# Hot Spot at Point at Po'ipu



## Poobah (Jan 28, 2012)

Has anyone used a hotspot at the Point? Who was your provider?

We have both an iPad, an iTouch, and a laptop and a hot spot would be nice. Would rather not go down to the lobby. We like to Skype with family and friends while we are there.

We don't have any phones that can be used as a hot spot either.

Probably will be in Bldg 4.

Cheers,

Paul


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jan 28, 2012)

Poobah said:


> Has anyone used a hotspot at the Point? Who was your provider?
> 
> We have both an iPad, an iTouch, and a laptop and a hot spot would be nice. Would rather not go down to the lobby. We like to Skype with family and friends while we are there.
> 
> ...


When we go I take along a wireless router and connect it to the LAN in the room.  I then set up my own secured network.


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## artringwald (Jan 28, 2012)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When we go I take along a wireless router and connect it to the LAN in the room.  I then set up my own secured network.



Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that sooner, instead of stretching the cable to a convenient place for the laptop. It will make the smartphone faster, too. Verizon reception can be weak in some of the buildings.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jan 28, 2012)

artringwald said:


> Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that sooner, instead of stretching the cable to a convenient place for the laptop. It will make the smartphone faster, too. Verizon reception can be weak in some of the buildings.



Works pretty slick.


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## dakotafamily (Jan 29, 2012)

We will be staying at the Point next month. Is there wired or wireless internet in the rooms? Thanks!


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## artringwald (Jan 29, 2012)

dakotafamily said:


> We will be staying at the Point next month. Is there wired or wireless internet in the rooms? Thanks!



There's wired Internet in each room. Owners get it free, otherwise it's something like $10/day. There is wireless in the lobby. If you have a smart phone, you could tether it to your laptop with PdaNet. Enjoy your stay!


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## dakotafamily (Jan 29, 2012)

artringwald said:


> There's wired Internet in each room. Owners get it free, otherwise it's something like $10/day. There is wireless in the lobby. If you have a smart phone, you could tether it to your laptop with PdaNet. Enjoy your stay!



OK..thanks! We are Gold Club owners and our reservation says we will be charged $25 per day for internet, parking, gym fees and local phone calls. They are also charging this at the Kaanapali Beach Club. We were lucky enough to get a deluxe oceanfront villa. Do you have any suggestions on a building request as we have never been to Kauai? Thanks!


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## artringwald (Jan 29, 2012)

dakotafamily said:


> OK..thanks! We are Gold Club owners and our reservation says we will be charged $25 per day for internet, parking, gym fees and local phone calls. They are also charging this at the Kaanapali Beach Club. We were lucky enough to get a deluxe oceanfront villa. Do you have any suggestions on a building request as we have never been to Kauai? Thanks!


You're unlikely to get any room change, but you should request a corner room. Building priority should be 6 or 4 (closer to the ocean), or 3 or 8 (closer to the parking lot if you don't like to walk). The good news is that all the ocean front rooms are great. Actually, even the garden view rooms are nice.

Neither of our per-arrival confirmations mentioned the resort fees, and we're in the Silver Elite club. You should ask about it when you check in.


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## dakotafamily (Jan 30, 2012)

artringwald said:


> You're unlikely to get any room change, but you should request a corner room. Building priority should be 6 or 4 (closer to the ocean), or 3 or 8 (closer to the parking lot if you don't like to walk). The good news is that all the ocean front rooms are great. Actually, even the garden view rooms are nice.
> 
> Neither of our per-arrival confirmations mentioned the resort fees, and we're in the Silver Elite club. You should ask about it when you check in.



Thanks for the information. Upon reading the reservation a little closer it looks like it is only for renters and exchangers:

Resort Charges:

- Non-Smoking Resort 
- Prior to Checking In: Three and four story buildings with elevator access. Maximum occupancy for each of the rooms is - 1-Bedroom = 4, 2-bedroom=6 and 3-bedroom = 8. Please note that these maximum occupancies include infants and children and we cannot exceed maximum occupancy. Please note that a General Excise Tax (GET) and state imposed Transient Occupancy tax, (TOT) will be applicable to all reservations and collected upon check-in. Beginning January 1, 2012 a $25.00/per night Resort fee for all Rental and exchange reservations will be charged. The Resort fee will cover the following. •Internet access •Fitness Center access •Parking •Local calls

We will be staying at the Westin Princeville for 9 days and then go to the Point for a week. 

Thanks again!


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## Poobah (Jan 30, 2012)

*In room internet*

When we were there last March, there was a charge for the wired internet and we are owners. When did they stop charging? That is why I was looking at a hotspot.

I don't know this for a fact, but I will bet that the in-room wireless is part of the Water Intrusion Project. 

Cheers,

Paul


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## artringwald (Jan 30, 2012)

What is supposed to happen, is they charge the Internet every day. When you check out, if you're an owner, they credit your account for the Internet and local phone call charges. Funny that they don't always remember to do that. They never complain about fixing it, but it delays the check out process.


