Slog: News & Arts

RSS icon Comments on Free Wi-fi

1

Ya it seems a no brainer to me as well. They are even putting in free "hotspots" at all of the rest areas around the metro area so the truckers can keep in touch. In an age of rampant consumerism and the advertising that funds, I cant imagine it would cost them anything to provide it either.
Come on Seatac think globally act locally. Its not only a cliche its good business.

Posted by drone5969 | March 11, 2007 2:32 PM
2

Also, ever tried to find an electrical outlet in SeaTac to rescue your battery-drained laptop? Good luck. And if you find one, you have to sit on the floor.

Posted by Chip Chipmunk | March 11, 2007 3:04 PM
3

Free Wifi at Sea-Tac would not have directly benefitted the career or bank account of former Port of Seattle CEO Mic Dinsmore. Now that he's moved on to his carefully-cultivated greener pastures, we can hope Sea-Tac might step up and do something that benefits the rest of us.

In the meantime, I subscribe to Boingo Wireless. It covers a bunch of airports and other public places where you'd normally have to pay.

Posted by Explorer | March 11, 2007 3:55 PM
4

I've spent 24 hours in LAX before, waiting for someone to tell the truth about my flight, which never happened. "It'll be another two hours", she said, knowing perfectly well that since it was still on the ground in New York, there was no way for it to be here in two hours.

And the only worse than expensive wireless is expensive and extremely grotty "internet kiosks" with no-def screens and wonky keyboards and what appeared to be raspberry syrup poured all over them.

Flying in America is like torture, really.

Posted by Fnarf | March 11, 2007 4:40 PM
5

Indeed, our most pressing issue.

Posted by johnnie | March 11, 2007 4:42 PM
6

Aren’t we the tech capitol of the whole freakin’ world?

Well, no.

But you should still have free wireless at SeaTac.

Posted by Faithful reader from the Bay Area | March 11, 2007 5:29 PM
7

I had a crappy 40 min layover turn into over 8 hours before Christmas at Cincinnati and my T-mobile connection made it bearable. Without it I would be running naked across the tarmac with boredom.

Posted by StrangerDanger | March 11, 2007 5:53 PM
8

Well, SeaTac is about 3 times the size as PDX... WiFi can't even make it down my hallway from my living room... so I'm not shocked it's buggy. Then again, PDX has a train, so I guess they're just trying harder all around.

You're right though, it should AT LEAST be free. Pay WiFi? Lame.

Also, since you obviously haven't checked in your laptop, please be sure that is you ONLY carry on bag. No one likes a cheater.

Posted by Dougsf | March 11, 2007 6:22 PM
9

I'm going to pull out my credentials as both a Seattle writer and a guy who writes constantly about Wi-Fi: it ain't cheap to run an airport-wide network. That's not to say it shouldn't be free. But it's not simple.

The day rates are overpriced because they're captive venues. One simple secret. Subscribe to Boingo Wireless, an "aggregator" of about 60,000 hotspots worldwide, including most airports in the US. $22 per month with no commitment beyond a single month brings unlimited access at US locations, and some limits overseas (many non-US locations are metered, but with a negotiated rate).

I was on a trip to San Francisco in January and signed up with Boingo because the hotel I was staying in wanted $8 per night for Wi-Fi, and thus one month of Boingo (which offered one month free at that time) was cheaper than three separate account purchases. And I used it in the airport on the way home.

Posted by Glenn Fleishman | March 11, 2007 6:29 PM
10

Glenn,
Why should it be expensive?
It appears to be the same issue as anyone would have at home — times a hundred.
So?
You buy 100 routers and 100 T-1 lines. (You get the gist.)
That would seem to be chump change when you are runing an _ international airport._

Posted by David Sucher | March 11, 2007 6:56 PM
11

Spokane has free wireless throughout downtown. I'm using it right now. It's limited to two hours per day and works best outdoors but it's a nice start.

Posted by spokevin | March 11, 2007 7:51 PM
12

Please. If you can afford a computer, you can afford your hookup to your all powerful internets.
My suggestion, quit whining.
Arn't most homos sucking cock in airport bathrooms anyway?

Posted by rufus | March 11, 2007 8:19 PM
13

So thats where I need to go, I would have never guessed Airport bathrooms.

