Don Madge Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I know it's sad but I have to confess I took my Wifi hotspot detector "walk abouts" with me on our recent trip to Istanbul. I was amazed at the number of hotspots I found just walking about a city. We stayed three nights in Nuremberg and Budapest, three nights on the train from Budapest to Istanbul and then four nights in Istanbul. All three hotels had wifi connections in all rooms, in Nuremberg there was a small charge but the other two were free connections. With the Istanbul hotel you needed a password to connect. I only used my laptop at the hotels we stayed at. I found many fast food outlets (Macdonalds/Burgerking/KFC) and local cafes all had hotspots. Some were free and ready to use in others you needed a password which you got from the either the counter or it was on your receipt. I also found hotspots at Istanbul airport, Terminal 3 at Heathrow and at Kings Cross station. As my computing skills are very limited I don't know the difference between a secure and an unsecured connection. As my laptop has AVG and Zone Alarm I used the unsecured connections without any problems, I hope. This was our first try out using the wifi connection and it's a lot easier and more convenient than using an internet cafe. Safe travelling Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
degsy Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I have recently bought a new laptop and intend to use it on our travels. Like you we want to have internet connections as we go and I suppose the question is where do we find them? You said you used a 'hotspot detector', was this a separate device or did you use the facility in your laptop for detecting 'internet connections? I suppose it might look a little strange walking around in the middle of Istanbul with a laptop looking for a signal. How straightforward is it in this country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixters other half Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I'm no computer buff by any means but one thing I have found out, is that when you need internet connection in a hurry thats when there are no hotspots or if they exist the signal strength is very low. What would be really useful, is forum users letting the rest of us know what the strength/reception is on the various camp sites they have used. Im currently in Marden Kent an excellent site but very poor signal strength with Vodafone 3G Hope this starts the ball rolling VoH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixters other half Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I'm no computer buff by any means but one thing I have found out, is that when you need internet connection in a hurry thats when there are no hotspots or if they exist the signal strength is very low. What would be really useful, is forum users letting the rest of us know what the strength/reception is on the various camp sites they have used. Im currently in Marden Kent an excellent site but very poor signal strength with Vodafone 3G Hope this starts the ball rolling VoH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John H Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I bought a laptop a couple of months ago hoping I could pick up hotspots on our travels. We travelled through Cumbria, Edinburgh,the west coast of Scotland and back down again via Northumberland and the only hotspot I have managed to find so far is in my living room. The bloke over the road is running his wireless network without a password. I have got a wired LAN that I installed ages ago to network 3 pc's. I phoned the Caravan Club about a month ago to ask them if they had any plans to offer WiFi on their sites. I was told that they were going to trial it on some of their bigger sites very soon. P.S. There was a hotspot at North Ledaig site near Oban but they wanted £5.00 a day to use it. I thought this was a bit excessive so I didn't bother. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave29310 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Maplin sell at least 2 keyring wifi detectors at: http://www.maplin.co.uk/searchtemplate.asp?criteria=TRUST%20WIFI%20DETECTOR%20KEYRING for ~£15. Much less attractive to local low-life than an open laptop! Notwithstanding the legality or otherwise of using someone elses connection, at the very least you should turn off file and printer sharing on your laptop when doing so to prevent others looking at your files. (See Windows help and support files if you don't know how to do it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Found two in Dieppe when we were there a few weeks ago. We were on the aire and I booted up my laptop to download my pics and my lan picked them up - but would not connect - perhaps the signal strength was low. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sally Pepper Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Interesting article here on this issue. http://www2.outandaboutlive.co.uk/channel/newsItem.asp?c=1&cate=__426 Methinks this will be the next big thing with sites trying to add a little value or even make an extra bob or two... EE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hymer Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Found lots of sites in Spain last winter with Wifi connections. 40 euros for a month seemed good value Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 We used ours whilst away this year. It does not seem to be commonly known but those who have BT Broadband get 250 free minutes per month for use at any openworld hotspots, you have to reqest your user name and password from them it is not sent automatically, this includes McDonalds, Costa Coffee houses and all other 'partner' hotspot providers abroad (a full downloadable list is on the BT website). We made extensive use of this this year and also benefited from using Skype to phone home and friends completely FREE, saved a packet on mobile call charges. Bas. Edit P.S. despite what some may say it is illegal, certainly in the UK, to use someone elses open WFi connection without permission there has been at least one successful prosecution in the last year so it is far better to make use of legal Hotspots particularly if they are part of your package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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