Getting+a+Hotspot+Connection

Getting a Hotspot Connection

If you use wireless Internet in your home, you may think it's the easiest thing in the world. I mean, after you get everything connected and hooked up, it's such an easy way to get Internet access. You do not have to worry about any cords, you hardly ever lose connections and it just makes your computer life simple. So, you have mastered using wireless in your house and you think you might as well try it outside of the house, You go down to the local coffee shop, which is a free WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) hotspot, you turn on your computer and everything is fine until you realize you cannot get connected to the Internet. What could possibly be wrong? Well, there is a difference between home wireless use and public hotspot use. Even if your WiFi card shows that you are attached to an access point, you may still not be connected to the Internet and all you will receive are the dreaded "Page Cannot Be Found" messages. The main thing you should remember when you go to a public hotspot (free or paid) is to open up a new browser window before you do anything. Do this before you open up your e-mail, a chat program or any other Internet functions. The browser window you open will usually have a log in screen for you (or something similar) so that you are able to get connected to the Web. By doing things this way, paid hotspots are able to collect the fee information they need and free places are able to put up their information and disclaimer screens. This process really only takes a couple seconds and it will save you time on your next visit to that same hotspot. Most of them have you set up an account with a username and password, so you can just log in easily the next time you visit. You may be wondering what you are supposed to do if the above process still does not work. What if you do everything I've just said and you still don't get a log in screen? Well, there's a couple things you can check. Make sure you have your browser homepage set to something. Do not have it set to a blank page. If it's blank, it won't be able to trigger the port that's needed to get you online. You also just need to make sure you have the updated service packs (SP2 works much better with WiFi connections).

One final thing that may be causing you problems: you might just be too far away from the access point. If you're too far, your signal may be too weak to catch a connection. So, just move closer!  