Travel Technology - Any International roaming wireless internet provider can beat Boingo

I will travel to Europe in Summer for few months, but I know the wireless fee is very expensive at the hotel. I need to use few hours(at least 5) every day,
I have found Boingo, any provider better than that

Thanks

ATT has a premium wifi hotspot that includes European roaming on much the same lines as iPass. It is $19 a month.

Look up iPass (www.ipass.com). We use them as a corporate solution and they are a "universal" provider that has contracts with all the major (and many minor) providers. We pretty much have access wherever we go except where there are custom local solutions (some hotels for example have a "local" solution).

I know they sell individual accounts. You might check on the cost as this is something we never really see.

ipass no longer offers month to month plans. Need to sign a year contract. Not the best option for an individual traveling for just a few months.

iroam.com also has a program but unless you sign a one or 2 year contract is it expensive to be online 5 hours a day. To see European daily rates you need to go to the USA plan (yes) and check bottom of the page http://www.iroam.com/globalinternet.asp?PageID=1078 to see European rates. They have a cap per day but the cap is generally higher than a hotel internet rate (as I recall most of Europe is $42/day--GB I think was $34/day. Nickle and diming setup fees, admin fees, different prices for wired, wifi...--they really need a simple monthly plan and they would get a huge number of clients.

One neat thing about the iroam contract is that it includes a free 3G card so you can use cellphone tower access when not in a wifi or wired location. But again, you need a contract for 3G.

I'm also looking for a good option for Marriott Grosvenor House in London. I'll be there for a week and the hotel charges 120 pounds for weekly internet or 20 pounds per day.

I have an individual account that's over 7 plus years old. I pay monthly fee of $2.40 plus actual usage.

The last time I actually used it was 2 yrs ago in Taiwan - it was during the lunar new year and my wife's family didn't have an internet connection. So each morning I'd head over to a McDonalds and logo on their hotspot with my iPass account.

ATT has a premium wifi hotspot that includes European roaming on much the same lines as iPass. It is $19 a month.

ATT does have much better network than Boingo, for $19 per a month, that's a steal.

It covers all hotels/airports I want to go.

Just want to make sure, $19 is all I have to pay there is no additional roaming per min charge besides $19, right?

It just hard to believe $19 for all, but Boingo charges 50++

I have an individual account that's over 7 plus years old. I pay monthly fee of $2.40 plus actual usage.

The last time I actually used it was 2 yrs ago in Taiwan - it was during the lunar new year and my wife's family didn't have an internet connection. So each morning I'd head over to a McDonalds and logo on their hotspot with my iPass account.

I assume you are speaking of ipass? Perhaps you are grandfathered in because you pay a monthly fee. I used to subscribe for a month ($45 i believe), cancel at the end of my trip. Then resubscribe the next trip (usually several months later). Last time I did this was March. When I called again last week (May 09) I was told they no longer offer month to month service. I would have to take out a year contract.

Thanks for everyone's suggestion, I signed up ATT WIFI Premium.

Here is one more question, when I search roaming location at some hotel, it says under description:

Login Format: IPASS/username

does that mean, I select Ipass as roaming partner, then login with my ATT account or I put IPASS/username, then ATT passward to login, thanks

phone calls to support center were not helpful.

I assume you are speaking of ipass? Perhaps you are grandfathered in because you pay a monthly fee. I used to subscribe for a month ($45 i believe), cancel at the end of my trip. Then resubscribe the next trip (usually several months later). Last time I did this was March. When I called again last week (May 09) I was told they no longer offer month to month service. I would have to take out a year contract.

It's been so long since I signed up and I use it so infrequently - I really don't know --- so guess I am grandfathered. I do recall when I original signed up that their 'dialer' for the Mac OS was not as comprehensive as the PC version.

Fortunately for $2.40 X 12, the cost of keeping it is as insurance. I also used it twice in Vermont at a friend's cabin, the old fashion dial-up modem, 56K speed to read some emails over a weekend!

