Jim's Techie Tour of Las Vegas Or, how good are these free wifi hotspots?

Well, I had grand plans for this so-called Techie Tour to see and evaluate the various wifi hotspots in the Las Vegas area, but those plans were quickly shelved by the realization of several things once I was there:

1. It's hard to get around town on the busses, especially on weekends.  There are too many tourists and not enough busses to handle them all during peak times of the day.  I felt like a sardine many times having to pack it in on busses with standing-room-only that too often were erratic in their arrival times at each stop.  I'd frequently wait 15 to 20 minutes with a crowd at the stop and then 2 or sometimes 3 busses would show up at one time.  Then we'd have to hope that there wasn't a crowd at the next stop.
2. It was too hot during most of the days to spend too much time outside.  You'd think 100+ degrees of dry heat is great, but add to that all the bus and car exhaust fumes and the large crowds and you'll change your mind quickly!
3. There were at least a dozen wifi hotspots or internet connections advertised for free or some cheap rate at many of the small businesses along the northern end of the strip, but I wouldn't think of connecting at any of them and risk having a password stolen, or worse.   If you're a techie like me and need a connection while there, pick a hotel that offers wired or wireless in-room access as one of the amenities.  No hotel has it for free, to my knowledge, so be prepared to pay $10 to $12 per day to get your email.