If you are attached to your mobile computing equipment as much as I am – and are equally dependent on it for your well-being – you'll know how important it is to be connected to the Internet these days as one researches, writes, blogs, or even just looks to kill some time surfing around.
With that in mind, I encourage you, if you already haven't done it, to look into getting hooked up to SK Telecom's wireless Internet service Nespot. If your Korean isn't in full effect, I'd still suggest you go and burden a Korean friend of yours with the task of helping you out. And how many random resumés, emails to an overseas company rep, or other random piece of English text have you had to pitch in on? C'mon – you've got the help karmically coming. You've earned it!
So ignore the tons of animated icons, blinking crap, and doodads that Koreans like to cram into webpages; after the eternity letting everything load, simply go to the bottom of the screen and get the phone numbers. Or let me do that for you. The irritating, overloaded, little web page wouldn't let me pull of the little graphic they had, so I screenshat it out for you.
It's a bit blurry – so just call 100 from a cellphone or 1588-4520 or 080-2580-452 (toll free) from a land line. After 5 minutes or so of irritating your Korean friend by answering the operator's questions through him/her, you'll be able to fax in the docs you will have already prepared as a single copy, already ready to fax over from your office, local Kinko's, or very fancy computer/fax setup. Once the operator has it, you'll be good to go.
And for 15,000 a month to be connected to just about anywhere where there's civilization, that's a price that can't be beat. And the connection is standard at 11 Mbps, which is faster than most of your friends get on cable and DSL at home. Anyway, I depend on being able to use search engines, their image searches, and Wikipedia to get my work done. If you do too, you need to read up on some of my favorite little wireless hookup spots that I know throughout Seoul. You might already know them; but you also very well might not, on top of not knowing where you can get a cocktail or something to eat while you wireless the night away working. Anyone who'd like to add to this list, please do so in the comments and I'll add to the list as updates to this post.
Wireless Heaven
– Lotteria has got the sweet hookup when it comes to Nespot. I've never seen one that wasn't blasting out wireless power at the full four bars of the little wireless meter on my Mac. Four bars, baby. But – and there's always a big, fat "but" in life, isn't there? – they're outlet Nazis! They cover them over with serious duct tape and in all but two of the many Lotterias where I've dared to plug in, the employees went buck wild – BUCK – when I tried to plug in anyway. They were, rude, dude. Make sure your battery's got some serious crunk in its trunk, baby.
– Mickey D's are supposed to carry wireless, although that don't mean all of 'em, and they also generally don't have outlets lying open for you to use. But they are a pretty good marker that this is indeed "civilization" and that a Nespot signal will be streaming in from somewhere.
– TGI Friday's has the magic combination down. They are all official Nespot carriers, and they actually have outlets all over the place. In the Shinchon one, for example, they even have booths that have outlets and modem jacks leftover from the Ancient Times when people still were wetting themselves over being able to connect at 56K baud rates. And on top of that, you can order girlie cocktails and really get your creative juices flowing. Strawberry daiquiri, power jacks, and wireless access? It don't get no better than that.
– Starbucks either has them officially or they just happen to be around places that do. You can pretty much count on a signal in one, as you can in the States.
– Pretty much anywhere in downtown Seoul, or on a corner where there's lots of people and neon signs. Also, all of lower Myeongdong is basically a hotspot, because there are so many antennas overlapping that it's literally one big zone. Near corners where there's a lot of city action, sit near the windows and not above the 2nd or 3rd floor (if you're looking for random signals) and you should get something.
Where Wireless Doesn't Roam
– Outback. I now hate them, their food, and their lack of wireless. On the other hand, I got mad love for Krispy Kreme, but they gotta hook up the wireless down in Shinchon, although they got it in the Myeongdong outlet, but only because they're across from a Lotteria pumping wireless through half of the Lotte Department Store. I sometime wonder if their signals will cause cancer.
– Inside Seoul, there are some "dead zones" where the digital gospel hasn't quite shined its light of ever-connecting truth. In older parts of Seoul, especially along the #1 line, for example, there is just nothing. Last time I checked (last year), there was nothing even in Cheongnyangni Station, where there was a bank of computers for quick Internetting, yet nothing even resembling a signal, even right in front of the Lotteria. I was shocked and quite discombobulated. Actually, I'm quite shocked right now to see my spellchecker accept that "discombobulate" is actually a word; all my life I thought it was funny slang. Looking it up, it goes back to the 19th-century. Whoa.
– Outside of Seoul, I think you're gonna be having to hunt around, although it's been a couple years since I've been roving the streets of small towns looking for a wireless signal. Still, in some places, you might find something. On this, I am in the dark. Depending on how far wireless has penetrated the Outland outside Seoul, you may be, too. I'm sure it's hooked up in major cities, but I really wonder about when you go out the the East Sea for summer vacation. Anyone want to fill me in?
Some Links
– Here are a few links to some recommended Internet hotspots. They're just recommendations from sponsored vendors who've taken the time to actually register themselves. Don't take them as definitive or representative; I've found wireless in the most unexpected of places.
– Here's the brand new(!) English web page if you want to call and figure things out. Tip – you can't register for normal wireless through the English web page – they just provide some silly map to a counter in the Incheon International Airport (for those of you who will be here temporarily, definitely go over there and sign up, although I'm sure they're gonna gouge you a new eye socket) because I guess it's still common business practice to assume that all foreigners are not actually living here, but tourists on their ways to see Korea's amazing palaces and scenery. *AHEM* You still might want to call the normal main line with a Korean friend and just get signed up over the phone, like I did. All I needed was a copy of my passport, foreigner ID card, and bankbook. Faxed it over, got signed up.
Mac Users (and others, read this anyway)
– There's still some crazy people at Nespot who think that their system doesn't work with Macs. They be crazy – don't listen to them. They're just customer reps who just have the simple instructions that they can't install their special PC software on Macs; they don't have a Mac version. Well, because Macs are infinitely superior to PC's, they don't need any special software. Just tell the rep to shut up and register you (if they say anything) – "Yes, ma'am, I know it won't work with my Mac; just do it, please" – and when you choose the two types of login, you will use your MAC address (this has nothing to do with "Macintosh" but rather with "Media Access Control"). The MAC address is the unique identification number that every computer – Mac, PC, or whatever – uses with wireless. The system knows your number when you register with Nespot, so when you appear on a network somewhere, you get instantly connected. Doesn't matter whether you're a Mac, so don't take no smack!
