Sharing internet in a hotel

You need to have a connection between the Hotel AP and your Wifi laptop to be able to sign up. They record your MAC address to make sure that only messages from that MAC address are accepted. A router can handle the one common MAC, but how does it do the sign up at the hotel (e.g. fill out their form with credit card info for example)? That is the real issue. You have to have a way to interact with their form 1st. If they have some way to do this, then that is great.
Yes, I agree that expensive hotels rip you off and charge for internet whereas basic hotels offer it free.

yes, the AE would present the front desk with a Mac address.
It would be the only MAC address that the front desk would see.

Set it up, connect a laptop to its wireless network, log in, fill in the form.

No need to do it again for other devices because their MAC addresses are never presented to the front desk.

P

You do not present your MAC to the front-desk. You connect to the SSID they say (usually hotel name or vendor name) and then they redirect your browser to their page. It makes you fill in credit card info. That form knows your MAC address of course since they sent you the page. This is what they lock to.
So, you have to have the "client Wifi" work to allow you to both do that signin AND be the internet connection end for the router or access point. Most routers want an Ethernet cable to a modem. Access points want to connect to a router or switch (via ethernet).
Having a simple how-to with some example device would save thousands of people huge amounts of money and/or grief. I cannot understand why no one has addressed this issue.

I see the nice Apple solution but if you never used it, it could be you want more detailed explanations.

I've used those portable things too but only when I can use ethernet in the room. I see the Airport was noted and now I shared my other solution. There are more but these are the simpler ones.
Bob

Ethernet in the room is easy. But, that is just plain rare. Most hotels went to wireless. So, you need to be able to connect by wireless and then also broadcast your own pocket network (so to speak) for your own devices. This means two radios (one as client of hotel, one as AP). To make matters worse, you need to be able to bring up a browser to get signed in, so traditional approaches do not work.

You do indeed present your MAC address, you said so yourself in your second post.

OK, let's be clear. Yes, the router will use its MAC address as the connection to the other side which is why a router is fine for this. But, the problem is that routers are normally connected to "the other side" (or man behind curtain in your parlance) using Ethernet to another router (e.g. the Hotel's) or a modem (DSL or Cable or whatever). A router does not normally connect via Wifi to an access point like this.
The specs listed for Airport Express on Amazon do not suggest you can use it this way, which is why I am asking.
So, you are saying you can connect your computer to the AE (somehow) and then it will (a) let you control it to connect to the access point of the hotel using their SSID, and (b) allow your browser to get redirected to their signin page (pay page usually), and then (c) make a wireless network for other devices in the room?
If so, that is great. But, I want to be clear that the AE page at Apple and at Amazon do not suggest that at all. Instead, they focus on plugging the AE into a hotel's Ethernet cable to create a room wireless network. This is not an option since most hotels do not have an Ethernet cable anymore. Instead, it has to connect to the Hotel's wireless (as noted above) and then connect to the devices in the room using wireless meaning two radios and not what they suggest it can do at all.

I fear you didn't know it also can extend wifi networks and therefore can not only connect to 2 networks but also connect to the hotel wifi and then router that to your personal wifi network,

It's a great solution but I fear you want to long technical document and I also fear most Apple stores will not help you.

There are other solutions but not as compact.
Bob

According to Apple: "


AirPort Express can extend the range only of an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express wireless network". They say it cannot do what you say unless the Hotel uses a compatible Apple AirPort base station which is unlikely.
Sigh

I can use almost any 2 of these -> http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/mobileaccessories/tp/Top-7-Travel-Wireless-Routers.htm

The first router is configured as the client to the second router. Done.

I can also use almost any 1 of those plus http://virtualrouter.codeplex.com/ on my laptop.

I decline to write a detailed document since anyone that does this must be able to configure such things to adjust to the situation. SO FAR, FOR NOW, this is the way of things. Since I can get by with less than the APE, I can't try it again and document what we did.
Bob

What I find is that most want a lot more details. I think they should ask Apple to explain it past the advice given here.
Bob