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[theboyk]

Has anyone had any success with the DIR-505 in hotels? More specifically, when connecting the DIR-505 to the hotel room's wired/ethernet port?

I'm going to be in a hotel for work for a few days and hotel wifi is always terrible. Usually, I bring a small wireless router with me, have it set up in AP mode, and just plug the hotel's ethernet into a LAN port on the router (with a private wireless AP/SSID set up that I connect to). With this setup, I can then wirelessly shared the room's wired ethernet connection to my laptop and iOS devices.

Since there's no LAN/WAN ports on the DIR-505, how exactly would I go about doing this?

What I mean is, with a proper router, I have two options:

1. Router mode (via connecting the hotel's ethernet to the WAN port)
2. Wireless AP mode (via connecting the hotel's ethernet to the LAN port)

Since the DIR-505 only has a single port, how do I deal with this?

Basically, I just want to be able to plug the hotel's wired ethernet into the DIR-505 and then connect my devices (wirelessly) to the DIR-505. This way, I'm getting "wired" speeds through the DIR-505 (versus connecting the crappy hotel wifi).

Thanks,
Kristin.

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• What Hardware version is your router? Look at sticker under router.
• Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded? Found on the routers web page under status.
• What region are you located?

Yes you should be able to hook into the hotels network and use it as an AP. I would review the User Manual to see if there is setup information there...There has been some talk about hotels and these models and having to deal with the hotels log in pages. The DIR should be able to connect and pass this information to the PC so you can log in and connect.

[theboyk]

I haven't purchased it yet. Trying to decide if it's a waste of money or not. The manual, like most D-Link manuals, is pretty useless though. That's why I've posted here, in the hopes that others who may own this device, could share their success/failures.

[FurryNutz]

http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=51872.0

[theboyk]

Yep, read that post and didn't really give me much information. Seemed like they were trying to use either Hotspot mode or Repeater mode, neither of which I want to use, as I want to connect the DIR-505 via the room's wired connection.

I've searched the forums, haven't really found anything solid with regards to using this device in a hotel (which kinda seems like what it's being sold for), thus my new thread.

Thanks,
Kristin.

[FurryNutz]

I'd phone contact your regional D-Link support office and ask them what the official word is and where there are more detailed setup instructions.

Let us know what the say.

[theboyk]

Yea, I'll just keep using my old router. 

[FurryNutz]

Good Luck. 

[holmes4]

I have used the 505 in hotels an elsewhere with Ethernet. Works fine.

[FurryNutz]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. 

[theboyk]

Sorry! Meant to post a follow-up. I ended up picking up the 505 (on sale) and I tested it in the hotel I was staying at a few weeks ago and it worked without issue. I had it set up in AP mode (which I configured at home first, before leaving on the trip) and there were no issues whatsoever.

As a note, the hotel didn't require any "sign in" (which some hotels do), so I'm yet to be able to confirm if this "sign in" page would be passed through the 505 or not (though, as a workaround, if you have a laptop with you, you can always plug in direct to the in-room ethernet, authorize your access via the "sign in" page, then once that's done, plug in the 505 and you should be fine).

k.

[FurryNutz]

Glad you got it working well and thanks for sharing the hotel sign in info.

Enjoy. 

[holmes4]

Yes, the sign-in page is accessible through the 505. I was at a hotel in February and used my 505 this way. Once you have configured the 505 with the SSID and access point of the hotel, then the next time you open your device's browser you'll be connected through the 505 and the hotel's login page will come up.

In fact, if you try to connect your PC directly, it won't work because the MAC addresses are different.

One important point I have found is that you want to open a non-https page and one that your browser or OS has not cached the DNS address for. The key is to open a page for which your device's OS has to ask the hotel's DNS server for the address - so it can do the redirect to the login page. Sometimes this means rebooting your PC, etc. I keep a half-dozen or so generic sites in my bookmarks that I use for this - I am careful to NOT use any for which login cookies have been stored. weather.gov is usually my first choice.

[theboyk]

Are you connecting the 505 to the WIRED ETHERNET within the hotel room (ROUTER MODE), or are you connecting the 505 to the hotel's WiFi (HOTSPOT/REPEATER MODE)? I ask because you said "Once you have configured the 505 with the SSID and access point of the hotel..." which really makes it sound like you're not connecting the 505 to the hotel via ETHERNET (otherwise, you wouldn't be doing anything with the hotel's SSID since that's a wireless ID)?
k.

Yes, the sign-in page is accessible through the 505. I was at a hotel in February and used my 505 this way. Once you have configured the 505 with the SSID and access point of the hotel, then the next time you open your device's browser you'll be connected through the 505 and the hotel's login page will come up.

In fact, if you try to connect your PC directly, it won't work because the MAC addresses are different.

One important point I have found is that you want to open a non-https page and one that your browser or OS has not cached the DNS address for. The key is to open a page for which your device's OS has to ask the hotel's DNS server for the address - so it can do the redirect to the login page. Sometimes this means rebooting your PC, etc. I keep a half-dozen or so generic sites in my bookmarks that I use for this - I am careful to NOT use any for which login cookies have been stored. weather.gov is usually my first choice.

[holmes4]

In this case I was using WiFi. Sorry, I missed this aspect of the question.  I have used it with Ethernet but not recently. If the hotel is providing Ethernet, you need to use Router mode, not Hotspot.