Tag: WiFi
View All TagsInternet / WiFi / MGM Resorts / Caesars Entertainment / → All Tags
How Much It'll Cost If MGM Resorts' Free Public WiFi Isn't Fast Enough
In January, MGM Resorts announced it was bringing free WiFi to everyone.. in its public spaces. At the time, the gaming company mentioned that speedier service would be available for a fee. But, specific pricing wasn't mentioned.
A drinking trip to Mandalay Bay last night put the answer in the palm of our hand when we put down the Crabbie's picked up our smart phone and found the screen shown above. Basic connectivity was offered at a speed of 256 kbps while a Web Browsing speed of 512 kbps was billed at $7.95 for 24 hours. For those in search of Media Streaming, 1.5 mbps was available for $14.95 for 48 hours.
Off Strip / Silverton / Resort Fees / WiFi / WTF / → All Tags
About That Silverton Resort Fee
When we stayed at the Silverton a couple weeks ago, we noticed a lot of strange things for the first time. Our special room rate was booked before Caesars Entertainment and South Point announced their resort fees so, at the time, finding that there was a $4.95 resort fee attached to our reservation was a bit surprising for a mid-tier, off-Strip hotel. Like most resort fees there is no mention on the hotel website until you click to reserve a room and, even then, there's no detail on what you get for the $4.95.
When we checked in, the desk agent informed us that WiFi was not included in the resort fee and that we could purchase it for an additional $11.95. WiFi is free throughout Silverton... except for the rooms. We were also advised that we could come to the lobby and use the WiFi on one of their couches or chairs. So, we grabbed a cup of Starbucks and took them up on that offer. No big deal.
Resort Fees / Caesars Entertainment / Tips / Survival Strategies / Caesars Palace / Planet Hollywood / WiFi / Internet / Harrah's / Free WiFi / → All Tags
Caesars Entertainment's Resort Fees Don't Apply To Everyone
Caesars Entertainment began charging resort fees on March 1. They haven't released detailed information on the resort fees so we've had to do a little exploring on exactly who will pay resort fees and what we will get.
Nobody will argue that resort fees stink, but the Caesars resort fees aren't as bad as many initially thought. Why? Because not everyone will pay a resort fee. Caesars is "rewarding" their bigger players by waiving the charge. Total Rewards players with Platinum, Diamond or Seven Stars status won't have to pay a resort fee.
The resort fees at Caesars include only three items: local calls, fitness center and "Internet service for one device." According to a Caesars Entertainment spokesperson, this is what customers demanded. Many of us look at resort fees as the cost for WiFi since we don't bother with the local calls or fitness center. Well, the resort fees at the Caesars properties don't exactly include that.
Internet / WiFi / Free WiFi / MGM Resorts / MGM Grand / Mandalay Bay / Luxor / Excalibur / New York-New York / Monte Carlo / Bellagio / The Mirage / → All Tags
MGM Resorts Bringing WiFi To All Its Hotels, But Will It Bring Higher Resort Fees, Too?
We might begrudge them for annoying resort fees, but MGM Resorts is rolling out free WiFi to all... those in its public spaces.
The mega-hotel chain is working to make complimentary WiFi available in all the common areas of each of its hotels, "including pools, casinos, lobbies, and restaurants." It's also upgrading the WiFi systems at all its resorts. If they have them. If not, it will finally bring WiFi to its properties which have only offered guests wired Internet service until now. Yes, wired.
WiFi / Smartphones / Venetian / Tips / Survival Strategies / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
Turn Off The Wifi On Your Phone When Entering A Casino
The machines may be rising, but smartphones are taking over. More than 50% of mobile phones in use are smartphones and 2/3rds of mobile phones being purchased right now are smartphones. Smartphones are awesome, but when you bring them together with a lot of people in small old buildings you sometimes run into problems.
You may be getting poor cellular service because you're in an old casino that interferes with your signal. It's annoying. We know. That service may also be poor because there are so many people in a small area. This happens less on The Strip, but still happens during conventions.
Gateway Motel / Free WiFi / WiFi / Internet / → All Tags
Best Deal In Vegas? Room, Free Wifi, HBO for $26
If you drive north on Las Vegas Blvd, just past the Stratosphere and near the Pawn Stars shop, you'll pass the Gateway Motel. The Gateway is an unassuming motel and you'll most likely drive by one of the best bargains on The Strip.
Although it may not be in the best part of town, the Gateway offers something that none of the 3-5 star resorts on the strip offer -- free WiFi.
Which Would You Rather / Resort Fees / Hotel Fees / WiFi / → All Tags
Which Do You Rather: Resort Fees or A La Carte Fees?
