Broadband on the Run: Wireless Internet Access for Travelers

Sick of schlepping through airports looking for a place to get online while you wait out yet another delayed takeoff? Tired of stewing in your hotel waiting for e-mails with critical attachments? New wireless products from Wayport and Metricom work at broadband speeds, letting you cut the last of the ties that still bind you to phone lines.

Wayport offers its wireless broadband service in a number of airports and hotels; Metricom's Ricochet modem provides wireless Internet access over entire urban areas. Kris Kristofferson almost got it right: For laptop users who buy these services, freedom's just another word for no cord left to lose.

Wayport's service works with any IEEE 802.11b-compliant wireless ethernet PC Card. But while 802.11b theoretically supports transfer speeds of up to 11 mbps, actual speeds in our tests peaked at 538 kbps at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and at 741.8 kbps in the lobby of the Sierra Suites Brookhaven hotel in Atlanta.

Why So Slow?

Texas-based Wayport says that the bandwidth shortfall at hotels can be traced to the 1.6-mbps hookup between the hotels' base stations and Wayport's servers. At airports, Wayport says, speeds depend on the number of users online, the location, and other network-overhead issues.

Like any modem hookup, Wayport takes a toll on your laptop's battery life. The company warns you to expect a 15 to 20 percent reduction; in our tests, an IBM 240 ran out of juice after 55 minutes--that's more than 25 percent out of the usual 75-minute life span.

Wireless ethernet cards from vendors such as Lucent and 3Com start at about $170. Wayport charges by the "connection"--a customer's use from first log-on until midnight of the same day. In hotels, Wayport fees usually run from $8 to $10 per connection, which can be added to your hotel bill. The company also plans to offer packages of ten connections for $35. Through the end of the year, Wayport is offering a special deal that provides for up to 50 connections at no cost.

The price doesn't seem to frighten fans of the Wayport system. Jeff Eller, managing director of the Austin-based corporate public affairs firm Public Strategies, says that in an airport with Wayport service he can turn flight delays into productive work time. "I had a layover at DallasA-Fort Worth and got a tremendous amount of work done," Eller says. "It's just like being in the office." Currently, Wayport's system operates in approximately 150 hotels and in two Texas airports, but the company plans to expand service soon to airports in California, New York, and Washington state, as well as to a total of 600 hotels. In coming years, Wayport hopes to offer its service in coffee shops and bistros.

Metricom, meanwhile, is rolling out its new, 128-kbps version of Ricochet--an upgrade of the five-year-old, wireless, 28.8-kbps system that serves about 30,000 users in Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Television ads show Ricochet users cruising around in a sleek convertible, swapping documents online (though the company's license agreement cautions you not to use your laptop while driving, for safety's sake). You subscribe through one of Metricom's resellers--which include Juno, WorldCom, and others--and the price fits the luxury car image: Modems cost $299, there's a $30 activation fee, and monthly service costs about $75.

The company launched the new service in Atlanta and San Diego this summer, and expects to add 41 other major metropolitan areas over the next year. Ricochet requires a gray, plastic, Palm PilotA-size external USB or serial modem (less-clunky PC Card modems from Novatel and Sierra Wireless are due by early 2001).

Not So Fast

In our tests, Ricochet's speeds ranged from 65 kbps via a USB hookup to a desktop in an Atlanta suburb to 45 kbps when attached to the slower serial port on a notebook without USB. The company says the modem should run for about 6 hours without recharging.

Business folks who travel frequently should investigate these new services, especially as they become more widespread. Wayport will be particularly attractive to occasional travelers who already use 802.11b PC Cards for wireless home or business networks; Ricochet will look good to people who are constantly on the move in areas where the service is offered. Either way, you just have to be willing to pay the price.