of: everything in a particular city, a state, or an entire country. You can download the whole world, if you want. The database will even update itself periodically, so you always have an up-to-date list of public hotspots.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder presently runs on Windows XP and 2000. A Mac OS X version of JiWire Hotspot Helper, including Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder, is planned for later this year. We also have versions of the directory for handhelds and smartphones. See the downloads page for more information.

2. How to Get Connected at a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Question: I'm new to Wi-Fi. I can use my laptop at home with no problems, but when I go to a free Wi-Fi location, I can't get onto the Internet. My PC tells me that I have a good connection, but when I try to access the Internet, I get "Page Not Found" and can't log into my work email. What am I doing wrong?

Answer: It's not what you're doing wrong, but what you're NOT doing that is the problem. There is one key difference between home and office Wi-Fi, and public hotspots. With home and office Wi-Fi, usually all you need to do is select the right access point from the list of SSIDs, and you'll be connected. Public hotspots are different. Even if your Wi-Fi card shows that you are attached to a hotspot's access point, you may not yet be connected to the Internet. The key secret to remember about getting connected at a public hotspot, whether free or paid, is that you need to open a NEW browser window first, before using email, IM chat, or other Internet functions. This browser window will usually pop up a screen for you to log in, or at least click "Okay" to whatever terms and conditions the hotspot imposes.

This system allows paid hotspots to collect login or credit card information, and free hotspots to put up information screens and responsibility disclaimers. It's just one extra step, and should only take a few seconds at a free hotspot. Some free hotspots ask that you create an account with a password. When you return the next time, logging in will be quick and painless.

What if you've opened a new browser window and still don't see a login screen? Try typing a known web site address into your address bar, such as www.google.com, which will usually force the hotspot's login screen to load. (If the hotspot network has a lot of users, you may have to do this several times before the login screen will appear.) Also it's a good idea before you set out to be sure your system is updated with the latest Service Packs and Software Updates (SP2 handles Wi-Fi much better than SP1). You may also need to simply get closer to the access point (your signal may be too weak to connect).

These tips, and much more, such as how to secure your public hotspot connection with JiWire Hotspot Helper, can be found in our Wi-Fi User's Guide.

3. How to Send Email at Wi-Fi Hotspots

Question: When I try to send email from my desktop email program at hotspots, I usually get an error message, and am forced to use webmail instead. Is there any solution to this problem?

Answer: The issue is that most hotspot providers block the use of third-party SMTP servers (which route your mail to its destination), to prevent the use of their networks by spammers. (Think how easy it would be for a spammer to go from Starbucks to Starbucks sending millions of emails otherwise!!) But there are plenty of solutions. First, as you found, you can simply use webmail.

If you prefer, like us, to use a desktop email program like Outlook or Apple Mail, one solution is to change the "sending" server in your mail account settings from your regular SMTP server (such as mail.comcast.net) to the server hosted by the hotspot provider. Some popular providers and their mail servers are listed below:
Boingo: mail.boingo.com
Surf and Sip: mail.surfandsip.net
T-Mobile: myemail.t-mobile.com
Wayport: mail.wayport.net

While this works fine at hotspots, this method requires changing settings back and forth at each location, which can be a hassle. And figuring out the server name at many independent hotspots is near impossible, if one exists at all. That's why we developed a more reliable and convenient hotspot email solution as part of JiWire Hotspot Helper. When you connect using Hotspot Helper's secure VPN service, you also get seamless, automatic routing of up to 200 emails per day through JiWire's SMTP servers. No confusing account changes necessary!

4. Wi-Fi Travel Routers

Question: Most hotels with broadband access in the room supply Ethernet connections. I'd rather have Wi-Fi so I don't have to sit at the desk. Can I bring my own Wi-Fi router?

Answer: Most definitely! While you can bring along pretty much any standard Wi-Fi router, specialized "travel routers" are also available. These are basically pocket-size versions of regular network routers that let you unwire almost any wired Ethernet jack, such as those in hotels and conference rooms. You can use them to share your connection with colleagues or to simply surf from the comfort of your hotel bed.

Two of our favorite travel routers are Apple's AirPort Express, and Linksys' Travel Router. The palm-sized AirPort Express doubles as a full-fledged Wi-Fi router, with USB printer sharing and wireless iTunes music streaming to a stereo system. Despite the Apple name, the AirPort Express comes with full Windows configuration tools and support as well as Mac, making it great for Windows iPod users as well.

The Linksys Travel Router is another amazing product, the first consumer router of ANY kind that can simultaneously connect to a hotspot and act as an access point for other computers. This ability also makes it a great universal range extender for home Wi-Fi networks suffering from dead spots. Of course it also works with wired broadband connections as well. And it fits in the palm of your hand, with no power adapter to lose. It plugs right into the wall.

 

But what if you've only got a phone line in your hotel room? The Always On Wireless WiFlyer can unwire both broadband and dial-up connections, for true travel versatility. You can set up a Wi-Fi net anywhere, whether your hotel has broadband or not, for up to 14 users. The WiFlyer also has thousands of US telephone access numbers from major providers built-in, so you don't have to go searching for a number every time you arrive at a new place.

It's also worth noting that the Linksys and WiFlyer both have an extra Ethernet port, supporting a wired client or other device, such as a VoIP adapter. So you can take advantage of free or low-cost Internet-based phone calls too, for the price of a local call, and avoid high hotel long-distance charges.

5. Finding the Best Deals in Overseas Hotspot Access

Question: I travel frequently to Mexico and Europe and find using Internet cafes inconvenient. Is there a Wi-Fi service I can subscribe to in the U.S. that allows me to use it overseas? Also, what type of hardware would I need? I have a Dell laptop with built in Wi-Fi card and Bluetooth, running Windows XP Pro.

Answer: In terms of hardware, you already have what you need to connect at Wi-Fi hotspots all over the world -- the built-in Wi-Fi card. We'll focus here on how to find hotspots overseas, and what the best deals are for paid access. The first place you should always visit before traveling to a new spot is the worldwide JiWire Hotspot Directory. This will give you a list of both free and paid hotspots where you're going. Take a look at who provides the most hotspot service in that area. Many countries have providers who have linked up most of the hotspots into networks, such as the pervasive BT Openzone/The Cloud system in the U.K., and Orange WiFi in France, both of which are run by large phone companies. You can usually buy passes for these large providers online, either in advance, or at a hotspot. For example, BT Openzone sells passes by the hour (6 pounds), day (10 pounds), and month (40 pounds), and Orange WiFi offers passes by the day (20 Euros), week (60 Euros), or month (120 Euros). The clocks for both Orange France and BT Openzone passes start when you first use them.

If you already have a subscription to a major U.S. provider like Boingo or T-Mobile Hotspot, you can also roam in Europe onto the above networks and others, but at a pretty steep per-minute charge. For example, T-Mobile charges $.18/minute to access most hotspots in France and the U.K. through deals with Orange WiFi and BT Openzone. Boingo is cheaper in both countries, at $.12/minute, and roams to more countries worldwide. You can find out what roaming charges apply for any hotspot by looking up the location details on the providers' Web directories. If you expect to use Wi-Fi for more than an hour or two a day, it's probably cheaper to buy a local pass.

In Mexico (and Canada and most of Latin America), Boingo does not charge extra for roaming, making it the hands-down winner for travel in those countries. T-Mobile does not have locations in Mexico or South America.