Wireless internet everyone?

Are these wireless hotspots free now? Last year I used them a lot but had to download a pin via my mobile phone to give me access....

Mr Fawlty, may I call you Basil?
Some are as Ms Goanna states, free. Others follow your experience and require some form of access credentials.
Best advice, suck it and see.

How's the Siberian Hamster?

Geoff.

She go craszy!
I tell her you try to see woman in room and she go Craszy

(attempt at Sanish sounding Crazy)

hahahaha Manuel

Does anyone know how far the connection will go from Maccas? I am planning to stay in a motel across the road from a maccas that is a wireles hotspot and it would be very handy if it will work. There is a major road and then a carpark between the motel and maccas so I will prob be about 600m from maccas?
Cheers
Justin

Water, I think 600 metres will be pushing it a lot. I was talking to a bloke who is a computer engineer & he recons he was involved with the "roll out" of the telstra hotspots. He says that the range of the hotspot my vary but the newer ones are somehow, presumably via some sort of RF shielding, kept very directional & are more or less required by law to be contained within the site for which the licence is given. I have a wireless net at home and it's not accesable for more than a few metres outside my house plus its encrypted...

I have tried a few of the "free" wireless setups, you still have to make a purchase to get a key but I found that as these were sponsored that email that was sent to networks other than the ones acceptable to the sponsored site were filtered & returned as undeliverable...
Geoff you may call me Fawlty, Basil is so "familiar"... Suck it and see is the only way to go.
Is there a list of the free ones as there is a listing available of all the pay ones?

Thats why I have borrowed the Siberian Hamster, to eat the food - the coffee is ok but the food....

Still it's a cheap way of staying in touch, emailing & electronic banking etc when you are traveling. I used to keep a running record including pics saved in my "drafts" folder and when I found a hotspot just log on and hit the send button...

I've been in a couple of caravan parks where I've picked up unidentified wireless networks. I assumed peole have no security on there systems.
What are the risks of using these"free" connections?

Ross, there would be no real problems unless you are caught or paranoid about security. But it is apparently not a crime to log on to a network that has no security on it, at worst if you are caught the owner of the network could bill you for your time.

The only other concern I would have is that the network may have some logging software on it that records your personal details eg pin & account numbers & though highly illegal would be justified by the claim that you were using the network as an unauthorised user...

Thanks for the info.
So I suppose if I do not enter any of my banking sites etc where my passwords could be logged I'd be reasonably safe.

Actually it was Melbourne based Member Big Kidz Andrew who was at a caravan park in an un-named by me Western NSW city. Andrew felt it was all part of the welcome so he used it.

I havn't got to use anyone elses router so far. I have obviously been particularly honest. ( The ones I tried in Melbourne in the block of units I was staying during the Commonwelath Games had set up their security )

Footloose,
Best answer in that situation is the one I use with my teenage daughters, they'll say, "Oh dad you're such a -insert latest teenage buzz word here-"
My answer? "Is that good?"

They've got nowhere to go from there! Poor buggers they're hopelessly out gunned in the battle of wits!!

Geoff.

To make yourself appear "current' you have to use the word "like" as every second word as in: Like I want like a big mack like & a coke like with fries like and ahhh an internet thing like you know?

It's not only teenagers - listen for one minute to someone up in the financial world, they have a language all of their own as well.

Likewise medical people, recently I have been having a few problems "secret mens busness wise" and the specialist skillfully avoided every question I asked by responding with medical jargon & trully got annoyed with me when I asked for his responses to be in laymans terms...Then really spat the dummy when I told him I wanted a second opinion as he obviously could not relate to a layman...

There are only a few questions that specialists need to be asked
Can you cure it ?
When ?
What will the effects of your intervention be in the short and long term?
What will it end up costing me personally (the GAP)?

If they cant tell you that then its time to do, like, you know, dude, the walk on by.

Want a second opinion... then ask me twice!!!!!!

I'm trained in "interview" techniques & all I could get from this bloke was garbage, I was to stupid to realise that I was putting my private parts at his mercy... It's also very hard to change your mind when you are naked, on your back with your legs held in stirrups (presumably so that you can't strangle anyone) & being held down by a nurse....
I should say just quietly that I have only this afternoon discussed a malpractise action with legal council....
stay tuned for further developements.

Make sure your legal action stipulates return of goods removed LOLOLOL