Internet Service And Email

[KANSAS]

I will be staying at OLD KEY WEST & then BEACH CLUB VILLA, next month?

Can I get internet service anywhere?
convenient or not?
Cost?

THank you

 

[Richyams]

There is a 'data port' on every telephone at OKW, its just a dial tone. You can get a local number from your ISP(hopefully) and use your laptop to surf.

 

[KANSAS]

new question

can i get cable modem speed anywhere at Beach Club villa or BoardWalk Villa
for internet and email?

if so, where?
how convenient?
how much?

The hotels in Las Vegas, charge me $30 per hour, with a $15 minimum?

Please respond again, richyams, now that you understand. I must have cable modem speed for internet service??

 

[Richyams]

First, there is no such thing as 'cable modem speed', unless you are talking about my neighbor who can surf great at 2:00 am, but can't hold a candle to dial up from 5:00-11:00PM every day. If that is what you are talking about, then yes, there is dial up which is much faster than "cable modem speed"

If you are talking about broadband, which is much more reliably delivered on DSL or T1, T2 or T3 lines, then no, there is no broadband at any Disney hotel.

I think the Swan and/or the Dolphin have broadband. Usually its $10 per day, I have never heard of $30 an hour.

 

[RobDoc]

As Rich stated, there are dataports on all WDW resort room phones. There will be a charge for the local call (make sure it's a local number).

If you won't have a laptop to connect in your room, there are broadband internet kiosks in some of the resorts. (OKW's is in the entrway of Olivia's Cafe).

These kiosks offer free connection to all Disney sites and will allow checking email and surfing with a credit card (I think the charge is .25 per minute for non-Disney sites and email.)

There are sometimes internet stations at the convention centers (I've used them, for free, at Coronado Springs in the past).

None of the Disney Resorts currently have broadband connections in the rooms however.

Enjoy!

 

[KANSAS]

a broadband internet kihosk, for only 25 cents per minutes, seems very reasonable.

I paid $30 per hour, with $15 minimum at MANDALAYBAY & VENETIAN In LAS VEGAS

has anyone every used a broadband internet at a kihosk
at WDW?


i tried it once at a convenient store in LAS VEGAS and it was slower than a snail.

 

[KANSAS]

it sounds like that internet service at WDW is $15 per hour, instead of $30 per hour?

Key Question

is there a minmum
charge??

 

[icydog]

We have cable at home but we have an ISP, MSN, to use when we travel. We pay for it on a monthly basis and have never had any trouble accesing the internet using this service. It is very cheap, only a few dollars for the least expensive plan. We get local numbers from MSN and use them at Disney or wherever. The lines run at 48 kbs so they are not all that slow and allow pictures and stuff to be downloaded quickly. I am an email and internet nut and I wouldn't think of going someplace without the laptop. At Disney the charge for local calls is 35 cents for unlimited time so sometimes, when my DH doesn't know, I leave the lap top habrinating for days. I don't use the Disney phone at all, since everyone has my cell number and I make all outgoing calls on my cell. Make sure the call to your ISP is local to the resort you are staying at by calling the front desk and getting local exchanges or looking at the phone book.

This being said, 25 cents is a really great price for internet access. I didn't know these kiosks existed and I have been a member since 1992. I guess when I stopped using a credit card on the pay phones and got a cell phone I just didn't notice them.

I doubt there is a minimum since you are not in a store or on a cruise you are standing in a corridor next to a bathroom. I type very slowly so at 25 cents my bills would be astronomical.

 

[Snowgod]

Nextel, Sprint and T-Mobile all offer data cards for laptops and use cellular service. A few of these cards even support voice with a headset connected to you computer, costs start at about 29.95 and goes up rapidly. The cards start at $199 and goes up to about $500. Advantage is you can surf almost anywhere but most use this only if they have a bussiness need. Juno.com and Appleisp.com offer $9 a month service with dial-up in the Lake Bueana Vista area as do many other ISPs.

