Warning: iPhones and WiFi in Piedmont
 

We had mysterious problems connecting to WiFi in Piedmont. Our small hotel in Alba featured free WiFi but we couldn't get on. The woman at the desk showed us that her Italian iPhone was connected but ours wouldn't work, despite much playing with settings. The iPhone had worked well in London and Naples so we weren't quite sure what was going on. I assumed there was something screwy about their setup, especially when we could pick up WiFi at some restaurants.

Our next stop was Neive and our hotel again claimed free WiFi. Neither we nor another couple from the US could get the iPhones to work, despite attempts by the hotel staff. Next stop Turin. Our B&B had a network and again we couldn't connect. However, we had no problems at the local coffee shop and some other spots. I still assumed it was something to do with the settings at the small places we were staying at. As we passed the McDonalds in Turin we stopped to see if their advertised free WiFi would work. No luck. I asked an employee who without hesitation told me that American iPhones won't work. So it didn't seem to be a little guy issue. Didn't have any problems in Florence or Paris.

Does anyone have any info on this problem?

When we were out in the sticks of Chianti a few weeks ago I had absolutely no problem at all getting my I-phone to work or connecting to the internet with both my I-phone and my laptop.

Perhaps YOUR setup is the one that was "screwy."

You probably needed an access code as it was a secure network. The advertised "free wifi" usually needs a code so only patrons can use it. For example, at McDonald's, you have to enter the code off your receipt (or get the access code from a cashier/employee) to connect.

There is open access wifi and secure access. Many/most places have a secure network, and often it is in time blocks so you don't sit all day on their network while not purchasing anything. McDonald's or a cafe have it their best interest to have the access in blocks of time, though I have encountered it at hotels as well.

You would think the hotel staff that helped would know if an access code was required.

We had the appropriate passwords for the locked networks. Some worked and some just didn't. In our hotel in Alba there was another American who couldn't get on, similarly in Neive. These same phones worked perfectly with all networks, locked and unlocked, that we tried in Naples, Florence and Paris. The guy at the McDonald's in Turin who told us that American iPhones won't work there makes me think there's something else going on.

I've never had to enter a code for free wifi at a McD elsewhere in Europe. Indeed I have sat in their car park and used it without buying a thing.

I had the same issue with a two star in Paris. My WiFi would not work even though the hotel advertised free WiFi. At cafes around the city it would work in some but not in others.

My tentative conclusion is that the non-operating places were not certified by the WiFi organization, http://www.wi-fi.org/. My hotel is not on the list. Click hotspot finder there. On the street see if the establishment has the official WiFi logo pasted on the window. Generally hotel and cafe owners are tech zeros.

I had the same no-connection problem in my 2* London hotel, even with the LAN cable in the room. WiFi worked on the ferry and the trains, and on my Delta flight home.

sounds like an i-phone issue to me. We have wifi at our B&B and no one has a problem connecting either i-phone or lap-top to internet.

Go talk to a genius at the genius bar in your nearest Apple store.

Neither my Ipad nor Iphone would work at the hotel wifi in Frankfurt, fortunately I brought my regular laptop to access the hotel free wifi.