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One other tool that I used excessively while on my trip with Mrs. Guru to California was Boingo. If you’re not familiar, Boingo is a WiFi-membership service, basically, that allows you to connect to a worldwide network of WiFi hotspots for a single monthly fee. There are two packages, one for laptops and one for ‘mobile devices’, such as the Nokia Internet Tablets, and also our S60-powered smartphones. There is also a downloadable client that allows your device (be it laptop, tablet, or phone) to automatically connect to the hotspot, without having to open the web browser and attempt to login on a website.

To test through my trip, Boingo was kind enough to set me up with a review account for both my laptop and my S60-powered phones. You can use the same mobile account on several different phones, so it’s not tied to your IMEI at all, which is nice.

Throughout the trip, I used WiFi on my laptop far more often than I did on my phone. With Boingo, I never once had to hassle with making sure my browser would allow forwarding, or logging into whatever landing page that particular hotspot offered. The Windows Boingo app (there’s one for Macs, too, though I think Linux is, as usual, left out in the cold) would automatically detect that it was in range of a Boingo hotspot, and wa-la. Zero configuration from me, and more importantly, I didn’t have to guess at which of the handful of hotspots was included.

When traveling, specifically in airports, it’s not uncommon to see a handful of hotspots that *look* like legitimate access points, and often with the strongest signal. Often, though, these are ad-hoc connections, which can, potentially, be false, and used to swipe your personal info. With Boingo, I didn’t have to worry about my laptop trying to connect to these, or worry about discerning for myself – Boingo automatically connected only to approved, prescreened hotspots, which is a major plus.

I’ll be completely honest, too – I didn’t use the phone portion much at all. Mainly, because I didn’t need it. I have AT&T, and thus, I have 3G in most all major metropolitan areas, including San Francisco. However, I was able to test the S60 client out at the airport, on our way out, and it worked good – too good, actually. For some reason, once the Boingo client has found the WiFi, it won’t let go. If you’re doing some hardcore email/browsing/other data usage, this is awesome. If you’re not, and you’re concerned with battery, this poses a big problem, specifically as I was unable to turn *only* the WiFi off on my E71. It’s WiFi + GSM/3G, or nothing at all.

Also, Boingo recently picked up Opti-Fi Networks, which manages the WiFi hotspots in 25 North American airports. If you’re a frequent traveler who spends time waiting for planes, this is just plain killer.

Regardless of what platform you use it on, I’m 100% sold on Boingo, specifically when I’m traveling. The convenience of not having to pay each hotspot its own fee is awesome, and the Windows client made connecting a no-brainer (seriously, it just pops up and says you’re in range, do you want to connect). You can even get a free trial when you sign up, to check it out for yourself.

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