An embodiment of the present invention is directed to an authorization and access control system for a venue or a geographic region comprising a plurality of venues. The authorization and access control system provides one or more computing devices selective access to one or more networks and/or services available in a network communications system by distributing a substantially unique string of characters (an "access code") to each user of a computing device. The access code can then be entered via an input device, such as a keyboard or its equivalent, of the computing device. This enables the computing device to gain access to one or more networks and/or services at a venue or in geographic region with the network communications system. Various embodiments are useful and may have several advantages in several venues, such as coffee shops, hotels, train stations, law offices, marinas, truck stops, fueling stations, restaurants, and stores, among others. Additional embodiments may be advantageous in a geographic region which may comprise a plurality of possible venues.