Wireless Router?

[rock_doctor]

Can someone enlighten me as to why Wi-Fi is not generally available in the hotels at WDW?

This has been debated many times. In general, the final conclusion comes to, they don't have too..... I am sure it is a cost thing. We as owners pay the bills at our home resorts so technically we are paying for our own internet as well as telephone and so on. So that is why DVC resorts have free (not really since it is part of our MFs) internet. I would assume no WiFi to limit access to paying member staying in the resort rather then anybody who is in range.

 

[disneynutz]

Can someone enlighten me as to why Wi-Fi is not generally available in the hotels at WDW? In Oregon, it's standard in even budget hotels on the coast.
I have daughter's with iTouch's and other folks travel with laptops and other Wi-Fi devices. Putting a router in my room would be easy, but that doesn't help when we are walking around the rest of Wilderness Lodge?

Is it just a cost thing or what?

-Shawn

IMO it's a money thing. It cost money to install and maintain and Disney doesn't want Guests sitting around using Wi-Fi, they want you in the parks spending money. Same rational as the limited TV channel choices.

Bill

 

[extremesoccermom]

I had heard about people doing this before our last trip in Oct. Both DS and I were taking online college classes. We were staying in a 2 bedroom BLT villa. I purchased a cheap DLink for around $20.00. It worked perfectly. We do have it password protected but we were both able to get on at the same time, complete our class work, and get back to our vacation.

We are staying in a studio this time but I think I will still bring the router to have the freedom to move around the room without the cord tying me to the desk.

 

[Shawn]

IMO it's a money thing. It cost money to install and maintain and Disney doesn't want Guests sitting around using Wi-Fi, they want you in the parks spending money. Same rational as the limited TV channel choices.

Bill

Thanks to both of you for the reasoning.

-Shawn

 

[jekjones1558]

Awesome, thanks Question?? What is Apple Express?

I am thinking of going to find one this weekend, if I can.

It is a router that is very small and easy to use. Set it up with your computer at home so you have a password in place. Then just plug in the ethernet cable from the closet into the AE and plug the AE into the wall outlet and you are good to go. Here is a link so you can see what it looks like.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/M...ess-AirTunes?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg&mco=MTA4NTc4MTE

You might also check online for refurbished ones that are cheaper and work just as well as new. I love my Airport Express.

 

[MichelleB]

Ok, all you computer experts -- I am technologically challenged. What is the cheapest portable router that would work with a tablet pc? Do all wifi routers work at WDW or do I need a special level of router??? As I said, I'm technologically challenged.....sorry!!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Yes, I bring a small one. works fine. I would make sure, though, that your network is set up as password protected if you don't want your neighbors using it. I use password protection ever since reading the story about someone who got arrested because their wireless network was used by a neighbor to download child porn.

 

[Dean]

Ok, all you computer experts -- I am technologically challenged. What is the cheapest portable router that would work with a tablet pc? Do all wifi routers work at WDW or do I need a special level of router??? As I said, I'm technologically challenged.....sorry!!!

I have 3.

D-link wireless G

Trendnet N Which appears to be the same basic router. And I have an Apple Airport Express. I just got the Trendnet because I found it cheap used. I'm an apple person but I prefer the other 2 because you can only configure the AE using apples airport wireless though you can use it once set up with anything. Assuming your tablet doesn't have Wireless N, I'd look for the cheapest of the other 2 on ebay or Amazon. I know D-link has a new one out, around $75 though, and there are several others (search amazon for Travel Router).

 

[Marc A.]

I have a d link wireless g but havent set it up yet.
We have att wireless at home. Can I just set it up using our wireless laptop at home or does the setup need to be on a wired pc???

