6 Ways To Avoid Paying For Hotel Wi-Fi

It's not hard to find free Wi-Fi as long as you're not staying at a hotel. How many times have these annoying series of events played out for you? After a long day of traveling, you finally make it to your hotel. All you want to do is go to your room, kick off your shoes and check your email, surf the net or watch a movie on your laptop.

When you get there, you're relieved to see a strong Wi-Fi signal in your room so you log on, but rather than bouncing straight to the net, you see pricing options. You don't need 24 hours of Wi-Fi since you'll be asleep for most of it, so paying $10 to $15 for a few hours of service doesn't seem cost effective to you. You could use your phone, but the screen is too small for your tired eyes. Having to pay for Wi-Fi at a hotel seems contrary to the idea of true hospitality, but fortunately there are ways around the charge.

Head Downstairs

Wi-Fi may come with a price when you're in your room, but in the lobby, bar and other common areas it may be free. Much like other restaurants, setting up an environment for business lunches and dinners encourages more traffic to the restaurant, making Wi-Fi a necessity since other restaurants close by are likely to offer the service free-of-charge. Head downstairs with your laptop or tablet and you'll likely find a connection.

Tether

Most cell phone carriers provide an option to use your cell phone as a hotspot that provides connectivity to your tablet or laptop. Newer phones allow for a wireless connection that requires only a password.

The downside is that tethering will cost money. In order to use the option, you'll have to enable it with your cell service provider. If you're not a frequent traveler, paying the fee for hotel service may be cheaper than paying for the tethering service, even for a month or less.

Rent an Aircard

If you are a person who travels frequently, an aircard provides a connection to the Internet regardless of where you are. Unless you travel frequently, paying $35 or more each month for the card isn't cost-effective. To solve this problem, some companies allow you to rent an aircard for around $6 per day. With some hotels charging $9.95 or more each day for Internet service, renting an aircard is not only cheaper, but it allows you to take it with you, ensuring service anywhere you go while traveling.

Loyalty Has Privileges

Even if you don't travel many times a year, try to remain loyal to the same hotel chain. Just as airlines have frequent flyer programs, hotels have similar loyalty programs that come with privileges as you amass more points. Often one of the perks that come with even the lowest levels is free Wi-Fi. Sometimes just being a member of their loyalty program is enough to earn the privilege regardless of how infrequently you book a reservation. Having your contact information for advertising is more valuable than charging you for Wi-Fi.

Just Ask

Hotels are in the hospitality business and they know that saying no to a customer is bad for business. Rather than complaining about the fact that even fast food restaurants offer free Wi-Fi, politely ask if they can provide the service free to you. If you're a frequent guest, they'll likely say yes and if they do say no, they'll probably help you find a way to get connected free-of-charge.

Become a Hacker?

There are numerous Internet sites that tell you how to work around the hotel Wi-Fi system to obtain free service, but it's unethical. You may have to make changes to your computer that could cause you to lose connectivity even when you leave the hotel. The network settings in your computer aren't easy to navigate if you aren't an IT professional. Instead of trying to steal a hotel service, pay the fee or go without it for a night.

The Bottom Line

Although a hotel may charge $10 or more for 24 hours of Internet service, there are ways to avoid paying the fee. If it's not available for free in its restaurant, consider eating at a nearby restaurant or go without connectivity for a night. It wasn't too long ago that people found a way to live a prosperous life without a constant connection to the Internet.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/6-ways-to-avoid-paying-for-hotel-wi-fi.aspx#ixzz28JSpLHZt

The 5 Most Dangerous Places to Get Investing Advice

By Hans Wagner Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Where do you get your stock investing ideas? Inspiration can come from many places, and while some resources make a lot of sense, others are a sure path to financial ruin. Here is my list of the five most dangerous places to get your investing advice.

1) Internet Message Boards
If you're currently turning to an online message board for investing advice, stop right now. The people posting on these web forums are notorious for making over-the-top predictions with little, if any, rationale supporting their claims.

The majority of posts can be broken down into a few categories: baseless claims, bragging, spam, and name-calling.

But the biggest problem with online investing message boards is the rampant manipulation. Some users post comments to purposefully manipulate the trading activity in their favor. For many companies, especially those lightly traded, it might be possible for the right comments to move the stock price in one direction or the other.

There are even cases where executives of companies use the message boards to influence the price of a stock by making inappropriate comments. Papers filed by the FTC revealed that for several years Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) CEO John Mackey posted highly opinionated comments under the pseudonym "Rahodeb" on a Yahoo! Finance message board.

Investors who make buy and sell decisions based on the message boards are playing a dangerous game.

2) Penny Stock Spammers
Right up there with the internet message boards are those annoying emails claiming that some new discovery (still widely unknown to the media) is about to send this $1.00 stock soaring into the stratosphere, quickly making millionaires out of anyone who buys shares.

That'd be fine, except for there's never very much information to substantiate the claim. But these emails are still going around, so someone must be taking the bait.

3) Hot Stock Tips
These aren't quite as bad as the penny stock spam emails, but that's not really saying a lot. These messages, usually filled with exciting language and testimonials from other investors, claim to have some inside information that, once disclosed, will make the stock double in price. According to the "researchers," only a crazy person would turn down such a sure-fire offer.

But the reality is if they did have inside information then someone has broken the law by disclosing it. Yet just like the penny stock spam, these hot tips don't ever seem to stop finding their ways into people's inboxes and mailboxes. While hot stock tips might be interesting, do yourself a favor and carry out the necessary research before making a commitment.

