cleckjr
cleckjr
join:2003-08-30
Trenton, NJ
| reply to kband
Re: Hotel Wi-Fi
kband,
circle's venture is right. These systems use the MAC address for the WiFi card or the ethernet port to identify your computer.
This kind hotel setup is referred to as a captive portal.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_portal
Any attempt to "surf the web" is re-routed to software running on a computer that asks you to accept the terms of service. This likely happens every time you are accessing the web after restarting your computer, but on subsequent "requests" the system already knows who you are; and that you accepted the terms of service; so it lets you continue. It depends on how the software is set up. |
