Something Fishy

So they now have wireless internet access on Baros, or do they? Well the answer is some of the people do, some of the time, and always at a price. While I'm not overly happy with having to pay $25.00 per day for the privilege of any internet access, I do get annoyed when the service is flaky. Furthermore, I've tested the download speed and the best I've managed to get is 58Kbs, a far cry from what one would consider broadband.

The fun started after we got an access code from reception, which we presumed you would enter into a default login page that would open as soon as you opened your browser. My laptop could see the Baros Wireless network as soon as I powered up but could not acquire an IP address. I tried a few things to remedy this but either their DHCP server was down or the access point in the room was flaky. I tried rebooting the access point, which is supplied by Teledex and is built into the room phone base, but this didn't resolve the problem.

In desperation I rang the island's IT supremo who said he'd be over in five minutes. Soon after I hung up I noticed that I had now acquired an IP address in the 10.x.x.x range and we were up and running. When the IT chappy arrived he said I should disable my proxy server (which I never have enabled) but couldn't explain why I was connected. I tried to explain to him that before I called him I wasn't able to even get an IP address and he said that I didn't need one! Hmmm... interesting network they're running. Anyway, he departed and the connection stayed up for a couple of hours, then went down. Once again, I could get no IP address from the DHCP server or couldn't communicate with it. I rang reception to complain and as soon as I did I noticed that I again got an IP address. After a little bit of experimentation I found that to make contact with the DHCP server one must first dial a number on the phone, any number will do (we've been dialling 9 for an outside line, which does the trick), and a few seconds later you get your IP address. I wouldn't like to think how other less techie guests are managing. I've been debating whether I'll share this info with the IT chappy, but I suspect he already knows that this quirk exists with at least some of the room wireless APs and is saying nothing.

So, at 25$ per day for a flaky, slow wireless link I say adieu. Talk to you again when we return to the world of broadband and leave you with a couple of pix from this morning's snorkelling.