Wi Fi at Boardwalk

[tree320]

OK I'm not much of a techie so please forgive me if I get the term wrong. We are staying at the BWV with our points. My kids have Kindle Fires and an IPad. Will we get free Wi Fi for them to use those things to go on line? Anyone know how that works. Do I need to get a code? Can they do this in our room or in just certain parts of the resort?

 

[erionm]

The WiFi is free but unsecure. No codes are needed. It should be accessible in your room and in various common areas.

 

[disney_bob]

More as a PSA than anything, please keep in mind that these "unsecured" wifi networks are a hackers dream. Personally, I wouldn't do online banking at all. I also wouldn't dream of going to a site where I had to put in any form of password/username if it didn't have an "https" at the beginning. And knowing my clientele, they all use the same password for everything they have. Sniff one password? Know them all.

Be cautious.

 

[Cee]

That's very good advice, Disney Bob.

 

[tjkraz]

More as a PSA than anything, please keep in mind that these "unsecured" wifi networks are a hackers dream. Personally, I wouldn't do online banking at all. I also wouldn't dream of going to a site where I had to put in any form of password/username if it didn't have an "https" at the beginning. And knowing my clientele, they all use the same password for everything they have. Sniff one password? Know them all.

Be cautious.

Agree! No reason to be irrationally afraid of using the free wifi...just take precautions.

I'll also add that when I first turned-on my laptop at BW, I saw 3 or 4 unsecured wifi access points listed. There was a card in the room which listed the name of the access point provided by the resort. Make sure you connect to the right one!

Maybe those others were separate networks being tested or perhaps I was getting a signal from someone's personal router. But they could have also been hackers. Don't just assume that an SSID like "Disney-Free", "Disney-Guest" or "Boardwalk-Guest" is provided by the resort. Look at the in-room instructions and make sure you connect to the proper router.

 

[LisaS]

I'll also add that when I first turned-on my laptop at BW, I saw 3 or 4 unsecured wifi access points listed. There was a card in the room which listed the name of the access point provided by the resort. Make sure you connect to the right one!

We had the same experience. The free wifi became available during our stay at BWV last October. I saw 3 wifi access points listed and at that time there was no info yet from Disney as to which one was the one provided by Disney! Good to hear there is now some information in the room.

 

[psac]

They also have a direct call number (like 41 or 44, something like that) from the room that gets you to the Wifi assistance group. We couldn't connect to the wifi until we called, they bounced the server our IP was hitting, then it was fine. Sound confusing? I'm sure your kids will know what to do! ha!

(Not meaning to offend!)

In general, the wifi was a little spotty and would stop working on occasion, and I found the best result was to turn off my wifi (like airplane mode) and put it back on. Also you'll have to click to accept on their terms and conditions screen multiple times a day.

That all being said, it was GREAT to have it. We used both our iPhones for the usual stuff, plus our iPad to cancel and/or make new ADRs (easier than on the iphone), etc. Excellent perk.

 

[drusba]

The WiFi that is now in the rooms is available to all guests, not just DVC, for no charge and with no code needed. One of the first things you will need to do with any of your devices after turning them on and before being able to go to the internet is to have your device choose the applicable wireless internet connection and the one to choose at boardwalk is “guest wireless”; do not choose others including any that have the BWV name in them (those are not for the rooms or for use by all guests). Your iPad or iPhone will automatically display a list of available wireless connections when you attempt to go to the internet but a computer may require you to (a) make sure your wireless is turned on (if you have been using nothing but wired connection at home, it may not be), and (b) find the list (you should find an icon for doing those things in your bottom tool bar).

Once you designate the applicable wireless connection and attempt to go to the internet, you will get a page that comes up with a long agreement that is virtually impossible to read because the print is so small in which you agree to give away your first born if anything goes wrong and then you need to click at the bottom of the agreement on “I Agree” which, if it is an iPhone, will be so small that it will be hard to tap with your finger.

You then get a completely useless Disney page on the Boardwalk resort which takes too long to come up and once up you can then start using the internet by going to any other page.

You must do that for every device used. What we found is that the wireless access was OK for much of the day, although not powerful enough to update apps on the iPad or iPhone, but often went down intermittently (likely overload) particularly during late afternoon and early evening. Whenever it goes down, and also after any fairly short period of non-use, you have to go through the connection process again with the agreement page. Moreover, when doing so, often the agreement page that you need to accept to get the connection will not come back unless you restart your device and start over again going to the internet.

