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February 5, 2004
Stupid hotspot connection processes
I tried to check my email during a stopover in Frankfurt from the
Luftansa lounge. Good news -- they have a Vodaphone WiFi
hotspot. But there's one problem. Signing up to connect to
the Hotspot requires that you receive a password on your mobile phone
via SMS. My Sprint PCS phone doesn't work in Europe. Adding
insult to injury, none of the landline phones here in the lounge allow
outgoing toll-free calls. So I can't even reach the Vodaphone
help line to see if there's another way to log in.
I can understand the convenience of SMS, but why should connecting your
laptop to a WiFi hotspot need to involve a text message to your mobile
phone? Doing the security over the Net via SSL seems perfectly
acceptable, as it is for virtually all online purchases. It's as
though a catalog retailer told me to go respond to an email in order to
accept my credit card over the phone.
Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait until I get to Helsinki to connect (and to upload this post!).
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Posted by Kevin Werbach at February 5, 2004 3:19 AM
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