On the road again...

Been out of town this week for the first time in about five years.  Got off to a late start so I didn't have time to sample the KCI Airport Wi-Fi to see if it's still as it was the last time I reported on it.  I can  tell you, however that neither Houston's George Bush International Airport nor the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport-IAH and AUS, in three-letter airport-speak, respectively-are truly free and open (this despite IAH being listed by wififreespot).  No, you've got to get in bed with Boingo if you want "complimentary" access.  I tried during a layover at IAH only to be told, courtesy of a Boingo landing page, that it "works best with Javascript turned on."  Well, it didn't in Firefox, at least, only bringing up Google and a few other sites.  E-mail, RSS feeds or Usenet?  Forget it.  I'd have monkeyed around with it a little more had I had more time but duty called.  And since I won't be coming home through Houston we'll just have to leave things at that.  Sad that this was apparently the best that the fourth-largest city in the country could manage to do.

Depending on whether the scheduling of my return trip holds up, I may give Boingo another shot at AUS on Friday-but not if it's play-for-pay.  I'll let you know.

And about that scheduling...I was originally supposed to fly down here on a Major Airline That Shall Go Unnamed, which is currently experiencing labor problems while simultaneously trying to lift itself out of bankruptcy-but you didn't get those hints from me, understand?  Anyway, said airline has partnered with Gogo for in-flight Wi-Fi, which I might have been tempted to try out just to report on it here had those original plans played out.  They didn't, however, and I ended up on Another Major Airline That Shall Go Unnamed, which unlike its aforementioned competitor has only rolled out Gogo on its big equipment flying transcontinental and international routes.  So, Gogo was a no-go on Sunday.  If Friday turns out differently, you'll find out here.  Not that I'm all that wild about forking over more cash for what at today's ticket prices and added fees ought to be an included amenity, mind you, but who knows?  Maybe I'll come across a coupon code or something like that today or tomorrow.  Either that or someone at Major Anonymous Airline Number One will, in a stroke of genius, come up with the perfect promotion to build customer good will-"Free Friday Fly-Fi" or some such.  Hey, you never know.

Oh, yes-the hotel situation.  As I stated back in '07, I normally don't review Wi-Fi at lodging facilities regardless of whether their networks are secured since they obviously aren't intended for use by anyone other than paying guests.  This particular location just happens to be listed in wififreespot, however, for its purported free and open access in the lobby.  No such luck, however-you've got to obtain a login from the front desk.

You just can't win these days.