Wi-Fi situation

[rayhne.livejournal.com]

I looked around but didn't find anything on this. Does anyone know the wi-fi situation around the con? How much do the hotels charge? Where is there free or inexpensive wi-fi?

Comments

[petzilla.livejournal.com]

I go to the food court that sits between the Hyatt and I want to say the Marriott which had always had free wifi, the cost in the rooms are crazy.

Would like to spot a few other places close myself.

[awillis2.livejournal.com]

I don't know about all the host hotels, but I stayed at the Marriott last year and in-room it was either $10 or $12 per day. In the area around Starbucks & possibly up on the bar level I think there is free wi-fi, but I'm not sure since the laptop I carried last year had a bad battery and I could only use it in-room since I needed to be plugged in to the electrical.

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

The Marriott hotel (in the rooms, anyway) is ethernet, not wifi, if I remember correctly.

[awillis2.livejournal.com]

Yes and they provide the ethernet cord

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

It's wifi. I used it last year. In 2007, it was ethernet.

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

Maybe some of the rooms have it then -- I definitely had to use the ethernet cable last year.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

The main convention hotel (Hyatt) has WiFi available in the lobby for $10 per day, but it only works on the top two levels (lobby and mezzanine). The food court nearby has free WiFi but a paucity of electrical outlets, so plan on charging your battery up each day before you head out of your room. Not sure about the availability in the other hotels, but all offer some form of wireless access.

[arasirsul.livejournal.com]

Last year I wound up doing a one month trial of Boingo at the airport on the way down, and the Marriott, even though it's a wired connection, honored Boingo-- if they're doing a similar deal, it beats the heck out of paying for net access by the day. (I paid $9 for my first month's access via Boingo).

I've cancelled the Boingo account (as I don't use it often enough to justify keeping it around, so I'm not sure what my plan is this time around, but if you've never had one, it may be worth looking into. Verify Marriott (or wherever you're staying) is still on their partner list before you sign up, though.

[earendilgrey.livejournal.com]

From what I have heard the Food Court in the Peachtree Center (between the Hyatt and Marriott (via the habitrail) has Free WiFi. That's the only place that I know of that's free. The hotels are generally Ethernet connections and are around 10-12 dollars to hook up.

[roobocop.livejournal.com]

i was on the 8th floor of the hyatt last year, wireless was 10 bucks a day.

[palmerwriter.livejournal.com]

The Internet company Clear has wi-max access all over Atlanta. This might reach into the hotels. Check clear.com/atlanta (I think that's the link) for more info.

[myras-girls.livejournal.com]

ummm.... I read somewhere once that if you check the available networks you'll find a bunch of networks that some kindly souls are purchasing via the hotel and "sharing" for free.

Not that I've ever used one of those. *coughcough*

[puskunk.livejournal.com]

Of course not. I sat atop the Best Western and ran BackTrack two years ago on the laptop with the external antenna, I saw TONS of wifi. And all I could see line of sight from there was the Hyatt and in front of it.

[clayfoot.livejournal.com]

The last couple of years, I've bought the hotel's coverage for $10/night, then attached an open wireless router to it. Whenever there were too many connections for me to get good speed, I just kicked everybody off the router for awhile, then let them back in after I finished.

[muntahz.livejournal.com]

In the food court they have wi-fi areas that are free.
You need to look on teh floor for sign that designate the area as such.
I know a few people who have used it no problems in the past, this includes some pod-casters, but have yet to try it.
This year we plan to use it so we may see you there. ;)

[luna340.livejournal.com]

The Starbucks across the street from the Hyatt has free wi-fi if you want to drag your laptop over there.

[rayhne.livejournal.com]

I have a teeny-tiny netbook so lugging it around is no problem. :)

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

If you use a wifi card in your laptop or desktop, or have access to the antenna cable in your laptop, try a directional antenna. You have to aim them, but they can do as much as quadruple the range, giving you access to a LOT more hotspots (and thus a lot more FREE hotspots).