WiFi and Hotspots?

Jakerrzero · 09-05-03, 04:46 PM

Hello,
I just ordered my Axim last night and i got the WiFi card with it. I haven't recieved it but I'm just wondering what to expect with the WiFi card. I have heard there are hotspots at Starbucks and one of my friends said he found one on our college campus. I'm just a little confused about these Hotspots, do they cost money to use or can anyone with a WiFi card use em? And if they do charge money for the WiFi at Starbucks is there a such thing as a Free wireless hotspot? I think the one my friend found at the college was sort of an acidental access point that was left open.
Can someone please explain What hotspot services are available and what they generaly cost?
Thanks!!
-Jake

09-05-03, 05:17 PM

WiFi at Starbucks is offered by T-Mobile and cost depends on what plan you want and if you are a T-Mobile subscriber. Boingo Wireless is another provider. You can find these providers all over the country. Basically you will be able to logon to any AP the the provider offers. As far as a school, most of the time those are open hotspots, but it also depends on the policy of the school. THere are free hotspots out there, you just have to know where to look. The locally owned coffee shop I go to in the morning has a free open AP that I use to check my email before going to work. Other can be found on some sites such as this one.

Clamdigger · 09-05-03, 05:24 PM

Hi, I use T-Mobile... the plan I use is pay as U go....$6.00 for first 60 minutes, and 0.10 per minute after that....... you can go to .... www.t-mobile.com/hotspot/services_plans.htm .... Hotspots are at Starbucks and Borders Books & More..... with more in the future. There R no free rides with Hot spots with a T1 rating that I know of....maybe colleges or city libraries but don't know about that.....good Luck....however U find UR Hotspot Locations.

Clamdigger · 09-05-03, 05:29 PM

Hey Thanks Cageyjames that is really a cool site on wi fi hotspots
very cool indeed....now to try them out without paying an arm & a leg for Internet service....

09-05-03, 05:33 PM

No problem, I used to have a list of sites that had good lists, but I had my laptop HD crash. I backed up everything BUT my favorites.

cmn135 · 09-05-03, 05:55 PM

So I have a question??? If you go to a starbucks with a wi-fi hotspot, and you use your wireless card, and you do not have a T-mobile account...how does that work? Can you not get access or do they have some mysterious way of finding how to bill you?

09-05-03, 06:02 PM

you can pay w/a credit card when you try to log on while at starbucks or another t-mobile hotspot. You might even be able to pay while buying your coffee like at McDonalds.

Jakerrzero · 09-05-03, 06:32 PM

hopefully as WiFi becomes more widespread and T-Mobil gets some competition prices will drop a bit. I don't want to pay the same price as my home internet connection for WiFi. Expecially if I can only use it when I'm at Starbucks. I think it would be great if colleges started setting up School wide WiFi for a low student price. I wonder what it would take to get a WiFi signal to cover an entire college campus. Is that even possible?

Royalanguish · 09-05-03, 07:02 PM

My school has wifi over the whole campus and the cost is included in the tuition. Its an open network-no encryption or filtering what so ever. To be honest, anyone who happens by could use the signal if they had the mind to.

Jakerrzero · 09-05-03, 07:16 PM

Wow that's great! I hope that more colleges start offering wifi!