micky wrote:
I stayed in a hotel over the weekend, and even though the cheapest hotel
on the highway has free wi-fi, the Hilton*** wanted $13/night for
*in-room* wi-fi. So I didn't get it and didn't even bring my
laptop. No big deal. (And they had a computer in the lobby.)
***Where I had to stay because it was a family event.

However, in the room I got a notification on my Android phone that there
was an ATT wifi hotpot, and indeed, I was able to use wi-fi on the
phone, including googling and reading websites.

1) Does that imply if I had had the laptop with me, it would have
worked too? Or are there stricter rules for a laptop than a phone?

2) Did I only get the notification because my cell phone is on the ATT
network?

If I had a Verizon phone, I wouldn't have seen the notification??

3) OTOH, if it were a Verizon hot-spot, I wouldn't have gotten a
notification about that???? Only those with Verizon phones?

4) When they say you don't have wi-fi in your room, can I assume that
doesn't mean the signal isn't there, only that one needs a password,
which they only give to those who pay? But if that's what it means, and
I paid does that mean I could use my laptop in all the other bedrooms in
the hotel? Or if it's unique to my room, does that mean that other
people could come up to my room and use their laptops there with the
code they gave me, at least one computer at a time, just because I paid?

5) It's the hotel that provided the hotspot, right? ATT didn't
sneak it in. And they wouldn't charge for wi-fi in the room and then
allow or provide a hotspot there for free.... unless they made some
mistake, like they meant to put it on the floor my well-to-do brother
stayed on, the one with the executive lounge. Any chance it was on
my floor or in my room by mistake??

Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

First, when you use public hot spot, careful with your personal info.
They don't have much security.