Wireless Thingies...

FML IT department... chiming in...

I can send you info on how to get a deal on a card, other than that... the dollars are up to you. Just get a 802.11g card, which should be backwards compatible to 802.11b. there's a lot of 802.11 specs, and more will evolve. Most will be cross-compatible, and that's all you need to know.

 

Most wireless cards (internal or external) will be "B" "G" or "A" or B&G or B/G/A. Keep this in mind.

YES, enable wireless an if you will be able to get online. If it is really a free hotspot (wireless internet area) you won't have to use any confusing password or login.

What are we talking about, laptops? For the business minded I'd go for a IBM T42, kinda pricey, but they are built to last. Or, Dude, you can get a Dell.

 

The amount of time you are gonna be spending here once you sort the technology out.

 

I thought it would have been the 373.988.HDu. Or at least the Y6TTT5ry3.98de<maxy card. Don't say I didn't try to warn you.

 

I love my wi fi.

Just buy a laptop with the latest--802.11g?--and be done with it. You'll love it.

 

shhhhhhhhhh Don't let him in on the secrets.




Just don't get too frustrated okay?
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Some hotels only have wireless internet in the "business center" some have it everywhere. If you don't have your card or it built in to your computer some hotels will let you use a wireless card during your stay.

Everywhere I have been my .g card has worked. Places like coffee shops, hotels, some bars.

in certain areas of the city I can pick up a network in my car. Since most places don't lock down their network you can get on the web in a lot of places these days. I'm on my neighbors right now since my wireless router keeps dying.

 

You have two routes as far as high speed wireless hardware (a.k.a. wi-fi, 802.11, hot spots)

You can buy a latop with wireless 802.11 built in, or you can buy a card that goes in your pc slot of your laptop that has 802.11 built in the card.
So two choices, built-in laptop or buy card and slide into laptop...

T-mobile offers wireless internet access nationwide for $29.99 a month. This service uses a system called GPRS. GPRS runs at the speed of dial-up. It is unlimited usage for that price

They offer HOT-SPOTS service for the same price. HOT-SPOTS is wi-fi (high speed) internet access in certain Hot Spots (like starbucks, or kinkos, etc.) It is unlimited usage for that price but you MUST BE IN A HOT SPOT area to use it.

GPRS can be used on any T-mobile tower in the country which is the advantage. Hot spots can only be used in that specific hot spot which is the disadvantage.....but GPRS is a lot slower then Hot Spots

If you did the t-mobile route, you would buy an aircard which is a wireless modem...Two models to chose from

Ericsson GC-79 which has Wi-fi and GPRS modem
Sierra Wireless AC-750 which only has GPRS, no wi-fi

A side note, most laptops have wireless wi-fi (or 802.11) built into them

Hope this helps, PM me your number if you want more info.

 

I've had it built-in for oh, 4+ years now. I love macs.

 

I'll give you a ring in a bit and give you the scoop.

 

Agreed, much easier said then writen.


Good luck to NNO as he steps into a new untethered universe.

 

Hey, you're welcome! What are friends for?

 

You will need to load software also, but the card will come with that. no monthly bill to pay...All your doing is going from a wired connection to a wireless connection. If you laptop works well for you and you like it, just buy the card. When you are somewhere else besides the office, it may or may not cost you. Some people let you use their access for free, some will charge you. Its the ACCESS that you are paying for.

BTW, the difference between the 802.11b and 802.11g is RANGE and the SPEED OF CONNECTION. It like the difference between a 900mhz cordless phone and a 2.4 gigahertz cordless phone. The 'g' will give you a farther range and be able to transfer data faster.

 

If you've already got a laptop you like, just buy the card. You often get a better antenna built into the laptops with it included, but it's not a big deal. 802.11b vs 802.11g isn't a big deal either; G is faster, and slightly better range, but 99% of the hotspots you come across will be B. And it's more than fast enough for Internet.

Buying airtime from hotspots is a bit of a pain - although slowly getting better. In a lot of cases there's "free" internet avaialble, look for SSID's like "LINKSYS" (the default for Linksys wireless routers). One of the MacDonalds gives out 20-40 minute wireless time with their meal, maybe you can find some of them around too. Although not sure I want to promote McD's for your eating habits!

don't stress about the terminology - SSID is the name the different wireless networks advertise themselves as - you'll get a list to select from in Windows. Some will be secured (can't get on without a bit of hacking effort - or a lot, depending), unsecured ones will likely be good, but not always.

I went with a cellular EDGE modem, which works great for email pretty well everywhere I am, but at $400 for the modem and $100/month isn't cheap up here in Canada. and the $0.05/Kilobyte roaming charges across the boarder is brutally expensive ($20/Fchat page, or thereabouts). EVDO's coming out for much faster cellular Internet, but slowly to deploy across the country.

 

Randy, ya forgot to tell Carb to wear one of these to improve reception:
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for the advanced wireless class - Pringle Cans (empty) are needed! Just up your street there Carbon.

 

I use sprint wireless web card with my laptop on the go for internet connection. It usually runs at about double the speed of dialup. It works everywhere sprint works.... which is pretty much anywhere i go. Unlimited access is $80 a month. When at home or a place with a wireless high speed connection I slide in the other card.


Terry

 

Given what was said by TMobile about GPRS, i've been wondering if it's possible to get a decent high speed browser connection in a handheld. or something only slightly larger. I'm using the latest gen blackberry and the browser is so slow as to be useless. From what i gather, the blackberry is not even set up to take advantage of wi-fi set ups, right? Is there any product that is relatively small and offers true highspeed wireless capability, other than, perhaps wireless at home, or at in a serious university setting where the infrastructure is there? What am I missing- sorry, Carbonie, just wanted to drill deeper on one aspect of the discussion. Thanks, all.

 

I wanted a sidekick b/c I thought it had wifi but I was told that it doesnt. Moto has a the a630(i think) but I don't know if it has wifi.

This is exactly what I am wanting too. I am in places all the time that I could use it but don't want to carry my laptop around.

 

Edge is good for email, but is too slow for browsing, even on an ultralight laptop - a handheld would likely be worse.

I haven't had first hand experience with EVDO yet, it's supposed to be substantially faster. We're starting to see cell-phones handle these technologies, but still early days.

 

I signed up for VOIP and now have my local phone with me wherever I go. As long as I can get WIFI or a broadband connection at the hotel I can make all my long distance calls just like local. It also cut my phone bill from about 180 a month to 20 bucks.

I am using Packet8 but Vonage seems to be the big player. The sound is just as good or better. Here is the site I signed up at:

http://www.telebay.com/solidgold

 

EVDO is the way to go. Offered by Verizon Wireless. It is true broadband speed that is not limited to certain SPOTS. It is only available in major markets currently but I am about 90% positive that it is offered where you are at. I am pretty sure that you can use EVDO access through a CDMA version of the Treo 6500 or Samsung 6600. Those are the two most popular handhelds I see being used with Verizon. Cost is about $80 bucks a month for unlimited access, but when you venture outside of major markets, your speed will drop because you will be using they're 1X system of data transfer.

 

thanks.