I'm glad to see this thread as I have similar questions. I have a wireless card for my laptop that is from SBCYahoo and is called 2wire. It works at home with whatever else they sent me. It did not work at a hotel that had wireless service.

I have used the ethernet cable at hotels and been able to get right on the internet which is great. However, I would be happy to buy some other kind of plug in gadget to be able to access WIFI but don't know what to get. Now you're beginning to see why I didn't start a thread like this - I don't know the terminology! Is a subscription service to WIFI necessary or is there just some kind of wireless card to buy and plug in when I'm in a hotel?

Thanks for your help to any that are able to understand my questions.