The other day I was thinking how far hotels have come in providing Internet access for travelers.

Wasn't all that long ago that you would find hotels that were so freaked out their guests would steal the phone itself that they bolted the instrument to the wall. Unfortunately, that precluded easy compatibility with the laptop computers of the time. Anyone remember acoustic couplers?

Then, in the late 1990s, it was rare to find a hotel that didn't at least let you run a cord from the back of your laptop to the back of the phone. Whether or not your laptop's dialing software was compatible with the hotel's PBX was a matter of doubt.

That lasted a couple of years. Soon, by the turn of the millennium, hotels started to offer second lines for data. In most cases, that meant you could talk and be online at the same time. The only bummer: in most cases, speed was limited to dial-up.

Just two or three years ago, hotels that offered guests in-room high-speed Internet access were still somewhat of a novelty. Those properties that did provided such services offered it by means of an Ethernet cable that a guest could plug in to their own laptop computer, or a keyboard guests could use to control a basic-featured broadband Internet browser on the in-room television.

While in-room high speed wired Internet access is still growing, a relatively new feature has been coming to guest facilities in the last year or so: wireless high-speed broadband. I am talking about Wi-FI throughout the property, not just in the lobby, business center, or in-house restaurant but down to the farthest reaches of each hallway.

Most often, these services are offered for free. Although hotels have to pay wireless Internet companies for these services, they eat the cost to guests. After all, the type of guest who would use this amenity is likely to be tech savvy, a decision-maker. These are folks who, if pleased, would book you again - and recommend that their colleagues and peers do the same.

The growth of high-speed broadband has coincided with the rapid expansion of Wi-FI (Wireless Fidelity), a technology that allows laptop computers and other mobile devices equipped with an appropriate card to access the Internet directly over the air.

The widespread availability of these services in high-volume traffic locations such as airports, coffee shops and bookstores has convinced computer makers to offer laptops with the built-in ability to access the Internet via wireless broadband. So, with plenty of conditioning and marketing about the convenience of this technology, business travelers have been asking hotels if they provide the service.

Hoteliers report installation is inexpensive and with the use of wireless Access Points to relay wireless signals, the technology relatively easy to enable throughout the property. Plus, if a guest requests Wi-Fi, they are already likely to use the technology - making detailed training of front-desk personnel in Wi-Fi unnecessary.

Hundreds of properties are offering the service. In the next year or two, expect thousands.