We can all agree that we'd like our hotel fees to be simple with no added resort or extra fees added into the mix after we make our reservations.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter to The Man the hotels. While some are still adding resort fees for our "convenience," others are trumpeting their lack of resort fees, but nickel and diming us with fees for everything from coffee to using a safe.
Eating / Dining / Off The Strip / Cafes / Free Wifi / WiFi / Summerlin / → All Tags
Where Vegas Hotels Get Grilled
We're always up to try new places and we knew that we had a winner within seconds of walking into Something's Brewing Cafe, located about 25 minutes off The Strip.
The first thing we saw was a menu hanging on the wall. The menu features only sandwiches that were named after casinos. We got the Tropicana, which is a simple turkey, ham and cheese panini with pickles. Our friend got a little crazy and tried the off-menu special of chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes. It was only 100 degrees so why not?!
Openings / McCarran / McCarran Airport / T3 / Terminal 3 / Construction / WiFi / Free WiFi / → All Tags
Wandering Around McCarran's New T3
The countdown to T3, McCarran's new multi-million dollar terminal is almost over. The first planes will taxi up to its gates on June 27.
After giving it a quick run-through last week, we returned over the weekend for a public open house. Thinking we'd be one of a handful of people, we were shocked to see folks streaming in and out of the terminal. Many with very young children in tow. Vegas Inc reports that airport officials were surprised themselves by the turnout, estimating about 12,000 people showed up over the six-hour event.
Most spent the time queued up in lines as they either vied for food (we spied plates of hot dogs and mac n' cheese) or in hopes of winning something, anything. We heard everything from iPads to Godiva was up for grabs. (McCarran had folks running around T3 in search of airport reps who would hole punch their ticket for a chance to win one of the many prizes. Seven punches were needed before you could turn it in. We wished mom would have told us to always make sure we had clean undies and a hole puncher at all times.)
Venetian / Palazzo / WiFi / Free WiFi / Internet / Cantor Gaming / Palms / Hard Rock / → All Tags
Working in Vegas? Our New Favorite Place To Fire Up The Laptop
Our go to place for WiFi on The Strip is usually the food court at the Venetian. For starters, the connection is free and we don't even have to buy a cup of coffee to use it. The connection is steady, we've never experienced the connection being down and, being bandwidth hogs, it's important that the connection is fast. Most importantly is that there are outlets for us to plug in our computer. We could find the same WiFi access next door at the Palazzo, but there aren't the outlets to keep our laptop juiced. We like the juice.
Last week, we found a way to step up our work experience at the Venetian. The Cantor Gaming sportsbook has its own free WiFi connection. The connection zips since there aren't many people using it. While we don't really like sitting at the red work stations when we're just there to watch games, they come in handy if we want to work. Underneath some of the workstations, you'll find outlets to keep the laptop charged. Most exciting about setting up shop in the Cantor Gaming sportsbook, is that we can keep an eye or ear on the games on those beautiful TVs.
Internet Kiosks / Internet / Do Not Do / Caesars Palace / WiFi / Free WiFi / → All Tags
Definitely Do Not Do in Vegas: Pay $5 at an Internet Kiosk
We don't expect everyone visiting Las Vegas to come equipped with their laptops or iPads and we understand that there are quite a few folk who don't have smartphones (old people, hipster luddites) but one thing we'd hate to see any of you do is hand over $5 for an Internet kiosk, like this one at Caesars Palace.
For a minimum of $5 at .35 cents a minute, you can browse the Internet while standing up outside of Old Homestead. For an additional $.50 cents, you can print out whatever page you are looking at.
Egads. This blows our mind. Maybe (maybe) if we were in an emergency situation without our iPhone and needed to access our email to track down some important confirmation number or phone number, would we consider an Internet kiosk.
WiFi / Free WiFi / Internet / Technology / → All Tags
WiFi in Vegas: Can You Get Online Now?
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it barely works, even though you paid for it. WiFi in Vegas is a mixed bag and not even Siri can direct us to the best hotspots, free or paid. But, you can.
VegasChatter is compiling its first-ever Vegas WiFi Guide and we want to hear from you -- where do you like it, where do you hate it and where are the spots to find it for free?
Back when The Cosmo offered free WiFi, we found it to be hit and miss. Over at the Venetian, the WiFi that we paid for in our room was so bad that we went down to the food court for the free hotspot that was sooo much better. (The Venetian is making improvements, tho.) And, we're happy that CityCenter offers free WiFi throughout its campus, but why can't we ever get any of our apps to work?
So let's hear it -- give us your best and your worst Internet experiences in Vegas. Just email your tales to us at tips@vegaschatter.com or leave them in the comments below!
