Back in 2007 and 2010, I went to Japan with my laptop computer for downloading photographs and for Internet access. Previous to this, I had to use the hotel's computers (some were free to use, while others charged a fee). Unfortunately, they were useless for posting photographs online.
Also, I was at the mercy of the fussy Japanese keyboards. They would work in English, but if I hit a wrong key or something, they would revert to Japanese.
I figured I'd bring my laptop with me so I could get free Internet access through my own machine. But the fly in the ointment was that I had to plug in my laptop to their system and my plug-in cables did not match theirs.
During last year's trip to Japan, I stayed at the Tsukuba Hotel in Ueno who had free Wi-Fi available. Unfortunately, their system wasn't that good as the signal from their routers had a tendency to fade in and out (they were set up in each floor's hallway across from the elevator). Still, it was better than what was available during prior trips.
The Los Angeles Times has an article on worldwide rankings of hotel Wi-Fi systems. Oddly, the U.S. ranks low, and even behind Russia, of all places.
They wrote:
Bad news for hotel guests who love to update their Facebook status, stream YouTube videos and upload Instagram photos: When it comes to quality wireless connections at hotels, the U.S. ranks 40th worldwide, behind South Korea, Poland, Vietnam, Mexico, Russia and India, among many others.
The good news is that the U.S. ranks high in giving out WiFi free of charge.
The ranking comes from a new study by Hotel WiFi Test, a site that takes WiFi data from travelers to gauge Internet speeds at hotels around the world.To read the full article, go here.
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