In other words, it is adequate at best, not as good as the wired system they had, and likely so because the Disney “suits," proving once again their idiocy when it comes to anything IT, decided to go cheap and install a weak system as many hotels did (and learned they were idiots for doing so when many expressed outrage or just stopped using the hotels) when having wireless internet in hotel rooms first became the rage.

 

[tree320]

Thank you all for the great info. Yes the kids will most likely know what to do, but I will feel so cool if I can tell them! OK just one more question. Can someone hack your iphone, ipad or Kindle Fire?

 

[tjkraz]

Thank you all for the great info. Yes the kids will most likely know what to do, but I will feel so cool if I can tell them! OK just one more question. Can someone hack your iphone, ipad or Kindle Fire?

Probably not hacked in the traditional sense but if you are using the mobile device to browse websites without encryption (HTTP rather than HTTPS), any private information transmitted via website forms (usernames, passwords, name, address, SSN, etc.) could be intercepted.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Thank you all for the great info. Yes the kids will most likely know what to do, but I will feel so cool if I can tell them! OK just one more question. Can someone hack your iphone, ipad or Kindle Fire?

Being a Tech geek of sorts, the iPhone and iPad have a very secure Operating system and it's very closed to modifications and hacking. Unless your kids have "jailbroken" it, they will be fine. It's the information they share (passwords, banking info, etc) that can be intercepted over an unsecured network. I'm an android expert of sorts. The kindle fire uses Amazon's proprietary version of Android and it is NOT secure at all. In fact, there is so much information that thing spreads without most users understanding it. If you have an iPhone or android phone with wireless tethering capabilities, you might want to call your cell service provider. They may be able to prorate the wireless tethering feature for you, so you can use your data plan from your phone for the days you're in Disney for your kids to connect to. I have a rooted Android that gives me free tethering. I will only use that when I travel as I know it is secured.

Edit....I didn't realize they offered Wifi at Disney. Last time I was there, SSR did not have Wifi.

 

[erionm]

Edit....I didn't realize they offered Wifi at Disney. Last time I was there, SSR did not have Wifi.

They started rolling out WiFi mid Oct 2011.

 

[jekjones1558]

I have found the wi-fi at BWV to be very fast sometimes and hard to connect at other times (esp. late afternoon and evening). I am using wi-fi now but other times I use my travel router. I plug my router directly into a modem that is still in this room. I continue to wonder whether the wired service will remain available. I am getting an iPad 3 when they are released soon and my experience here has convinced me to get a 3G version just in case Disney's free wi-fi never becomes more reliable (certainly a possibility). I don't want to be dependent on the wi-fi here.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I have found the wi-fi at BWV to be very fast sometimes and hard to connect at other times (esp. late afternoon and evening). I am using wi-fi now but other times I use my travel router. I plug my router directly into a modem that is still in this room. I continue to wonder whether the wired service will remain available. I am getting an iPad 3 when they are released soon and my experience here has convinced me to get a 3G version just in case Disney's free wi-fi never becomes more reliable (certainly a possibility). I don't want to be dependent on the wi-fi here.

That is a good trick. Bring your home router with you and just plug the either net cable into into the wall. All your devices will connect to it the same as if your at home. Never thought of doing that at disney, even though I do it at work with my old router

 

[photobob]

That is a good trick. Bring your home router with you and just plug the either net cable into into the wall. All your devices will connect to it the same as if your at home. Never thought of doing that at disney, even though I do it at work with my old router

We have always done that, does the wired connection still work?

 

[MdmMim]

We have always done that, does the wired connection still work?

I am using it right now at BWV.

 

[tree320]

OK see if I have got this right. Our iphones and ipad are fine. The Kindle fires need more protection. Can you get some kind of app for that? I have one of the old Kindle with 3G, that will be fine right? We do have a wireless thing at home, but not sure if my husband will go for taking it to Disney.But if we take it, things work just like in our house? He didn't think the kids should take their Kindles, but they are so much enertainment in one small package! I'm not sure I understand the whole tethering to my iphone thing, but if it is secure and doesn't cost to much, maybe we can set that up before we go. I think I will make sure no creditcard is linked to their Amazon accounts when we go. They just want to play games and read books. Does anyone know how big the inside of the safes are? Can they hold all this stuff? We do have a 2 bedroom so I guess we get two safes. Thank you for all your help.

 

[tree320]

I am using it right now at BWV.

Hope you are having a great time!! We are getting so excited

 

[photobob]

I am using it right now at BWV.