The Alexander Hotel Internet Theorem
My friend and hero Bryan Alexander of NITLE has a theory that says, basically, the nicer the hotel you stay at, the worse the internet experience is, both in terms of connectivity options and price. I’ve stayed at a couple of lesser chains and their internet access has been great.
I was bummed to see that internet access at the EduWeb hotel is $12.95 a day. It looks like there will be a connection in the session areas, but at the end of a long day of sessions and networking, it’s nice to come back and veg out for awhile, but I don’t think I’ll (or my instution) will pay $40 for me to surf the web and watch YouTube. If you are paying, enjoy the fast speeds. I remember the terrible internet speeds at HighEdWebTech in November when we all tried to get on that system.
But this morning, there’s a sliver of hope. AT&T has announced free Wi-Fi access to iPhone customers in their network of over 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, including Starbucks. One of the other locations listed is the Trump Marina hotel, site of this year’s EduWeb 2008 conference.
I tried to confirm this with AT&T, but I got a clueless rep on the phone. If you go by the website says, you should be able to get on the network with your iPhone.
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I’ll just charge it to my room……….
……after I figure out where I’m sleeping.
Hoping this 18,000 hotspot thing starts up soon. Saw it on TUAW as well. Maybe by Monday?
Fame is mine.
Just found this in two more hotels, during the past week. I tend to rely on my Sprint PCS card, now. It’s so worth it, given how much I travel, and the sorry state of American connectivity.