I pay about $20 a month for TMobile Hotspot which I have been thinking of canceling since international roaming is no longer free and most US places I use are free because of Admirals Club or Red Carpet Club membership and Starbucks card access. It sounds like the ATT Premier might be a really good replacement rather than canceling. Am I right that the ATT Premier is a lot more useful now than TMobile Hotspots, especially with some international travel added in? Thanks.

So update the thread if it turns out to be only $19 and they have a lot of roaming spots.

Or is it only going to be in the lobby of some bigger hotels, as opposed to up in the rooms?

So update the thread if it turns out to be only $19 and they have a lot of roaming spots.

Or is it only going to be in the lobby of some bigger hotels, as opposed to up in the rooms?

It is $19 according to their web site. I doubt it is in the rooms in all hotels although it may be in some. They list the sites on their web page if you want to check.

If pinching the penny (euro cent) is your priority, ask for a rumor on the conference room level. In hotels constructed in the larger US style, I often find that the conference room level is the better place to sit and snarf wifi than the first floor. Except for a couple of break times, you are left alone. In the center city more traditional European hotel, the conference room is one or two rooms on the Mezzanine or in the basement often in less inviting settings.

I've wondered how many of you guys carry one of the USB based extended range wifi antennas and your experiences. My best friend is renting a place in France this summer for three weeks which doesn't have internet, but where there are four or five Orange hotspots on his block. Boingo has access to these hotspots and I suggested it to him. (He is a Brit and I'm not sure that ATT will do business with him).

i found that aside from france, boingo didnt work in most hotels

So update the thread if it turns out to be only $19 and they have a lot of roaming spots.

Or is it only going to be in the lobby of some bigger hotels, as opposed to up in the rooms?

I think it is also good for in rooms. If u search wifi location online, u will see lots of hotels location show Eternet, that means u need to plug in the cable. There is no way to do it in the lobby.

That $19 per month is for a one year contract. Or pay a $20 ETF.

ATT has a premium wifi hotspot that includes European roaming on much the same lines as iPass. It is $19 a month.

The UK based mobile networks have some good deals on PAYG 3g they might be worth investigating. I'm sure the equivalents in other european markets will do likewise.

Some of the plans are for smartphones only.

The ones for laptops are more.

So update the thread if it turns out to be only $19 and they have a lot of roaming spots.

Or is it only going to be in the lobby of some bigger hotels, as opposed to up in the rooms?

Some update

Although I had some diffculty on first time using it, it's working very well after I figure out how the connection sofeware works.

I used at BCN airport, the website is listed as Ethernet roaming, but it's working for WIFI.

$19.99 per month is a really good deal, even if u just use them 4, 5 times per year at some European hotels or airports!!!! I probably never gonna cancel it.

Less than 20% of the European hotels I normally use currently have a deal with Boingo. It used to be over 50%. In addition the price has doubled. I really hope another company would fill this vacuum.

MisterNice

Is it laptops for $19.99 or smart phones?

What kind of connection software, for Windows only?

Is it laptops for $19.99 or smart phones?

What kind of connection software, for Windows only?

It is for laptops, but you could certainly use it on a smartphone if you wanted to.

I came across this
Azzurri Roam
http://hello.azzurricommunications.com/azzurriroam/index.html

What it looks like for 25GBP/month its unlimited iPass

"Azzurri Roam Express is an unlimited-use, flat-fee global access mobility service that provides Internet access in over 160 countries through a single, intuitive, user interface."

So now the question, is it worth it? It looks like everywhere I go, iPass is a option while Boingo isn't

Looking at my upcoming trips...
KRK-MUC-LHR airports (KRK - free internet in lounge MUC -ipass LHR - Free in BA F)
Cairo Hotel - free wifi
CAI airport - wifi?!
Hurghada IC - iPass
Paris IC - probably iPass
Sheraton Heathrow - probably iPass
Crowne Plaza Denver - probably iPass
Houston Crowne Plaza - probably iPass

While many of the hotspot services are technically only wifi, I've been able to use these accounts on some wired ethernet accounts. Hotels that have decided to accept Boingo often don't bother to build separate launching mechanisms for wired and wifi connections. The hotel gets paid either way and I doubt Boingo really cares either.