 

[JulieEck]

Just a word of caution about using the internet at Disney. We have always found it to be extremely SLOW! Just like dial-up. Any pages that might have graphics take a very long time (like minutes). We can't even access yahoo email or msn email. He ended up creating a gmail account just for use at Disney. Now most of the time we stay at the values and sometimes a moderate. I've often wondered if the speed is better at the deluxes because they cost more to stay there??? Anyway, DH needs to get online daily for work purposes while traveling. It always results in frustrations and calls to the Internet help desk - which isn't usually a lot of help... The last time we were at Pop, there was a problem (not just us) and we had to call every 15 minutes or so for the tech person to "push us thorough". This was very late at night (midnight - one a.m.). Toward the end of that trip, I looked up McDonalds in the phone book and called around. Found one that is in the Crossroads area (just beyond the non-Disney Downtown Disney hotels) that has free WiFi and is open 24 hours. Easy to get to and DH said it seems to be fairly new. (Maybe a replacement to the Downtown Disney one that closed?) This discovery is saving us a lot of frustrations. Our last trip, DH didn't even want to try the connections at Beach Club (I was thinking maybe it would be better than the value hotels). He simply drove to the McDonalds. Problem solved...

I can't figure out why the internet is so bad at Disney, when every other hotel chain we stay at (and not expensive ones either) has great internet. It's beyond frustrating.

 

[WDWBlue]

I have 3.

D-link wireless G

Trendnet N Which appears to be the same basic router. And I have an Apple Airport Express. I just got the Trendnet because I found it cheap used. I'm an apple person but I prefer the other 2 because you can only configure the AE using apples airport wireless though you can use it once set up with anything. Assuming your tablet doesn't have Wireless N, I'd look for the cheapest of the other 2 on ebay or Amazon. I know D-link has a new one out, around $75 though, and there are several others (search amazon for Travel Router).

This thread should be a sticky, the question appears every three weeks or so.

We have the same D-Link, works great.

 

[DenLo]

Just a word of caution about using the internet at Disney. We have always found it to be extremely SLOW! Just like dial-up. Any pages that might have graphics take a very long time (like minutes). We can't even access yahoo email or msn email. He ended up creating a gmail account just for use at Disney. Now most of the time we stay at the values and sometimes a moderate. I've often wondered if the speed is better at the deluxes because they cost more to stay there??? Anyway, DH needs to get online daily for work purposes while traveling. It always results in frustrations and calls to the Internet help desk - which isn't usually a lot of help... The last time we were at Pop, there was a problem (not just us) and we had to call every 15 minutes or so for the tech person to "push us thorough". This was very late at night (midnight - one a.m.). Toward the end of that trip, I looked up McDonalds in the phone book and called around. Found one that is in the Crossroads area (just beyond the non-Disney Downtown Disney hotels) that has free WiFi and is open 24 hours. Easy to get to and DH said it seems to be fairly new. (Maybe a replacement to the Downtown Disney one that closed?) This discovery is saving us a lot of frustrations. Our last trip, DH didn't even want to try the connections at Beach Club (I was thinking maybe it would be better than the value hotels). He simply drove to the McDonalds. Problem solved...

I can't figure out why the internet is so bad at Disney, when every other hotel chain we stay at (and not expensive ones either) has great internet. It's beyond frustrating.

We were just at Jambo House, Kidani Village and VWL. We did not have any problems with our download speed. Only problem we encountered is with our upload speed. It took forever for upload photos to photobucket. I was resorting to bulking uploading and doing laundry, going out for lunch or to the pool for an hour while the upload processed. Everything else seemed the same as it was on our cable internet at home, which is mega faster that dial up.

 

[jekjones1558]

We were just at Jambo House, Kidani Village and VWL. We did not have any problems with our download speed. Only problem we encountered is with our upload speed. It took forever for upload photos to photobucket. I was resorting to bulking uploading and doing laundry, going out for lunch or to the pool for an hour while the upload processed. Everything else seemed the same as it was on our cable internet at home, which is mega faster that dial up.

On my recent SSR solo trip I had the same issue with upload but no problem otherwise. The uploads took HOURS!

 

[Dean]

I have a d link wireless g but havent set it up yet.
We have att wireless at home. Can I just set it up using our wireless laptop at home or does the setup need to be on a wired pc???

