How to connect to hotspot in USA while travelling

Hi all...I will be travelling to the USA soon and was wondering how I go about connecting to a wi-fi hotspot while there. I know where they are, but am unsure as to how I to connect once there. I use Vodacaom 3G for my local connection and use Win XP on my laptop...

Any help would be appreciated...thanks

Just activate the wireless network connection on the laptop (it is usually deactivated by default to save the battery) and see which wireless networks are detected. The official ones are usually named after the place where the access point is located eg. Starbucks.

Connect to that network as you would any other wireless network. After that, open your browser. If it is a free service, you will be able to surf as usual, otherwise a page wil pop up asking you for your login details which might include your credit card.

All the other publicly accessible Wi-Fi hotspots are configured to function more or less in the same way.

Update: Starbucks have partnered with T-Mobile for wireless Internet access, so you must connect to the Wi-Fi network named 'tmobile' when visiting one of their stores.