Travel Technology - Boingo To Get Use Of ARESCOM Hotel Wi-Fi Network

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">FREMONT, Calif. and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- ARESCOM INC. and Boingo Wireless, Inc., have reached an agreement to integrate the Wi-Fi High Speed Internet access in guestrooms and public spaces at nearly 200 hotels in the ARESCOM Hospitality Network (AHN) into the rapidly growing Boingo(TM) Roaming System.</font>

More at:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031222/lam016_1.html

babytalk: the subject of this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

It's great to see Boingo growing: I am currently evaluating theirs and T-Mobile's wireless services to see which fits my needs better. For now, it's worth the $51.90 a month to have both (the free 10K AAdvantage miles put me over the edge with T-Mobile).
Boingo is also cheaper at $21.95 a month on the fly (with the first two months free); T-Mobile wants $29.95 a month with a one year contract. Someday, we'll be enjoying free wireless and all of this nickel and diming will end (I can dream, can't I?).

Each provider seems to have locations focused at different markets; T-Mobile has signals at the AA ACs (and some other clubs, I understand), Borders Books, Starbucks and some T-Mobile wireless stores. Boingo is available at a lot of hotels and in some airports (partnering with Wayport much of the time). I like the Boingo software, and it's really easy to use, but it's faster to update the locations on my home DSL line than it is via Boingo's own wireless network. Boingo also lists some free wi-fi locations in their software; while not expansive, I've found that "free" wireless hotspot locations are growing quickly in some cities. Both Boingo and Cirond wireless "sniffer" software products are adequate at picking up these signals (less hassle than using XP for sure).

With T-Mobile, I can pull into a parking lot where Starbucks is, fire up the laptop and grab data, e-mails and e-faxes (also checking in on FT for mileage run board announcements, like cheapie SEA-LHR fares...)it usually takes less than 5 minutes and makes keeping in touch with clients much easier. With Boingo, since they usually have wireless hotel lobby access, pulling into the registration area in front of the hotel is usually sufficient to get a signal.

Either way, I can be turning quotes and e-faxing them much faster than I used to... which has added to the bottom line significantly. I've found that wireless access is one of the greatest things since "sliced bread"; my clients love the faster response times on issues, I love the extra productivity that it offers (no more twiddling my thumbs at airports waiting on flights). For me, this makes the price of access a non-issue in the longrun. Bravo, Boingo, more locations!