Catshanghai

I have recently discovered how to get online via ChinaNet wireless access points, which you can see in coffeeshops throughout Shanghai.

People living in Shanghai with a China Telecom ADSL account can use this account to login to ChinaNet access points. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

1. Select the ChinaNet wireless access point in your wireless dropdown list.
2. Enter your account username and password.
   Your username is your China Telecom ADSL username with “@shtel.tyt” at the end. If your China Telecom ADSL username is “ad999999999 the access point username is “ad999999999@shtel.tyt”
   Your password is the same as your China Telecom ADSL password. You can see this on the card that was given to you when first setup your Internet access with China Telecom.
3. Enter the verify code, which is the captcha number under the VPN checkbox. In this case it is ’1355′.
4. Now you are online.

I have tried ChinaNet at Starbucks in Liyuan Lu and Huai Hai Lu. Liyuan Lu had fewer customers using wifi so the performance was much better than the busier central location. I was able to achieve download speeds of up to 260kbps, which is comparable with my Internet access at home.

Getting online this way is cheap, but not free. It costs 3.6 RMB each hour of online time, which is added to your monthly China Telecom bill. You also tend to see ChinaNet access points at overpriced coffee outlets such as Starbucks that should really know better and throw in free wifi after spending 30 RMB on a cup of coffee. There are plenty of free wifi hotspots throughout Shanghai. My favourite locations for free wifi are Sakura Do in Xinle Lu and Wagas at The Loft.

Hopefully the need to use Shanghai wireless access points will diminish as 3G devices and data plans start to become pervasive and cheap over the next year or so.