(IDG) -- Formerly, no matter how fast your modem was, going online from a hotel room phone was inevitably slow and difficult -- if you could connect at all. But for some travelers, that's starting to change. Hotels and motels across the country are beginning to offer high-speed Internet access in at least some of their rooms.

Judging from our experience, you should seek out these establishments the next time you travel and want to browse the Web, collect e-mail, or access a corporate network that's reachable through standard dial-up Internet service. (You're out of luck, however, if your company's firewall prevents access from unauthorized IP numbers.)

While some inns are working on their own, a dozen hotels and motels are testing a new service called IPort, developed by San Diegobased ATCOM/Info. Still other hoteliers are equipping rooms with Windows 95 PCs as well as high-speed connections.

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Bring Your Own

IPort offers connections from guest or meeting rooms on a local area network connected to the Internet over a T1 (1.5 megabits per second) or other high-speed line. You must bring a PC, ethernet card, and cables. You also have to install Public Internet Port, a small, free Microsoft program available on ATCOM/Info's Web site or at the hotel. IPort connects at up to 50 times the speed of a 28.8-kilobits-per-second modem. Some hotels include the service in the basic room rate; most charge $5 to $10 per day.

For many hotels, high-speed Net access is not only a great selling point but a necessary upgrade. Standard hotel phone systems, designed to accommodate 5-minute calls, have experienced problems with guests going online for 30 minutes or more at a sitting. The system gets so jammed that other guests can't call out.

In an informal test of IPort service at the Hotel Vintage Park in Seattle, I hooked up an ethernet PC Card in my notebook to the IPort line on the desk, fired up a browser (any brand will do), and within moments was loading Web pages quickly -- some the instant I clicked.

Printers and PCs

Some hotels are working with local ISPs and offering extras. At the upscale Four Seasons in Austin, Texas, guests can print over the hotel network for the same fees charged for faxing. The hotel reports a brisk business in ethernet cards sold at the gift shop. The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City, California, equipped all rooms in its new executive wing with Windows 95 PCs as well as high-speed access--at no additional charge.

Several major chains and smaller independent hotels are considering similar offerings. But even if you know a hotel provides Internet access (see list at left), be sure to ask for this service when you make your reservation. Not every room at the inn may be Internet-ready. You may also want to check with your IS department about restrictions on outside access to the company network. But for most mobile workers, high-speed Internet access from the comfort of a hotel room should be as useful as it sounds.

Places to Go for Fast Net Access

All the hotels listed offer ethernet hookups in some or all rooms. Guests must supply their own notebook and ethernet card.

Austin, Texas: Four Seasons, 800/332-3442, $9 plus tax per day
Bellevue, Washington: Courtyard by Marriott, 800/321-2211, price to be announced; Hyatt, 800/233-1234, price to be announced
Foster City, California: Crowne Plaza Hotel (offers PCs in some rooms), 650/570-5700, free in executive wing
Hillsboro, Oregon: Hillsboro Candlewood, 800/946-6200, $5 per day
Kirkland, Washington: Woodmark Hotel, 800/822-3700, $9 per day
La Jolla, California: La Jolla Marriott, 800/228-9290, $10 per day
Redmond, Washington: Homestead Village, 800/782-9473, $5 per day
San Jose, California: Hyatt San Jose, (offers PCs in some rooms) 800/233-1234, $7 per day (charges only in rooms with PCs)
Seattle: Hotel Vintage Park, (offers PCs in some rooms) 800/624-4433, no extra charge; Marriott Sea-Tac Airport, 800/643-5479, price to be announced
Washington, D.C.: Summerfield Suites, 800/424-2999, price to be announced; Washington Marriott, 800/228-9290, $10 per day