From The Tips Box: Hotel Wi-Fi, Bike Locks, Readability Syncing And More

Readers offer their best tips for getting good Wi-Fi at a hotel, hanging on to your bike lock key, and discovering new music the free and legal way.

Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favourites. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or send it using the contact tab on the right.

Get Good Wi-Fi in Any Hotel Room

Geoff shares a few tips for internet-addicted hotel guests:

I like staying in nicer hotels when travelling but that often means they want you to pay for Wi-Fi. Most modern hotels, however, offer free wired internet with ethernet ports in the room. I simply bring my old router with me and create my own network.

If you do have Wi-Fi, I have another trick for making sure you get good reception. I recently stayed in a hotel with free Wi-Fi but it was not working so I eventually asked to be moved to another room. All of the rooms were the same but they moved us to the top floor. The upkeep on the room was phenomenally better. It was labelled as the preferred guests level. Next time I check in I’m going to ask for the upper floors every time.

The Apple Airport Express is the perfect compact router for travelling and using in situations like these. Photo by Alan Light.

Hang On to Your Bike Lock’s Key with a Binder Clip

Stephan shares an easy way to hold your bike key while riding:

Here is another idea for a binder clip. I had the idea many years ago and find it very useful to this day: A binder clip as bike clip and a key holder for the bike lock. After all, you need both a place to store your key and a tool for keeping your pant leg out of the bike chain — why not make them the same thing?

Fix Readability Syncing Issues by Re-Downloading Articles

Jeff shares a tip for Readability users that notice discrepancies between multiple devices:

I’ve been using Readability to save articles for later reading, but I’ve noticed something weird. Sometimes, my iPad will have a different list of articles than my iPhone, which is different from the web interface (some articles that I’ve archived, for example, will still show up in my queue, or some articles are just undeletable). I’m not sure if it’s a bug or something I’m doing wrong with my devices, but I found a simple fix.

All you need to do is go to the web interface and make sure it has all your articles in the correct places. Then, go to the readability app on your phone or tablet, tap the Settings button, and go to Re-Download Articles. It’ll clear your cache and re-download everything. When it’s done, all your articles should be in the correct place!

Carry Moist Wipes to Avoid Toilet Paper Emergencies

MsCassLopez shares a tip for one of life’s most annoying situations:

I’m sure more than a few of us have found ourselves in public restrooms without toilet paper just when we need it the most!

You can keep a couple of moist makeup remover towelettes in your bag for these emergencies (guys, borrow a couple from your girlfriend). Be careful not to use similar medicated wipes which contain alcohol or you’ll end up being Johnny Cashed.

I see no reason why baby wipes and other similar tools can’t work just as well — after all, that’s what they’re meant for. Moreso than makeup remover, at least. But if you are female and already have them with you, I imagine this could come in handy.