Don't Leave Home Without These!

[Brad Adrian]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.computeruser.com/articles/2306,5,14,1,0601,04.html' target='_blank'>http://www.computeruser.com/article...,1,0601,04.html</a><br /><br /></div>As far as I'm concerned, there are two things that are absolutely necessary when we Pocket PC afficionados travel (a.k.a. "geeks on the go"): a <a href="http://www.scottevest.com/">SCOTTeVEST</a> and a hotel with high-speed Internet access. Apparently, I'm not alone in my thinking (a scary thought in and of itself), because Matt Lake at <a href="http://www.computeruser.com/">ComputerUser.com</a> has written a great article on the topic.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/computeruser.jpg" /><br /><br />In his article, Mark starts off by describing all of the gear he carries in his <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26210">SCOTTeVEST TEC® Sport Jacket</a> (and he carries WAY more stuff than I do!) and then describes the kinds of hotels he prefers to stay in when he travels. The best part of the article, though, is the reference he gives to a great Web site called GeekTools. This site includes a hotel guide (<a href="http://www.geektools.com/geektels/">Geektels</a>) that lists only hotels with high-speed and WiFi connectivity in the guest rooms. The Geektel guide includes over 4,000 hotels throughout the world and has descriptions of the hotels and direct links to their Web sites. <br /><br />Whether you're planning a trip around the world or around the corner, you MUST read this article first.

[Lotto]

That hotel list is handy! Thanks for pointing it out.

[dean_shan]

That Geektel page is really nice. Thanks for the link.

[Brad Adrian]

That hotel list is handy! Thanks for pointing it out.
I had no idea the list would be so long and so detailed. The good news is that more and more hotels are adding high-speed, especially since it is so easy to install WiFi access points.

I recently made hotel reservations in a small town of about 14, 000 citizens. Each of the three hotels I called have free WiFi access in the rooms. Oh, that's another thing: If you are going to try to find hotels with WiFi, make sure they specify it's in the guest rooms. A few will try to lure you in, but the WiFi is only in their lobby.

[Lotto]

The other side of that is many hotels tell you they have WiFi and when you get there (especially after 5 pm) it doesn't work and the desk has no clue what you are talking about. When you do get a hold of their 'internet guy' it can take him several days to sort it out.

[Brad Adrian]

The other side of that is many hotels tell you they have WiFi and when you get there (especially after 5 pm) it doesn't work...
That happened to me recently at a Hampton Inn in the DC area. I was sitting in the lobby next to another road warrior, trying to get the system to work. She dialed the tech support line, while I figured out that it was a problem on the server end and not ours. In the meantime, the support guy was having her reconfigure her PC and make all kinds of changes that I'm sure she was never able to retrace.

Turned out the server simply needed to be rebooted.