May 06, 2004Airport Access in USReport on Airport Access includes notes on Neptune Networks installations. Mobile Computing
Feature: Getting Online at the Airport, Part II
First click Passenger Services on the top menu bar. Then on the gray menu bar, click Business Centers & Airline Clubs, which lists a Laptop Lane in Terminal 1 and a Hilton Business Center in Terminal 2, though the description of the latter says nothing about Internet access availability. At the moment, T-Mobile is the primary wireless service provider at O'Hare, with hotspots in American, Delta, and United member lounges. A spokesperson said there are pay phones throughout O'Hare with data ports for dial-up Internet access. Also, the airport is negotiating with wireless service providers to offer Wi-Fi access throughout public areas in O'Hare (and Midway, Chicago's other airport). The service should be up and running by late 2004 or early 2005.
The navigation could use some work, for instance. To find Internet access, you must click Shops & Restaurants on the home page, then click a particular terminal, and finally select the Services tab for the central window. Each terminal offers at least some form of Internet connectivity, including high-speed wired kiosks from Neptune Networks, pay phones with dial-up connections and data ports, and wireless access from T-Mobile and Wayport at airline lounges as well as throughout entire terminals. The site often provides pictures of the kiosks and Internet access rates, too. In short, if you've got to be stuck at an airport with your notebook, get stuck in Dallas.
At the site, I discovered The Travel Right Caf�, a cybercaf� in Terminal 4's Departure Level with 48 data ports/phone jacks and power outlets that can accommodate up to 68 users. Neptune Networks offers wired broadband kiosks in Terminals 3, 7, and 8 and in the Tom Bradley International Terminal Mezzanine Level. Internet data port access is available at all public telephones throughout the airport, according to the site. Boingo provides wireless hotspots in Terminals 1, 3, 5, and 7, while T-Mobile offers service at the American Airlines Admirals Club. A spokesperson said there are plans to offer wireless Internet access in all public areas of the airport sometime in the next two years.
The City by the Bay's airport Web site has added Wireless Internet Access to its list of services. But clicking it simply brings up a brief explanation and a link to the T-Mobile HotSpot's landing page, where you have to perform another search to find hotspot locations within the airport. The good news: T-Mobile has planted Wi-Fi hotspots in every public area of the airport, as well as in many airline lounges, according to an airport spokesperson. The hotspots are marked with signs so as to be easily located, he added. Neptune Networks also offers an Internet kiosk in Terminal 3 and in the Virgin Atlantic Airways Clubhouse, according to its Web site. The airport's services listing on its Web site also includes telephones equipped with data ports, but the site says no more than that they "are located throughout the terminals." In my experience, these pay phones are fairly plentiful and easy to find.
Boingo Wireless Need some Wi-Fi hardware? One of the best-stocked e-commerce sites I've seen is MobilePlanet. Your Feedback PCWorld.com - Mobile Computing: Airport Web Access, Part II Posted by Craig at May 6, 2004 02:55 PM |