As some of you know I'm a columnist for the SF Chronicle (and freelancer for the Washington Post) and occasionally post to this forum to see what intelligent travelers are thinking. I'm working on a couple of pieces, one of high-speed access in hotels and one on wifi.
Re high-speed: how important is an ethernet connection for you? Do you choose hotels based on whether they have high-speed Net access? What do you find are the best ways to hook up and what can pose problems?
Re wifi: how has wifi worked for you when traveling? Have you used paid access or free hotspots? If paid, what plan have you used and how has it worked.
Though I travel frequently I typically just need email and light browsing on the road, so I often get by with dialup. But I've found there are times when high-speed is useful. Do you think more hotels will offer this as a free incentive - would it sway you?
Any anecdotes or comments, especially from those who live in the SF Bay area, would be most appreciated. If you'd like to see some of my stories, including an archive of my traveltech columns, go to
www.nettravel.com
Thanks, -M.