4) The Inexperienced Advisor Making a Commission on Their Sales
Would you take the advice of someone who was just beginning to understand stocks and the stock market? Can a newly minted broker address all of your questions in a thorough and complete manner? I know each broker must start somewhere, just be careful of the newbie who is selling what the firm is pushing.

Any time you rely on a broker's advice (regardless of their experience), remember to ask yourself if their suggestions are really right for your portfolio. This is especially true if the broker receives a commission each time he or she makes a sale. In Little White Lies from Your Broker, Amy Calistri urges investors to be wary whenever a broker is pushing a stock. "...Sometimes, a firm decides that its traders hold too much of a certain stock. And guess who has been told to help get rid of those shares? The broker." [Even the most well-intentioned brokers don't always deliver the straight scoop. Read Little White Lies from Your Broker to find out if your broker is watching your back.]

If you want to use a broker or advisor, be sure their interests align with yours. Many quality advisors do a commendable job. Most of them structure their compensation around your success, whether it is a straight fee or based on performance.

5) Financial News Networks
Don't get me wrong, I like CNBC and Bloomberg. They provide a quality product that includes views from each side of an investing issue. Many of their guests are very successful investors who deserve attention.

The problem arises whenever they recommend a stock -- many investors enter orders immediately. In some cases, you can see the price jump up on the ticker at the bottom of the TV. With millions of viewers, any comment on a stock can move the market.

Just because a noted investment advisor thinks a particular company has potential to appreciate, does not mean it is right for you. The traders buying the stock do not understand the fundamentals nor do they have a good entry or exit strategy.

Jim Cramer's Mad Money show is a good example. Jim features several stocks during his show. In each case, he exhorts his listeners to do their homework and not to buy immediately. Yet you can see the price leap up as many followers try to get in on each stock he commends.

The Bottom Line
Consider where your investing advice comes from. Is it from a reliable source? One with a proven track record of accomplishment? Does it fit with your personal view of the market? If you can answer "yes" to each question, AND you've already done your own homework, pat yourself on the back -- you've managed to navigate through the muddy waters of dangerous investing advice.

http://www.investinganswers.com/a/5-most-dangerous-places-get-investing-advice-1980

Five ways the internet has transformed our personal finances

Five ways the internet has transformed our personal finances
As The Telegraph marks 15 years of its online presence, we look at how the internet has transformed the way we deal with money matters.

By Richard Evans
Published: 3:40PM GMT 25 Nov 2009

1. Internet banking
Millions of people now take for granted that they can pay bills and transfer money at any time of day and without having to worry about queues – whether in branches or on telephone lines. These days, you never even have to speak to a human being when it comes to personal banking. You can also use the internet to find the best deals on savings accounts and then set up and run accounts online. Sixty per cent of people with instant-access accounts have registered for online banking, according to the British Bankers' Association.

Many people also research the mortgage market online, and some even apply for home loans over the internet.

2. Price-comparison websites
If you want to find the best interest rates for your savings or the best price for your home insurance, you can save time by using a price-comparison website. These provide up-to-date lists of the top accounts, as well as data on the best deals on credit cards and other financial products.

In the old days, we had to phone around brokers or insurers to compare prices for car or home insurance, giving out the same long-winded information every time. Most of us would have given up after a handful of calls.

Comparison sites do all the work, showing the cheapest providers, policy details and links to application forms.

Other sites, such as Kelkoo and Pricerunner, find the lowest prices for goods such as cameras, fridges and PCs.

Comparison sites are also much in demand for finding the best deals on energy, although recent research by The Daily Telegraph found that energy-comparison sites did not always agree about which supplier offered the best deal.

Consumers are becoming more savvy about these discrepancies. While a recent survey by Mintel, the analyst, found that six out of 10 people had used a price-comparison site, the consumer group Which? found that consumers lacked trust in them, with one in four finding better value financial products elsewhere.

3. Voucher codes
The recession has sharpened shoppers' appetite for a bargain – and many cost-conscious consumers have turned to the internet to track down special offers. If you want to save money at Tesco you can just type "Tesco voucher codes" into a search engine and find dozens of sites offering the discount codes – short combinations of numbers and letters that you enter into the online checkout. Hundreds of retailers operate these schemes; some also allow you to print off vouchers from the website to claim discounts in shops and restaurants.

According to research from moneysupermarket.com, more than 2.2 million discount vouchers are redeemed every day, while an internet traffic analyst found that the number of web searches in Britain for discount vouchers had increased by 48 per cent over the past year.

4. Dealing and investing
Ten years ago, small investors who wanted to trade shares had to phone a broker. Now they can buy and sell online. Nine out of 10 share deals are made online, according to Barclays Stockbrokers.

Access to information online has helped level the playing field between small shareholders and professional investors with the resources of large banks behind them. "The role of the internet is key, giving the individual at home with a laptop access to the kind of tools, research and up-to-the-minute data previously the preserve of City traders," said Des Byrne, head of Barclays Stockbrokers. "The internet brought financial democracy to newly empowered investors."

People can buy investment funds, such as unit trusts from "fund supermarkets" – online shops that usually offer discounts on charges. These funds are often held in tax-free wrappers, such as individual savings accounts or personal pensions.

5. Buying and selling
Auction websites, such as eBay, have made it far easier to buy and sell second-hand goods, which in the pre-internet age would have meant a trip to the car boot sale. The average British home is estimated to have at least £450 worth of saleable items, typically clothes, CDs, DVDs, books and toys. Online auctions offer a quick way to turn them into cash. About one billion items have been sold on eBay.co.uk in the past 10 years, and 17 million people use the site each month.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/6651262/Five-ways-the-internet-has-transformed-our-personal-finances.html