How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Treefrog1
Enthusiast - Level 3
I have an old laptop that was upgraded from XP to Vista Business. It runs OK but is very slow. I have Fios wireless at home and it connects fine, but the In-house Agent won't run properly (blank pages for the Internet & Phone sections...Chat tech was unhelpful). My question is: how can I set up the hotspot connectivity without having to use the worse-than-useless In-house agent?
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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
gs0b
Community Leader
Community Leader

You are correct, you don't need "In Home Agent."  You can manage the WiFi (and other network) connection with the tools in Windows.

I've never used Vista, however if it's anything like XP or 7, you should have an icon in the task bar's notification area that you can hover over or click on to manage WiFi and other networks.  You may need to click on the icon to expand hidden icons.

I googled "windows vista business wifi setup" and find many helpful links.  This one looks to be a good place to start.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Setting-up-a-wireless-network

Have Fun!

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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Treefrog1
Enthusiast - Level 3

Yeah, I set up my laptop manually for Verizon Fios wireless & other wifi connections.

You're saying there are no special settings required to locate & access Verizon hotspots?

If so, what is the function of the Verizon Access Manager?

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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Hubrisnxs
Legend

VZ Wifi Direct Download Link -  http://wbadownload.verizon.net/vz_wifi_connect.exe

Or you can use the BOINGO Software (better imo) with your verizon log in. 

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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Treefrog1
Enthusiast - Level 3

It appears that wifi connect is an Android app.

I'm on a laptop. Smiley Frustrated

Boingo may be good, but I already have Fios wireless that is supposed to give me free access to all Verizon hotspots in North America. I'm not shopping for another provider.

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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Hubrisnxs
Legend

the link I gave is for a windows machine 

Droid has it's own app, and boingo is what Verizon uses - so you can safely download boingo and then when it asks for your login, you put your VZ log in info.   

you DO have to create a seperate WIFI log in though,  So you should go to www.verizon.net/

Hover over my verizon and then select VIEW all from the my services menu  > then select internet on the left hand side menu > then select manage under the verizon wifi section.

Manage gives you two options 

Find Wifi Hotspots 

WiFI how to demos

Select Wifi how to demos and then click and follow the registration link

when you get there, it wants you to sign in, you sign in with your main account, and then you go through the Wi-fi registration steps to make a Verizon WIFI username  

these are going to be seperate usernames, one used for your account and online access, you already have this one

and the next is one specifically for wifi hotspot access, you are creating this one (if you haven't already done so) 

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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Treefrog1
Enthusiast - Level 3

Thanks.

I'll look further into Boingo

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Re: How to set up wifi hotspot connectivity
Treefrog1
Enthusiast - Level 3

Wow.
Navagating Verizon's web pages hasn't improved one single iota in the past 10 years! Smiley Mad

I would have never found all that without your help.

BTW verizon.net redirects to http://entertainment.verizon.com/ and then you have to muddle through all of their obscure site tree branches while ignoring the zipping flash images and useless banners.

I did manage to find the wifi register app even though it's obvious they wanted me to use that POS agent thingy.

It installed a wifi finder on my desktop, but I can get rid of that if I need to.

I installed Boingo wifinder on my laptop and used my Verizon wifi login.

It seems there's nothing close enough to me to try right now. The Verizon wifinder shows only 3 locations in my city, but the Bongo finder shows 14 certified or trusted.

Are the 3 shown by Verizon finder Verizon hotspots? Boingo doesn't show them.

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