I just found out that the apartment is prewired by some local cable company, but internet access still has to be activated and paid by myself. I already contacted one of their sales reps, but of course a response will take a little time. The thing is, I probably will have to pay termination fees when I move out because I won't be staying there long enough.
I have been to the US a few times, and I know there's open Wi-Fi everywhere. But I wouldn't want to rely on it.
When you travel around on a road trip and your current motel happens to have no internet access (which they almost all have, even the shabby ones), it's no problem to simply check your email in the next motel you check into on the next night. Odds are high you don't run into "no-access" twice in a row.
But if you're tied to one place, I wouldn't want to drive by the next motel or friendly neighbor evertime I wanna read my emails.
Cheers,
Mac