By Cheryl Currid

If you take your home office on the road, you know that the needs of your travel bag can change drastically depending on the hotel's communication facilities. If you don't know what's available, your travel bag could swell with extra cards, cables and power adapters.

But even when you get to the most well-equipped hotel, there's no promise that you will get constant communications capability. It is a good idea to check before you go, but alas, many hotel clerks don't know.

At worst, you will only have dial-up access, the oldest method and hardest to configure. Most hotels offer a basic phone with a data port for a dial-up connection. For this to work, however, you need a place to call to your own Internet service provider account and know the local number or a toll-free number. Frequently, you need to set up a different dialing profile for each city you visit. Take your own phone cable (with an RJ-11 connector) because few hotels keep enough for forgetful travelers.

Aside from the trouble of getting the right numbers and the right cable, there's another hassle factor. If you don't know a local number to make the Internet connection, get ready for sticker shock when you check out. If you use the hotel's long-distance service online for 30 to 45 minutes, expect charges from $40 to $100.

Some hotels offer high-speed Internet connections that let you use your Ethernet port to hook up. These services usually cost $10 a night, and sometimes you are provided with the proper cable.

While the extra $10 is an inconvenience, hooking up is much easier. Just plug in the cable and launch your browser. The system will take over, and your first screen will confirm the connection and remind you of the daily charge.

In most hotels that I've been to, this high-speed modem connection works well. It's easier than dial-up and, of course, the connection speed is much faster. One minor annoyance is that after a period of inactivity, the system will disconnect you. To reconnect, you need only to launch your browser again and confirm you still want the service. Beware of the billing times; some hotels bill from noon to noon.

The newest method for hotel connectivity is wireless. The hotel provides service to common areas, such as the lobby and restaurants, and sometimes to the rooms. Competitive hotels provide the service for free, while others require you pay hourly or join a service, such as T-Mobile.

If your portable computer is already set up for Wi-Fi wireless computing, this option may be easiest. If your notebook is running Windows XP, just power up your computer, and it will search for an available network. Launch your browser and you'll go directly to your home page. It's wonderful when it works.

Since Wi-Fi is a newer technology, not all computers are set up to look for a new network, and not all hotel networks are set up correctly. For example, last week I stayed in a hotel that offered free Wi-Fi service. Upon checking in, I found the connection was perfect.

But the next morning, there was no network. It took more than an hour to poke around with settings and finally get a connection. In fact, I'm not sure how I got back online.

Hence, the travel bag problem. If you don't know hotel communications services, take all the cables and cards you have to make any and every type of connection.

And with some hotel networks still new and not too stable, you might still be wise to take your fully loaded travel bag.