My husband has similar complaints with hotels all around the country. My favorite is that you can get free internet access in a Best Western, but you have to pay for it at an Embassy Suites. Welcome to Atlanta!

The short answer is that the hotels that could afford it put in these systems 5 years ago and they are falling apart now. The hotels with fewer business customers were in the second round in the market and have newer, hardier equipment. Best bang for your buck is Hilton Garden or Hampton in my experience (as a dude working at an iBahn competitor).

mariott has never let me down...much....

Oh how far have we come. I remember the days were we thought it was great that a hotel had cable tv!

Recently I have been doing alot more travel for work and I have found that alot of places I stay at have hard lines. Which, being the geek you are Damon, you might have a hard time dealing with. First thing I do is check the wireless. If there is no signal, I start the hunt for the jack in the wall. One brand new casino/hotel actually had the jack incorporated into the desk lamp. I had to call the front desk on that one.

It is also interesting seeing retired people that need their wireless/internet fix. Recently I was at a casino in Iowa for work. The place was brand new and didn't have wireless inet access. But I was sitting in the cafe with my notebook working on some code. Along came this old couple wanting to know if I was able to pick up a wireless signal.

We have come along way in the last 10 years. Who knows maybe in another 10 years the fancy hotels you stay at Damon will have inet access.