If we brought a laptop how easy would it be to access wireless internet in cities like Venice and Sorrento as well as the Eurostar trains throughout Italy?
Reason being...we were supposed to leave for our 9 day Italy trip today but my boyfriend broke his leg 2 weeks ago and had surgery the other day. I re-booked our trip for October 12-22nd yesterday and last night he said he wants to find a way to watch his college football games while we're over there (our hotels do not have wirelss access), he's planning on staying up all night so he wont miss them (the games will come on between 9-1am Italy time). His friend is going to get it to him somehow he just needs internet connection to watch them.
We really need recommendations for Venice and Sorrento since we'll be in those cities on Saturdays (Auburn game day)
Silly boys!
thanks in advance for your help!
Posted by
OP
Arlington, VA, USA
3 posts
he wouldn't be outside our hotel i was just wondering if while in our hotel he could pick up a signal from a hotel/ cafe nearby. I'm not sure how long the wi-fi ranges are. we are looking at switching hotels but due to cancellation fees/ 2 night stay requirements (we're staying for only 1 night)/ most other hotels being more expensive than the one we have now, it's becoming more and more difficult to find one that would fit.
I'm trying to convince him to wait till we're on the train or at our hotel in Florence the next day but he's insisting he wants to watch it live.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
In June, we found wi-fi harder to find in Italy. Others may have different experiences to report. One reason is that Italy enacted anti-terrorism laws that require identification to access the Internet. So we had to provide photo ID to be photocopied as a condition of using their computers. We just didn't find wi-fi access the way we could in France.
Posted by
Newburyport, MA
683 posts
Altho we did not see much wi-fi access, others have said that it is a matter of different names for the same thing. In Europe, it is often referred to as WLAN, we believe. European internet service is generally much faster than in US and quite a bit cheaper, tho fir details, you would need to ask an Italian re cities there. Your post is not the only one re wi-fi.
Good Luck!!!
Posted by
Newburyport, MA
683 posts
Type "wi-fi" into the search in upper right corner of the RS website and you will get synopses of several answers to questions about it-- Vodaphone Live and T-Mobile are also names to look for when seeking connection
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
Check out Jwire.com or wifi411.com for locations of WiFi hot spots. Sounds like your boyfriend has access to a Slingbox so he can watch the games. I have used Slingbox very successfully on my trips overseas to keep up on my local sports team and my weekly fix of the show Lost:) I consider my Slingbox a guilty pleasure:)
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Is he going to be able to find an internet access point in those Italian towns that is open at 1am Italy time?
Posted by
OP
Arlington, VA, USA
3 posts
Thats another thing we're trying to figure it out. Does anyone know if it's easy to pick up an open signal off other buildings in the area, or are they all secure. And if so do you think we could pay a hotel nearby to get access to there signal?
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
We just returned from 3 1/2 weeks in Italy, Austria and Germany. My husband brought along his new Nokia N95 cell phone which supports wireless access exactly the same as a laptop: i.e., 802.11G. His experience was that there were many routers and access points that were all secure. As we walked through the cities he constantly scanned for wireless access points with his cell phone--to no avail. More often than not, McDonald's in Italy had free wireless internet access. The N95 cell phone had limited success with these access points. He did visit several internet cafes that would not allow wireless access but would allow wired access which was not supported by his cell phone. The typical hourly rates we saw was around 6 euro per hour and those were located in restaurants in Austria. My husband would not recommend taking a laptop to Italy as a tourist--it's hard enough keeping your other valuables secure. A smaller device that has both wireless and wired access would be best.
Posted by
Gloucester, MA, USA
59 posts
All I can say is take it and try. It is a crapshoot. Everybody now knows not to leave their access points open to everybody. So they are secured with WEP or WPA to keep out the freeloaders.
Italy is no different than the US in terms of wireless access. WIFI, WLAN, 802.11a/b/g/n are all essentially the same thing.
You could also just go to an Internet Cafe and just pay and sit there and watch it. Bring your headphones.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32206 posts
Kim,
My suggestion would be for his friend to tape the games, and your boyfriend can watch them when he returns. It seems a bit silly to spend a small fortune and travel thousands of miles to visit Italy, only to spend hours in a hotel or net cafe watching a college football game.
It's also highly doubtful that you'll find a net cafe open from 21:00-01:00. Wi-Fi is likely going to be sporadic at best. I suspect that ONLY secured Wi-Fi connections will be available as the Italians have tightened security on net access considerably. Anyone using public net access must register and provide Passport or other I.D. It's highly unlikely they would allow a "loophole" that bypasses the regulations.
Have a great time in Italy!