HotSpot Providers Need to Better Understand the Mobile Devices World

[Jerry Raia]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3886' target='_blank'>http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3886</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Another day, another city and another coffee shop which offers a public HotSpot. So far so good I thought and fired up my Smartphone since I wanted to do some E-Mails, etc. Doesn't matter if it is a free HotSpot or one which costs, most HotSpots requires a login on a web frontend which is generally fine for me even if completely useless if it is a free HotSpot (like the one bellow). Anyway - it's okay and not bothering too much except if you get what I just got when I've tried to use the HotSpot in the cofffee shop I'm currently relaxing:"</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Jerry-060407-hotspot_experience1.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Arne Hess had an interesting experience while trying to use a local hot spot. Read the article to understand what it was. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Personally I not longer have any use for hot spots. I have been sticking to unlimited data plans from the carriers I use.

[bshpmark]

Well, let's talk about T-Mobile Hotspots first. When I visit Starbucks it is to get in, get it, and get out. I don't sit there all day so I don't need access to the Hotspot and should not have to pay an extra $10 a month for something I do not need. I would really like to know the stats of how many people have the full T-Mobile data plan versus how many of those people actually use the T-Mobile Hotspots.

Now, how about airport hotspots like here in Atlanta? It is a joke. You get connected and what do you get? A front page that basically gives you nothing. If you want to access the Internet you have to have access to a subscription service through an access provider. I already have a data plan through T-Mobile. Why should I have to have an additional wireless LAN access plan? Ridiculous.

In all honesty, I have found that EDGE speeds are fine for the browsing that I do. Now if I want to watch CNN or NBC news, then yes a Wi-Fi connection is a must in most cases. But c'mon. I lived for years without a Wi-Fi connection. I think I can survive an hour in the airport without one. If I need to listen to music, I'll just fill up the memory card with music to take with me. Why stream the music?

In my day job I have several unsecured Wi-Fi connections around town that I can use if I really need to use one. At local coffee shops, the civic center, the library, and so on. Just pull the patrol car up next to the building and connect. No front page junk to work through. Just me, the Dash, and a connection. Plan and simple.

As far as hotspots that are operating system specific - that shows me that the tech people who work there really aren't that versatile or knowledgable in the first place.

[onlydarksets]

But c'mon. I lived for years without a Wi-Fi connection. I think I can survive an hour in the airport without one.

Heresy! With that logic, we should all be using paper and pen! I expect less rationalism and more of that "cause it's new, not cause I need it" attitude here.

[bshpmark]

You miss the point. I was referring to the Wi-Fi connections where you have to pay twice - once for the data plan you have with your carrier and again with another carrier just to use the hotspot in some place like an airport. If hotels can offer free wireless access, so can airports, especially with the fares you are paying and the prices you are paying for food and other concessions.

Now if you live your life on an airplane like some folks do, perhaps the additional carrier cost is worth it, especially if your company is footing the bill and not you.

Trust me, I have been in the technology field since 81 so I do like gadgets and like to have anything new just because it is new.

[onlydarksets]

You miss the point. I was referring to the Wi-Fi connections where you have to pay twice - once for the data plan you have with your carrier and again with another carrier just to use the hotspot in some place like an airport. If hotels can offer free wireless access, so can airports, especially with the fares you are paying and the prices you are paying for food and other concessions.

Now if you live your life on an airplane like some folks do, perhaps the additional carrier cost is worth it, especially if your company is footing the bill and not you.

Trust me, I have been in the technology field since 81 so I do like gadgets and like to have anything new just because it is new.

Nope, I'm pretty sure you missed it - I was kidding. ;)

[bshpmark]

Okay, you got me!

[bshpmark]

Add Oh yeah, here's the real killer hotspot for me - McDonalds!!!!!! You have to buy a day pass on some service to use the connection at one of the local McDonalds here in town. COME ON! Okay, Dad, Mom, and the kids are driving from New Jersey to Disney World for vacation. They decide to get off the Interstate to get the kiddies a couple of Happy Meals. While they are eating Mom decides to check her email at work as she has forgotten what the word vacation means. But to use the connection she has to buy a day pass.

Well, everyone is done eating in 20 minutes. But hey, why let that day pass go to waste. Let's delay the trip by a couple of hours and stay at McDonalds so Mom can enjoy surfing the Internet while the kiddies romp in playland and Dad gorges himself on a few shakes and a couple more Big Macs.

And when the trip starts again, lets make sure our next stop is another McDonalds so Mom can use the day pass again and get her money's worth from it.

I guess when I am 70 years old and go get my senior coffee at McDonalds and have the latest Smartphone that my retirement check will let me afford, I'll be buying a day pass at McDonalds. NOT!

[Sven Johannsen]

Add Oh yeah, here's the real killer hotspot for me - McDonalds!!!!!! You have to buy a day pass on some service to use the connection at one of the local McDonalds here in town.
You know, when they started this, you got an access code that was good for about an hour or so if you bought a meal deal, sandwich, drink and fries. There was a code on the receipt that you could use. Not a bad idea, I thought. Long enough to check mail and let the kids blow off steam at the playplace, and it was 'free' for buying what you were going to get in the first place. Too bad they got greedy.

I agree that paying for the Hotspot plan for a PDA with 3G and a data plan is overkill/extravagent. For the extra $10 though I have it for my laptop. It is actually capable of making use of the extra speed, and if I use it one day a month, it has 'paid for itself'.