SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series
Wireless Networking
Wireless
Everywhere:
Taking Your Laptop With You
by Jeff Cohen
Sometimes
it really does seem like wireless is being offered everywhere.
If you know where to find so-called 'hotspots' (areas where
there is wireless internet access), you can take your laptop
for a little walk.
Public
Hotspots
When
you take your laptop and go searching for hotspots, the first
place to look is big public institutions. Libraries increasingly
offer wireless access and, if you're a student, the chances
are that your university campus is wireless-enabled, or will
be soon.
Private
Hotspots
The
real growth area in wireless hotspots, though, is in the
private sector. Businesses are falling over themselves to
provide free Internet access to their business customers
-- cafes, hotels and airports are all starting to offer wireless
access to anyone who happens to be around. All you need to
bring is a laptop with Centrino technology or a wireless
PCMCIA card.
But
how does it benefit cafes to offer wireless Internet access
for free? Well, think about it: instead of paying money to
sit in some dingy Internet cafe, you can use the Internet
for free in an otherwise normal cafe -- while still buying
food and drinks, of course. Cafes are willing to pay the
minimal cost of providing wireless Internet access in exchange
for the new customers it gets them, especially in areas where
Internet access is hard to come by any other way. The same
goes for hotels and airports: customers see wireless access
as a big value-add, and will vote with their feet for places
that provide it.
Finding
Hotspots
For
some reason, even though there are thousands of hotspots,
they don't get a lot of marketing. Doing a search for hotspots
in your town could really surprise you -- you might think
there aren't any, but if you live in a decently-sized place
then it'd be surprising at this point if there weren't.
There
are plenty of websites you can go to and find hotspots (try
a search for 'wireless hotspots'). The most comprehensive,
though, is generally thought to be at JiWire.com. You can
see information from JiWire at their website, or alternatively
by typing your postcode into Yahoo Maps and choosing 'WiFi
Hotspots' from the menu over on the right of the screen.
If
you can't be bothered with that, one tip is to just look
out for a Starbucks. The things are everywhere, and almost
all of them offer wireless Internet access in at least part
of the shop. Borders and Kinko's are also good places to
try. Failing that, just keep an eye out for a cafe -- it
can't hurt to ask, after all.
Your
Wireless ISP
You
might find, though, that some of the larger hotspot networks
with more convenient locations require you to pay a small
fee to a wireless ISP to use them. You can usually do this
by buying a prepaid card at the place where the access is
offered, though, so it isn't too much to worry about. If
you want to stay free, just stick to the small independent
places.
Hotspot
Software
Of
course, it's a little useless to have to look for hotspots
on the Internet, or go hunting for them on foot. It takes
time and energy to go walking around searching, and if you
had Internet access, well, why would you be looking for a
hotspot? The solution, then, is download and install hotspot
locator software on your computer.
Once
you have this software, you have a database of known hotspots
on your computer that you can search at any time, whether
you're online or offline. Just type in a postcode or the
name of the town where you are and the software will come
back with the nearest hotspots, sorted by distance from you.
Each time you do manage to get an Internet connection, the
software connects to its server and downloads the latest
hotspot list, to make sure that your database doesn't get
out of date.
Where
can you get hotspot locator software? Well, it's offered
for free from the hotspot providers' sites, for a start.
T-Mobile Hotspot is currently the largest provider, and offers
software for free download at http://www.tmobile.com/hotspot.
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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