American WI FI

yep on channels 1-11 only

Exactly as you said. Switch your laptop on, and search for a wireless network.

Most likely, the hotel you're staying in will also give you instructions.

Enjoy!

The same thing you do in the UK....

What do I do when I get to New York. I am staying in a hotel with free wi fi

Just turn it on and it will work. The only difference is that your client radio is *capeable* of doing 14 channels instead of 11. However, the channel of choice is not your decision. That access point is configured for channels 1 thru 11 and that's what you're client radio will use. Although strictly speaking, your client radio is not 100% FCC legal, it will not cause any interference if used normally.

Where you might get into trouble is when running an ad-hoc (peer-to-peer) network set to channels 12-14. Another possible problem is running Netsumbler, which sends probe requests on all channels including 12-14. I would avoid these.

As for proceedures, all hotels have instruction pages as to how one should use their system. Sometimes, these instructions are on their web pages.

I have never used the wi fi away from my home. Do I just switch the laptop on and let it search for a signal. Will the hotel not have a security that will require a password to access. Not all the rooms in the hotel have free wi fi some rooms have to pay.

When I set my WRT54Gs to 14 (not strictly legal) they will only do 'b' speeds, is there a reason for this ?

Alex

Yes. Japan has 14 channels.

As far as I know, there's no reason it should reduce speed. However, Japan xmit power is limited to 10mw/Mhz EIRP while the US allows 4 watts EIRP. The speed reduction you're seeing might be a side effect of this drop in tx power from its normal 35mw to 10mw.