 

[Richyams]

I have the Motorola iM1100, a PCMCIA card for the laptop. Its $55 per month for unlimited access. Its slow, even though the site and instructions say "56k through compression", its not even close to dial up. It connects at 19.2 and surfs at less than half dial up speed. Its possible that some areas have more sophisticated equipment and South Florida is slow...I don't know.

I haven't used it at WDW yet, I still have five or six months till my next trip....wow, I must be slacking to not know how many days, sorry. The first weekend of November....wow, I guess that's 4 1/2 months, around 135 days.....

 

[floridafam]

Maybe I'm just spoiled but I think Disney should have broadband service at their resorts.

Even the Hampton Inn in Panama City Beach had it.

Am I correct in assuming they don't have broadband at any business centers or anything?

Why not? I can't imagine not having a broadband connection.

Do you think SSR will have broadband?

 

[Richyams]

A while back, when DSL was first coming out, I worked as a sub-contractor for BellSouth installing DSL. Areas that had certain types of equipment couldn't get DSL. They may have a large amount of incompatible equipment if they have their own litle phone company, as I suspect that they do.

Even certain types of fiber were only recently able to carry DSL, and I really don't know the specifics, just vague generalities, combinations of DSLAMS(them big green boxes on the side of the road) and fiber still can't get DSL without a majot capital investment.

I imagine there are a wole herd of Disney Geeks trying to figure out how to offer in room broadband. The disturbing thing is that the newest DVC, BCV, wasn't wired for data, I wonder if SSR will be?

Doc?

 

[Namdnas]

Rich, I have a cable modem, and it's always much faster than the best dialup, usually by a factor of 10 or so. So, while I've heard how with DSL you are 'separately switched' and with cable, you're on shared bandwidth, that hasn't affected me in my area. I've had it for 6 years, and it's actually gotten better over time. Not everyone is disillusioned with cable.

I work for a technology company with approx. 150 outside sales reps across the country, and all have broadband of some type. I've heard far more stories of frustration with poor DSL quality, bankrupting of companies, etc... from friends who have had both. That said, you can in fact get a fast connection speed on some cable systems.

As for installation at the Disney properties, I think personally that this is more a strategic move than anything. e.g. if you can surf the web easily, maybe you won't go out and spend as much money at the parks, restaurants, stores.
The technologies for hotel type setup have been around for years now, and plain networking gear for even longer. My guess is, its just business. Disney already has gigabit Ethernet strung throughout every inch of Magic Kindom, delivering music to individually addressable speaker/amplifier combos in trees, under rocks, etc, so they sure know how to do it of they want to. My guess is, some Disney bean counter ran the numbers, and figured you're worth more at their venues than in your room surfing.

Last, get out there and have fun, you're at Disney after all!!!

 

[icydog]

Disney does have their own phone company.
I worked for the phone company for many years in the marketing dept( I sold computerized phone systems) and I know the trouble old central offices can bring. Even with an upgrade to a new switch (computer that works the whole thing) they would have to make an investment in fiber, T1 and T3 lines. My company made a major commitment to the Jersey City Area accross from NYC. It involved throwing out what already existed and replacing everything with newer technology. This city was only rewired about 5 years ago so you know this was a big investment in the future. Disney had the state of the art system only a few years back but I doubt they have kept up with the newest technologies. Heck, we can't even get DVC to allow us to use the internet to access Member services on a real time basis.

 

[floridafam]

Well,

Now I'm lost. Why'd you have to get all technical on me?

I asked DH what you guys were talking but he refuses to look at these boards so I guess I'm out of luck. He's a CCNA and something else and works for the local cable company with their internet accounts that have all the mumbo jumbo mentioned.

He said it probably wouldn't be too difficult and then lost me when he went further.

I agree with the poster who mentioned we would probably be less inclined to spend money if we were sitting in our rooms surfing the internet. I find this point to be very valid.

Anyway, I think it would be nice if they offered broadband.

I'd like to see it at VB.

 

[ryoung]

When we stayed at the Swan in APril of 2002 they did not have braodband available in the rooms. Not sure about the business center.

Randy