You can get around some of the captive portals by MAC-spoofing the stick of your choice through your laptop to authenticate (then switching back). It's a pain i

You can get around some of the captive portals by MAC-spoofing the stick of your choice through your laptop to authenticate (then switching back). It's a pain in the arse, but it works in a pinch. Ad-hoc will make most of that pain go away.