mish42

Still trying to figure out how easy or difficult it will be to access the internet with my laptop from hotel rooms while travelling in Greece and Switzerland this summer. I have contacted some of our hotels and they say they don't have wi-fi service. My question is: If I am an AOL subscriber and have AOL access numbers for the areas where I'll be, then can I just plug my computer into the hotels phone line and dial the access numbers to get to the internet? Obviously if this is possible I would be charged by the hotel for the phone call. I'm just wondering if it's even possible to just disconnect the hotel room phone and connect line to my computer to attempt this. Thanks for any input about this.

J62

No.

1. many phones are hard wired - that is they don't have a detachable phone line at their base - the cord is directly attached to the phone and runs to the wall outlet.

2. Phones in Europe, at least the ones I'm familiar with, use a different wiring convention, so even if it had a modular plug, it would likely not work if you just plugged it into your laptop.

What you need is a phone modem cable that will plug directly into the wall socket. Check with your hotels to see if they have one you can borrow. There is not universal standard.

See this website for more info

www.walkabouttravelgear.com/modem.htm

ira

Hi M,

Is this a business trip?

If not, why are you schlepping a laptop?

There are internet cafes.

mish42

Thanks J62 for the information..I'll check that website.

Ira - No, not business. 3 1/2 week Family trip. Myself, husband and 2 kids (ages 5 & 7). If it is easy to connect to the internet we thought it would be convenient to do so from our hotel room rather that cafes, since with young kids we may be in the room more (than if on our own) in the evenings etc. and could check e-mail, etc. while kids are sleeping or resting. ALso, thought it would be good to upload and store photos. However, I certainly don't want to spend time on my vacation getting frustrated with technical stuff if access is a pain in the hotel rooms. I'm leaning towards not taking it as I realize it's not so easy from doing some research. It was my husband's idea and he is completely clueless about this stuff and I think he thought it would be real easy (which it may be in big cities and in big hotels catering to biz travellers). We won't be in big cities and we stay in small, family run places. Think I need to explain to him what I've found out and see if he still wants to bring it. If so, he'll be the one carrying it!

Still wondering if anyone has accessed internet thru AOL in Greece or Switzerland??? Results?

TuckH

Have you tried asking AOL?

nytraveler

I would think the price the hotel would charge for phone calls of that length would be massive - and how slow is AOL on dial-up?

Really - Internet cafes are a much better choice - besides not worrying about schlepping a laptop - or having it stolen from your room.

ira

Hi M,

>I'm leaning towards not taking it ...<

An excellent idea.

You are on vacation.

You do not need a computer.

If the kids are bored take them out for a walk.

If you get bored, put the kids to sleep. Something will pop up.

Enjoy your visit.

Fidel

Many hotels have computers available for their guests' use -- if yours does, just log on to aol.com and sign in from there.