In this newsletter, I have occasionally referred to the use of wireless LAN technology in public hot spots. Public hot spots are places such as hotels, airports and conference centers where WLAN access points (APs) are installed for visitors' use. The APs, in turn, connect over a WAN connection of some type (wired or wireless) to the Internet. Public hot spots, then, extend the mobility benefit of corporate (and home) wireless LANs by providing connectivity not only in your organization's offices, but also in public places where users are likely to find themselves while still on the clock.
At this juncture, most public hot spot activity I know about is IEEE 802.11b-based.
I just received an e-mail from a reader who wanted to know where he could find a comprehensive list of these hot spots. " Good question! " was my knee-jerk response to the reader. It would certainly be useful to have an integrated directory of all the places you could use your WLAN card, so you could plan ahead for being on the road. So I did a little research. I found some lists that, while not integrated, taken together might be helpful to you.
One of the busiest companies in the public hot spot arena is Wayport. I'm going to call Wayport an Internet service provider that focuses on hotels and airports, but it could also be considered an integrator. Wayport appears to have been quite a catalyst for the installation of 802.11b ( " Wi-Fi " )-based public hot spots in hotels and airports. To find a list of all the hotels and airports in which Wayport has installed WLAN technology, go to:
www.wayport.com/WayportFactSheet.pdf.
A Wayport competitor is Guest-tek. A list of hotels with Guest-tek-installed WLANs is at:
And what if you are a Starbucks groupie? MobileStar, which recently filed bankruptcy, was the carrier/integrator that led the by-now-infamous Starbucks hot-spot project. But MobileStar has been bailed out for now by VoiceStream and, as far as I can tell at this juncture, the connectivity is still in place. Here is where you can find out in which Starbucks stores 802.11b-based wireless Web access is available:
RELATED LINKS
Readers debate public wireless access
Network World Mobile Newsletter, 11/14/01
Antacid for WLAN standards
Network World Wireless Newsletter, 12/10/01
New group forms to promote 3G nets
Network World, 01/14/02
Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Campbell, Calif., who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com.
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