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## wwomant (Jan 31, 2012)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When we go I take along a wireless router and connect it to the LAN in the room.  I then set up my own secured network.



We were there last week and my parents used this idea in their room.  Between my parents and my sisters they had four laptops in the room, so it worked great for them. And when my husband and I visited in their room we could bring our laptop too.


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## winger (Jan 31, 2012)

the new 25 dollars per day charge is not supposed to apply to club members.

does anyone know how good sprint service is at the resort? I have a data card service with them and use a wireless router setup with that.


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## artringwald (Jan 31, 2012)

winger said:


> does anyone know how good sprint service is at the resort? I have a data card service with them and use a wireless router setup with that.



Bad Sprint service in Poipu is the main reason I switched to Verizon several years ago. Sprint may be better now, but Verizon has a large share of the Hawaiian cell phone market market.


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## Fisch (Feb 1, 2012)

winger said:


> the new 25 dollars per day charge is not supposed to apply to club members.
> 
> does anyone know how good sprint service is at the resort? I have a data card service with them and use a wireless router setup with that.



I have Sprint and use my phone(easy tether app) with my laptop at The Point.  Very good speeds for download.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Feb 1, 2012)

artringwald said:


> Bad Sprint service in Poipu is the main reason I switched to Verizon several years ago. Sprint may be better now, but Verizon has a large share of the Hawaiian cell phone market market.



and T-Mobile is virtually non-existent on-site except in the parking lot and the buildings closest to the street.


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## Dollie (Feb 1, 2012)

*Wireless in suites coming by end of April 2012*

Just attended the Meet the Manager meeting this morning.  Wireless internet in suites to be completed by end of April along with HD TV and more channels.


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## winger (Feb 1, 2012)

Fisch said:


> I have Sprint and use my phone(easy tether app) with my laptop at The Point.  Very good speeds for download.


Thanks for the confirmation.  A buddy just sent me this link to check Sprint coverage: http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?INTNAV=ATG:FT:Cov

I am semi-color blind when it comes to the four shades of greens used  , but I think Poipu goes from Best to Good, with Good being where the Point at Poipu property is actually located at.

It's too bad Sprint does not have 4G coverage at P@P as they seem to have over in Maui (Kaanapali), but I will take good coverager, nevertheless.  What's vacation withOUT internet access ???  I canNOT imagine


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## winger (Feb 1, 2012)

Dollie said:


> Just attended the Meet the Manager meeting this morning.  Wireless internet in suites to be completed by end of April along with HD TV and more channels.



Great (the TV and channels, not the internet), good timing for our November trip!  And time for the resort to work out any bugs


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## Poobah (Feb 1, 2012)

*In Room Wireless*

End of April. That figures, I am there in March! 

If the wired hook-up is free for the owners I can work with that; just bring a router and set it up. 

Cheers,

Paul


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## Fisch (Feb 1, 2012)

artringwald said:


> What is supposed to happen, is they charge the Internet every day. When you check out, if you're an owner, they credit your account for the Internet and local phone call charges. Funny that they don't always remember to do that. They never complain about fixing it, but it delays the check out process.



Is this written anywhere?  I emailed the Point and they said this was not true that it is $9.95 per 24 hours even for owners.

Al


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Feb 1, 2012)

Internet is free for Diamond Club Silver Elite and higher.  As I understand this is how it's done.

*****

Supposedly, there is no free wired internet for anybody from the resort's point of view. The resort Board of Directors has not voted to make it free for anyone. 

Thus every time someone connects to the wired internet in a room, they have to click in the form to accept charges from Oceanic Pacific. That authorizes Oceanic Pacific to charge the resort for the internet connection.  The resort billing then immediately creates a charge against the room account for that usage.

If the person is Diamond Club elite or higher, the charge then gets transferred to the Club account, so it becomes an amount owed to the resort by the Club.  In essence, for Silver Elite and higher, it's covered in our Club dues. 

******

That's how it was explained to me one time. That was just a conversation with a front desk employee who seemed knowledgeable, so I can't vouch for how accurate it is.  But it makes sense in terms of how the process seems to happen mechanically - user has to accept charges, charges go to room account, charges are transferred at checkout.

*****

Is that a case of the Board of Directors doing everything they can to keep resort charges down and deciding that wired hot spots in the lobby is good enough for free owner access?  Is it influenced by the sales force to create a benefit that is only available to those who join the Club at the elite status?  Is a combination of the two?  My guess is "yes", "yes", and "yes".


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## Fisch (Feb 1, 2012)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Internet is free for Diamond Club Silver Elite and higher.  As I understand this is how it's done.
> 
> *****
> 
> ...




Thanks for the explaination.   Since I'm not part of the club, I'll continue using my Easytether app


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## artringwald (Feb 1, 2012)

Fisch said:


> Is this written anywhere?  I emailed the Point and they said this was not true that it is $9.95 per 24 hours even for owners.
> Al



I looked in the Club Benefits Guide (which is available online) and as Steve commented, the free wi-fi applies only to silver, gold and platinum members. I have a silver membership, so it works for me.


