WiFi continues to evolve rapidly. The standards are congealing, the access point hardware is becoming less expensive and more ubiquitous, and people are beginning to expect WiFi wherever they may be. More and more airports are providing WiFi, not just in the Admiral’s Club and Crown Room, but in the concourses and gate areas. (I found a good signal at the United gates at both Laguaradia and Denver last week). Hotels are a mixed bag. Hampton Inns offers free WiFi while the Radisson SAS in Oslo charged $38 per day (see story). My experience has been that most hotels that offer broadband Internet (andy many still offer only dial-up), offer it via an Ethernet cable. Prices vary from free to $20 per day in the U.S.. Wired high speed access in a hotel room is nice but it could be even better if there was a way to make it wireless. Now there is!
The Wall Street Journal tested and wrote about a relatively new gadget called the "Travel Router". The idea behind the travel router is to "unwire" an Ethernet connection. Rather than plug the hotel’s Ethernet cable into your laptop, you plug it into a pocket-sized travel router. Then you can sit in a chair and put up your feet wile your laptop connects to the travel router via WiFi. The same idea is applicable at a conference center or anywhere you find an open Ethernet Internet connection.
JiWire.com has published in-depth reviews of several travel routers, including the Apple AirPort Express, D-Link Pocket Router, Netgear Travel Router, and ASUS Pocket Access Point. They all have their pluses and minuses but overall I like the Apple AirPort Express because of it’s compact size (roughly 3" x 3.5" x 1"). It is a bit more expensive ($124.99 at Amazon) but worth the premium if space in your briefcase is scarce. As Jesse Drucker of the Wall Street Journal pointed out it is a good idea to try your travel router before you take a trip with it just to make sure you know how to set it up and use it.

• Other patrickWeb WiFi stories