Frankly, I don't like public wifi, its just too insecure, you never know who will be sniffing your packets (VPN is an option, but I found HotSpotVPN slow). Your better off getting Verizon or Sprint EVDO or just waiting till you get home to check your porn blogs, i mean news reports. No one's life is sooo busy that they can't go without net access for a couple of hours.

Posted by brandon h | March 11, 2007 8:57 PM
14

Dan, you need this site:

http://www.travelpost.com/airport-wireless-internet.aspx

The definitive guide to airport wifi.

Posted by Colin | March 11, 2007 11:09 PM
15

Ez: the Port of Seattle is indebted up to its eyeballs and they need every nickel they can get. As of Dec 31 2005, they had long term debt of about $3 Billion. In contrast, the Port of Portland had long-term debt of about $700 million. Both ports run both an airport and a seaport.

Wifi is actually a very minor cost. What people should really be up in arms about is the Port of Seattle collecting $68 MM or so per year in property tax, compared to the Port of Portland collecting about one tenth that, about $7 Million. See page 17 of this if you're interested:

http://www.flypdx.com/PDFPOP/Audit_POP_Annual2006.pdf

To put $68 million in perspective, it is roughly enough to pay for $1 Billion in debt if the $68 MM were paid each year for 20 years.

Posted by Commentator | March 11, 2007 11:15 PM
16

Also, this might have a calming effect while at the airport: http://users.design.ucla.edu/~akoblin/work/faa/Documentationl2.html

It's a dazzling video of flight patterns.



But be sure to check this site so you know if you can watch that video on a free connection!:

http://www.travelpost.com/airport-wireless-internet.aspx


Sorry, I'm not a shill, I just want to make sure you see it, Dan!

Posted by Colin | March 11, 2007 11:18 PM
17

Back in the good old days, before 9/11, I could get to the airport 30-45 minutes before a flight, and still catch it if I was lucky. Now? 2-3 hours. Ugh. They no longer feed you anything more than a dried up leather bagel on domestic flights.

If they are going to force us to sit around airports, bored out of our minds, for hours at a time, the least they can do is provide free Wifi. Charging $10 for it is like adding insult to injury.

Posted by SDA in SEA | March 11, 2007 11:41 PM
18

And how about those tiny packets of peanuts they give you? I mean, what is the deal with that?

I'm sorry, but I can't help but read this thread and see a whole lot of whining from very privileged people. "Flying in America is like torture, really." Really? Like torture? Wow. I'll be the first to admit flying is a pain in the ass, but do any of you ever think how privileged we all are to have our laptops (wi-fi or no) and our cars and our lattes and to be able to move 3000 miles in a handful of hours?

OK, I'm getting off the soapbox now, but jeez. Have some perspective, people.

And SDA, I've been arriving about an hour ahead of time for the past year or two, with no problems. 2 or 3 hours, maybe right after 9/11, but you don't need that kind of lead time anymore.

Posted by Levislade | March 12, 2007 9:25 AM
19

SPOKANE has free wifi downtown???

Posted by sniggles | March 12, 2007 10:21 AM
20

Uhh, where exactly do you live? Seattle isn't quite the tech capitol of the world. Maybe top 30, but that's pushing it. LOL. But beyond that, if Seattle is in the top 10 US tech centers, it ain't because it fostered an air of benevolent technology sharing. It's because a Harvard dropout moved to the then-cheap Eastside, engineered product lock-ins and appropriated third-party innovations, and found plenty of ways to milk them dry.

Posted by K | March 12, 2007 10:30 AM
21

Tip: Go hang out near the Alaska Airlines lounge and voila! Free wi-fi at Seatac.

Posted by Paul | March 12, 2007 10:31 AM
22

Face it, we live in a backwater.

Posted by Will in Seattle | March 12, 2007 10:50 AM
23

I would also recommend checking out AnchorFree's airport listings. Until the airlines realize that it'll have to be their responsibility to provide free access, the users will have to tough it out and band together. http://anchorfree.com/Airport-free-wifi-USA.htm
If you know of a free hotspot in an airport, you can easily update the database and let us all know where to find free Wi-Fi.

Posted by Jimmy | March 12, 2007 11:52 AM
24

I was just at Sea-Tac this weekend and someone told me you can get free WIFI if you're close enough to the Northwest Lounge.I haven't tried it yet, but its something to remember, of course if you're in that part of the airport.

Posted by ianus | March 13, 2007 12:51 PM

Comments Closed

In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 45 days old).