Wi-Fi on the Road

Earlier this year, I traveled to the Philippines. Based on past experience, I didn't have much hope for Internet access in that country. On my last trip 3 years ago, Internet access was limited to Web cafes at dial-up speed. To my surprise, this time I was able to access the Internet at broadband speed from the lobby of my hotel, the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, for about $10.00 a day through a public wireless hotspot using Wi-Fi, the 802.11b wireless standard. Internet access through public hotspots is common today. Wi-Fi is available in most large airports, and in hotels and coffee shops throughout the United States and in many international locations. (For links to public hotspot directories, see the sidebar "Directories of Public Wi-Fi Hotspots.") Although Wi-Fi availability is a boon to business travelers, it presents cost and security challenges to corporate IT professionals.

The advantages of Wi-Fi for business travelers can't be overstated. In the past while traveling, I'd have to find a telephone with a modem port, connect my computer to it, and figure out the dialing string that would permit a long distance phone call to be charged to my business calling card. With Wi-Fi, I simply look for a sign advertising a public hotspot, turn on my Tablet PC, and make a Wi-Fi connection. Wireless computing is particularly easy with Windows XP, which has a built-in UI for browsing wireless connections. And in contrast to dial-up, Wi-Fi gives you broadband speed-in the Waterfront Hotel's lobby, I was getting performance comparable to the DSL line in my home office.

Don't Break the Bank
The biggest problem with using Wi-Fi while traveling on business is the cost. Most providers charge about $10.00 per day for access. At first glance, that price doesn't seem unreasonable-particularly when compared with long-distance charges for a dial-up connection-but price can present a real problem when you're traveling. Let me illustrate this point with my own itinerary from a recent business trip from my home in Modesto, California, to Denver, where I attended the 2004 Windows and .NET Magazine annual editorial meeting. . . .