Vonage at a high speed wired hotel

Posts: 16

In August I had occasion to be at a Holiday Inn which had high speed internet connections in every room. I had my RT31P2 Linksys adapter and a cordless phone with me. When I connected to the hotel system, there was nothing.

Then I connected a notebook computer to the internet connection and immediately had a local Holiday Inn web page on screen which indicated basic information from the hotel. When I left that page I was able to access the internet directly. At that point the Vonage adapter and phone worked.

Without first connecting with the notebook computer I could not have used Vonage. Perhaps I could have contacted the front desk and requested direct internet service. I did not ask. I wonder what experiences others have had.

Upon checking motels which indicated that they provide high speed internet, it appears that about two thirds provide wireless which would require the Vonage phone now in beta testing.

My travels during late summer and early fall found me using the cell phone almost exclusively.

Posts: 21 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Sep 09, 2005 Posts: 21

Most of the hotels that I've used have required me to, at the very least, look at a Welcome screen before they'd let me truly get on-line. Many also require me to agree to their terms of service by clicking something. I don't think you'll be able to get around it unless you bring a computer with you to click your way through. (And I doubt the hotel's going to be much help; most don't know much about the internet service they provide, other than to give you an 800 number.)

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: May 12, 2005 Posts: 1

As a previous person said, most hotels require a login. To get around this problem I carry a small router with me. I first connect to the hotel using my notebook computer. After connecting, I put the router between the hotel Ethernet connection and my notebook computer. I tell the router to clone the MAC address of my notebook. (This may not be necessary). I then plug the Vonage adapter into another port on the router, and it almost always works.

Posts: 56 · Full Forum Member Joined: Apr 15, 2005 Posts: 56

I took my Vonage adapter to a Wingate hotel in MS. They use LODGENET, the single largest hotel internet provider in the US.

I hooked my RT31P2 into the wired plug in the room, the adapter tried to log on, and tried and tried and tried.

I called 1-800-LODGENET and they asked the hotel I was in and the room number -- they could SEE the Vonage adapter trying to get an IP number but didn't know why it couldn't. They then disabled the login so I'd have total open access internet (VERY knowledgeable people -- all 3 I spoke with) -- after unplugging, plugging, soft resetting etc etc etc all the Vonage unit did was keep trying to get an IP. They assured me on all 3 calls into the center that no ports were blocked and they could see the Vonage box but didn't know why it couldn't get an IP.... I didn't bring a laptop, but why should I if they killed the login screen and gave me direct access.

If anyone can answer this, I'd really appreciate it... It'd be GREAT to bring my Vonage adapter along with me on the road.

Posts: 42 · Full Forum Member Joined: Sep 27, 2005 Posts: 42

Are you sure that they weren't using PPoE? Last couple of hotels I was at, the connection was a DSL-like connection, and the modem was doing PPoE...

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:47 pm Post subject:

caralmar wrote:

Are you sure that they weren't using PPoE? Last couple of hotels I was at, the connection was a DSL-like connection, and the modem was doing PPoE...

Every hotel I've stayed at (OK, total of four) with High Speed Internet had some form of "splash page" that became your default web page the first time you started your browser (they didn't change your start page, just twiddled with DNS temporarily so that, whatever page you asked for, you got their "agreement" page).

The purpose of this is to have you click "I AGREE" to the "I won't do illegal stuff" screen so they are protected if you start a P2P network in your hotel room and start sharing pirated content, run a kiddie porn ring, etc etc. Once you click on this screen a single time, your 'Net port is open access for (usually) something like 24 hours, then you have to do the magic dance again.

Posts: 56 · Full Forum Member Joined: Apr 15, 2005 Posts: 56

Right -- I know exactly what you mean... I asked them about it and they were able to (since they understood exactly what I was doing with the Vonage adapter) were able to override the spash screen as well as the agreement notice to give me total access.

Actually, the gave me the agreement verbally (in less than 5 words) and told me I'd be ready to roll. I asked about PPPoe since I've dealt with DSL in a work location and they assured me it was total DHCP no login...

The only strange thing is I use the 192.168.XXX.XXX ips at home, and the use the 10.2.XX.XX ip addresses in the hotel.

Would this have made a difference?!? Just trying to get to the bottom of this... Smile

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:15 pm Post subject:

themew wrote:

Right -- I know exactly what you mean... I asked them about it and they were able to (since they understood exactly what I was doing with the Vonage adapter) were able to override the spash screen as well as the agreement notice to give me total access.

Actually, the gave me the agreement verbally (in less than 5 words) and told me I'd be ready to roll. I asked about PPPoe since I've dealt with DSL in a work location and they assured me it was total DHCP no login...

The only strange thing is I use the 192.168.XXX.XXX ips at home, and the use the 10.2.XX.XX ip addresses in the hotel.

Would this have made a difference?!? Just trying to get to the bottom of this... Smile

Should have made absolutely no difference as long as your client (phone adapter) was set up to DHCP (or "obtain address automatically") which I assume you had set up as default? Some people who put them behind a router hard code in an IP address to simplify port forwarding.

The only other possibility is that the systems at the hotel had ports blocked, but if you were unable to get an IP address at all, that makes no sense.

Posts: 56 · Full Forum Member Joined: Apr 15, 2005 Posts: 56

I had the router set like I do at home, to obtain an IP using DHCP... They couldn't figure it out at Lodgenet either. They could see the Vonage unit online but didn't know why I wasn't pulling an IP. The adapter just kept resetting over and over again.

After reading the post about the setup page, I do have to wonder if they really did override the agreement prompt - but these were no dummies like at most tech support lines -- these people were super-sharp and spoke the same language (english and tech-speak) that I did...

Just a shame I couldn't get it to grab an IP. They also did say that no ports were blocked as one of the techs I spoke with brings his Vonage adapter with him and has no troubles.

Wonder if anyone reading this has used a Vonage adapter at a Wingate Inn using Lodgenet without a laptop to get through the agreement gate.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:50 pm Post subject:

themew wrote:

Wonder if anyone reading this has used a Vonage adapter at a Wingate Inn using Lodgenet without a laptop to get through the agreement gate.

Stay at a hotel with Internet access without my laptop? That's sacrilege. You take that back! Wink

Seriously, that is odd. If they activated your port, you should be good to go. And, of course, your adapter was seriously reset since it had no power for at least the duration of your trip, so it's not "remembering" an old IP address. If you had a way to look at the config, that would have been handy, but of course at that point you'd have a laptop with you (grin).