Many airports in the U.S. offer free WiFi access, although those that do are tend to be smaller airports that you’re unlikely to pass through.  Exceptions include the McCarran (LAS), Denver (DEN), and Kansas City (MCI). All other airports usually have a pay-per-use service or monthly fees that are not practical for the occasional traveler who needs to send a quick email or transfer some data. For many travelers these days, however, airport-offered Wifi isn’t even necessary.

A portion of travelers will likely have a data plan on their cellular phones to push email anyway, especially with the growing popularity of phones that mandate a data plan agreement with their providers. With some technical expertise, you could tether your phone to your laptop and surf off of a 3G data network or Verizon’s DataConnect.

What about the average Joe who has a cellphone mended together with electrical tape (certainly does not have a data plan) and usually gets caught up in 2-3 hour layovers at airports? Here are some tips that can help maximize your chances of getting some free airtime during your layover:

1. At one point, Boingo‘s wireless service had a holey firewall that didn’t really block any outgoing traffic to the web. I was able to append something like `?.jpg’ to my web addresses and jump the wall instantaneously.  I believe that they have since “secured” their services, and this trick no longer works. Interesting idea nonetheless.
2. If you subscribe to AT&T‘s DSL service at home, you are actually entitled to use their airport wireless networks by simply using your login, provided that they are the carrier for the airport. I believe that Seattle, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Raleigh, and St. Louis are just some of the airports that use AT&T.
3. Some airports have an unencrypted, unbroadcasted networks for their internal use. You can fire up Netstumbler or Macstumbler, identify the SSID, and connect away. I’ve never done this, for ethical and legal reasons.  This should NEVER be done, and is listed for academic purposes only. In fact, any business that does this needs to fire its IT department. Security through obsfucation is no security at all.
4. If you are a member of an airline lounge, you get free wireless inside.
5. Actually, if you’re NOT a lounge member, you can STILL get free wireless. This is where the money is.  Some wireless signals of the exclusive airline lounges extend right outside of the entrance doors. Just park outside the Gold Club lounge and fire up your wireless card. Sure, you won’t get the free booze, food, and leather chairs that airline lounges offer, but you’re also not paying for membership. There are some strong signals outside the club lounges at O’Hare, Midway, San Francisco, Dulles, and Narita. If you have a laptop with an antenna built into the screen (IBM Thinkpad or MacBook are two that do), you will get an even stronger signal.

Be forewarned, if you connect on unencrypted wireless networks, be sure to lock down your system with a good firewall, and be wary of sending sensitive data. You could also route your traffic through a secured VPN. If you stick your hand in a honeypot (or sugarcane), do not be surprised if you get stuck…

Note: The aforementioned information is listed only as a theoretical exercise. Ophthosurgery.COM holds NO responsibility for the content listed here.

computing hobbies, travel

Even if you haven’t travelled by air recently, you probably have heard about airlines cutting operation costs by reducing services. Obviously, domestic travel has been hit the hardest. On United Economy Class, beverage service no longer includes any 0.05oz bag of pretzels to accompany the drinks (for flights < 2hrs). United has also opened up a dozen or so “Economy Plus” seats on their 737′s that offer an extra 5 inches of legroom. Their website states that these seats are available for one-time upgrades starting at $14. No bad right? Bad indeed. The $14 only gets you the seat on ultra-short haul flights only (Chicago <-> Detroit). On my flight from Chicago -> Philadelphia the other day, the upgrade was available for $40. Indeed, it was such a hot item that it seemed like the only takers were those willing to shove through the flight attendants barracading the division between economy and “economy plus” class. Read more…

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