Usually they'll work out of the box without encryption. With the Trendnet I have you can also set up encryption by pushing a button on it. I would set it up at home though that way you can separate the issues that might cause problems. It would also make it easier to set up any encryption you might want. All of the travel routers I have can also work as a wireless access point but again, the Airport Express seems to be the more difficult one to set up for that.

 

[lenshanem]

Can someone enlighten me as to why Wi-Fi is not generally available in the hotels at WDW? In Oregon, it's standard in even budget hotels on the coast.
I have daughter's with iTouch's and other folks travel with laptops and other Wi-Fi devices. Putting a router in my room would be easy, but that doesn't help when we are walking around the rest of Wilderness Lodge?

Is it just a cost thing or what?

-Shawn

I was also thinking about buying a cheap wifi router for our trips. We have two laptops and the girls have iTouches. They would be very excited if they could get wifi for their iTouches! They text more on their iTouch than their phone. Really, we rarely bring our laptops on vacation cause DH and I have iPhones and I do most everything on my phone.

One thing I was wondering about was adding tethering onto my iPhone so the girls could use their iTouches in the parks while waiting in lines. Has anyone done this? I read someone said you can add it just for the month? Only thing is I think you can only tether one device at a time? DH has an older iPhone than mine and I'm not sure he could tether, too. Anyone have experience with this? We're on AT&T.

BTW, last time we stayed at BLT we went over to the Contemporary lobby and were able to facetime back home using the wifi in the lobby.

 

[Dean]

I was also thinking about buying a cheap wifi router for our trips. We have two laptops and the girls have iTouches. They would be very excited if they could get wifi for their iTouches! They text more on their iTouch than their phone. Really, we rarely bring our laptops on vacation cause DH and I have iPhones and I do most everything on my phone.

One thing I was wondering about was adding tethering onto my iPhone so the girls could use their iTouches in the parks while waiting in lines. Has anyone done this? I read someone said you can add it just for the month? Only thing is I think you can only tether one device at a time? DH has an older iPhone than mine and I'm not sure he could tether, too. Anyone have experience with this? We're on AT&T.

BTW, last time we stayed at BLT we went over to the Contemporary lobby and were able to facetime back home using the wifi in the lobby.

A wifi router would work for the touches and would be a good option for that. The tethering can be taken off after the month as your contract only requires that you have an iPhone data plan and service, not which level. I believe you get 4 GB with the current plan instead of the 2 GB you get with the non tethering plan. It's an additional $20 a month I believe but discounts would apply. IF you have the unlimited plan I suspect you can still add and remove the tethering without affecting that but you need to be certain if this is the case.

 

[lenshanem]

A wifi router would work for the touches and would be a good option for that. The tethering can be taken off after the month as your contract only requires that you have an iPhone data plan and service, not which level. I believe you get 4 GB with the current plan instead of the 2 GB you get with the non tethering plan. It's an additional $20 a month I believe but discounts would apply. IF you have the unlimited plan I suspect you can still add and remove the tethering without affecting that but you need to be certain if this is the case.

Ya, I did some googling and it appears since I have the grandfathered in unlimited plan I can't add on the tethering without losing my plan. So, I guess I'll be skipping this. It was a good idea, though!

 

[Dean]

Ya, I did some googling and it appears since I have the grandfathered in unlimited plan I can't add on the tethering without losing my plan. So, I guess I'll be skipping this. It was a good idea, though!

There are other options for tethering an iphone as I understand it but I doubt AT&T would approve.

 

[erionm]

There are other options for tethering an iphone as I understand it but I doubt AT&T would approve.

AT&T is reportedly cracking down on those. They have started sending notification stating if they continue with the unauthorized tethering, they will automatically add the necessary data plan to their account.

 

[Dean]

AT&T is reportedly cracking down on those. They have started sending notification stating if they continue with the unauthorized tethering, they will automatically add the necessary data plan to their account.

I know it's a complicated issue, simply pointing out there are other options. In addition, there are prepaid data plans one can use to avoid losing the unlimited iPhone.