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## winger (Feb 2, 2012)

artringwald said:


> I looked in the Club Benefits Guide (which is available online) and as Steve commented, the free wi-fi applies only to silver, gold and platinum members. I have a silver membership, so it works for me.


When we stayed at the Lake Tahoe Property, I remember one or more times getting a welcome email with the complimentary one-time use (for the stay) wi-fi code because we are Elite with the Club


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## BJRSanDiego (Feb 2, 2012)

*Wifi at P@P*

When we were last at P@P (Sept 2009), we were exchanging.  We could use free wifi down by the pool.  IIRC, you needed a password and username but if you asked around it was available.  There was no charge at that time for use at the pool.

There were 2 computers in the lobby but a short time limit - - like 10 minutes.  They were free.  There was also a printer for boarding passes.  But it's hard to do much in 10 minutes.

There was also cat 5 or 10/100base T hardwire available.  We got it for free because we had so many major and avoidable problems at check in and demanded some sort of "compensation".   

As an alternative, there is always McDonalds or Starbucks.  Most offer free wifi.  If you are an AT&T user or sub (like SBCglobal) I know it is free and I think it is free for everyone else too.  If you go to the website attwifi dot com, you can search for the free att wifi.  In the past, I have also searched on something like "free wifi" and the location.  If I have to pay something like $4 or 5 for daily use of wifi, it's not that bad of a deal to drive to a McD's or a Starbucks.  You still pay the same but you get something in your stomach.  :rofl: 

At the time that we were there I did a wifi search to see if there were any open access points.  There were two - - the Grant Hyatt next door (but which required you to ultimately log in and pay) and an unknown one that I couldn't get it to.


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## artringwald (Feb 12, 2012)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When we go I take along a wireless router and connect it to the LAN in the room.  I then set up my own secured network.



I was talking about this with my son, and he loaned us his Netgear WGR101 portable travel router for our upcoming trip. Pretty slick.


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## BJRSanDiego (Feb 13, 2012)

*Hotspot Spotter*



T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When we go I take along a wireless router and connect it to the LAN in the room.  I then set up my own secured network.



That's a good idea.  I am tempted to take my wireless router with me if I travel with more than one wireless person.

BTW, I often bring a "Canary" wireless detector with me.  It is a little electronic device that "sniffs" out wifi networks.  Sometimes I'll walk around a timeshare and find where the strongest open or unsecured wifi locations are.  It is quite a bit smaller than a pack of cigarettes, so it is easier and less obvious than carrying a laptop around.  I bought it from Amazon for around $40 about 3 years ago IIRC.  It tells you whether the signal is unsecured or encrypted, the channel its on, the protocol (802.11 b/g/or n) and of course, the signal level.  I don't have any financial connection with the people marketing this, I just find it useful.


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## princessbethlina (Feb 13, 2012)

*Don't stay at Point at Poipu*

I am an owner and since DRI took over and started charging CRAZY maintenance fee's they've done NOTHING to really improve the property.  The state of the place is disgusting and embarrassing. Dirty grout, mold in bathroom cabinets, and no one that cares if you complain. Oh they may have changed some blankets to make you think they're investing money, but the really important stuff has been ignored.  Take money to stay at the Hyatt cause you'll be so disappointed in this place.


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## Dollie (Feb 14, 2012)

princessbethlina said:


> I am an owner and since DRI took over and started charging CRAZY maintenance fee's they've done NOTHING to really improve the property. ....



The following have been done so far (there are more but I don’t recall them; some of the replacements are large expensive items that are not made in Hawai`i and have to be transported from the mainland, big expense):

- All small appliances replaced
- Living room couch replaced
- Beds/mattresses replaced with higher quality
- Linens replaced with higher quality
- Three flat screen TVs per suite and new units/chest of drawers they sit on
- All pots replaced, number of pots increased
- Upgraded dinnerware, glassware, flatware, and utensils (more than just 6 of each in a suite)
- Large appliances (refrigerators, stove, dishwasher) replaced
- Added pool ADA lift
- Refinished lobby furniture
- Soffits temporarily repaired
- BBQ grills replaced
- Pool cushions replaced
- Bedroom closet doors replaced
- Poolside grill doors in process of being replaced
- Fitness Center equipment replaced

Scheduled for 2012:

- Replace drapes and sheers
- Replace mirrors dining room, master bath and guest bath
- Replace kitchen faucets and vanity faucets
- Replace washer/dryer
- Replace microwaves
- Replace dining room table, living room end tables, bedroom end tables and bedroom headboards
- Replace artwork
- Reseal parking lots
- Replace speed bumps
- Pool hut repairs
- Add Wireless internet and HD TV in suite



princessbethlina said:


> .....no one that cares if you complain......



Just returned from the Point.  While we were there:

- The bathroom shower was not draining, called maintenance and it was fixed.
- Had problems with the internet access, called maintenance and it was fixed.
- Refrigerator stopped cooling.  Maintenance investigate, brought a new refrigerator and reloaded our food into it.


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