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Internet access for non-US residents at TAM9

Dan-au said:
I'm sure there will be a phone shop somewhere, likely in the airport itself. That will sell sim cards.
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That's what I was hoping last year, but I couldn't find one. The International terminal, in particular, is very small.
 
I know for a fact that there are several phone shops in the 'Downtown' part of Las Vegas that sell SIM cards and cheap 'throw-away' cellphones if you're coming from overseas & just want a phone for the week. I don't know what is available out by the South Point, but having driven past it several times, I don't think there is much shopping in the vicinity.

Downtown Vegas is worth a (short) visit if you want to get a feel for 'old' Vegas. Best done in the evening because there is sort of a retro-fun light show. Its also fun to wander around as the casinos are much closer together and you can see several different venues without walking miles between each property. Tends to be a slightly more 'serious about gambling & drinking' crowd than much of the strip.
 
zooterkin said:
That's what I was hoping last year, but I couldn't find one. The International terminal, in particular, is very small.
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If you are renting a car, there is a convenience store/gas station right across from the rental car garage. Because of its location, it caters to travellers. I would be willing to bet they carried cell phones and Sim cards, but probably a bit marked up over standard retail (you pay for the convenience).
 
There also are several AT&T stores rather close to the airport. we got SIM cards for the iPads in one of them last year, they were helpful, if uninformed.

To activate the cards you needed to provide a credit card (ours worked fine) and an address (the store's address worked fine :)). I don't know what kind of gadget you use, but if it's an iPhone, you can find information on how to activate an AT&T SIM card on the web, even though they don't officially support that.
 
[table=head]Name|High School Mascot|Favorite Color
Wowbagger|Purple Wave|Black
Hokulele Mom|NA|NA
[/table]

My Palm Pre Plus has 3G hot spot. It's very slow and someplaces in SouthPoint do not have cell phone signals. I'm not going any where and got all the time so if anyone want to use that you are more than welcome to try.

Hokulele Mom
 
DocM said:
There also are several AT&T stores rather close to the airport.
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I'm getting the hotel shuttle from the airport, and I won't have a car, so getting to a shop may be tricky; I'll have to see if there's anyone in the Del Mar going out.
 
Best Buy has Virgin Mobil pay as you go type mobile hotspots for about $100. I'm not sure how well they work though.
 
Also, keep in mind your room wifi account will NOT work in the conference area. The conference area wifi was something like $25/hr, yes, per HOUR.

There's a company that rents 4G dongles. Las Vegas is a 4G city for those of us with 4G.
 
I'm buying one month of Sprint's Mobile Hotspot to tether our laptop to my phone. At $29.95, it will average out to just $6/day during TAM.
 
There is also a company that several folks used last year that will rent you a 4G mobile device (usually a USB device). They specialize in convention attendees in Vegas, and they will even bring the device to the hotel for you. I'm not endorsing them, just calling attention to the fact that they exist. (Hopefully this doesn't violate the commercial plugs rule).

Details here: 4G4RENT.COM
 
xinit said:
TSA might swab it for explosives, but I don't think they tend to hire people who know how to turn on computers. Besides, if they did, I'm sure anything really sensitive is on an encrypted partition or something already, right? :)
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"TSA" isn't going to look at the data itself. (They used to sometimes ask for things to be turned on, but I haven't been asked to do that in years).

It's customs that could ask about the data on entry to the US. My understanding is that this would be a very rare occurrence.

Ah, I found a document that says about 1000 laptops were searched between October 2008 and August 2009. I'm assuming some of those would probably have been for specific reasons, so the number of "random search" must be pretty low.
 
krelnik said:
There is also a company that several folks used last year that will rent you a 4G mobile device (usually a USB device). They specialize in convention attendees in Vegas, and they will even bring the device to the hotel for you. I'm not endorsing them, just calling attention to the fact that they exist. (Hopefully this doesn't violate the commercial plugs rule).

Details here: 4G4RENT.COM
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That device works well, but the price has gone up significantly from last year.
 
I just read the Skeptools Guide that JREF linked to and it was very helpful. They made mention that there are no freely accessible power outlets in the room (they're under lock and key, essentially). But I just wanted to confirm that this is only the conference room, right? I presume I will at least have access to an outlet in my bedroom? I wasn't expecting all these Vegas cash-grabs, but then I've never been to Vegas...
 
craigirving said:
I just read the Skeptools Guide that JREF linked to and it was very helpful. They made mention that there are no freely accessible power outlets in the room (they're under lock and key, essentially). But I just wanted to confirm that this is only the conference room, right? I presume I will at least have access to an outlet in my bedroom? I wasn't expecting all these Vegas cash-grabs, but then I've never been to Vegas...
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The hotel rooms will have power outlets, yes. You might need to move some furniture to get at them, though. Sometimes the lamps have outlets on the base, however. Look for that.
 
Wowbagger said:
Some attendees will be carrying around their own 3G mobile WiFi hotspots.

And, some of us are willing to share them, if you ask nicely. And, can figure out who we are.
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Thanks for the info, Wowbagger! I might have need to check my company email, etc.....
 
Another option seems to be T-Mobile pay-as-you-go. They offer a one-day data pass for $1.75, which seems to work with my netbook when connected via bluetooth.

You'd need to get a T-Mobile sim card, and use a smart phone that works with said card, but if you've got that, it seems to work.
 
craigirving said:
I just read the Skeptools Guide that JREF linked to and it was very helpful. They made mention that there are no freely accessible power outlets in the room (they're under lock and key, essentially). But I just wanted to confirm that this is only the conference room, right?
Click to expand...

Yes, I was referring to the main function room where all the TAM programming is. There are freely available outlets in your hotel room. There are also a very few outlets out in the hallway area where folks congregate outside the main hall, but I wouldn't rely on those - folks often grab them.

--Tim Farley
 
krelnik said:
There are freely available outlets in your hotel room.
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Hah!!. Last year, I had to have a maintenance guy come up to help me get my CPAP connected to power.

Ok, there are plenty by the desk, and elsewhere in the room, but power that you need near the beds are scarce (this is no different than any other hotel I have stayed in).
 
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