What Is Wifi , What Are Wifi Hotspots & What Can They Do For Me?

Wifi is an internet technology which allows you to access the internet within a local area without the need to physically connect your computer to a computer network, instead a wireless broadband signal is sent around the local area allowing computer users to connect to the internet in that area wirelessly. In case you were wondering Wifi stands for Wireless Fidelity and Wifi hotspots are public areas where you can access one of these wireless broadband signals. Public places where you can find Wifi hotspots these days are hotels, airports, restaurants, cafes, bars and railway stations. All this means you can travel around pretty much anywhere in the world and find Wifi hotspots from which you can wirelessly and easily access the internet, meaning you can keep up to date with your emails, surf the internet and do all the other useful things you do on the internet whilst on your travels. This technology is particularly good for business users who can gain extra work time by squeezing in internet time at various Wifi hotspots.

What Do I Need To Use My Computer In A Wifi Hotspot?

Well first of all you will need a wirelesss LAN network card installed in your laptop. This can be bought in your local computer store or in an online computer store and is not very expensive to buy. The other thing you will need is an account with a Wifi internet access provider so that you can connect to the net when in a Wifi hotspot. One thing to note is that there are several different Wifi internet access providers and that not all Wifi hotspots can be accessed by all the different Wifi internet access provider´s networks. This means that if you want to have maximum choice of Wifi hotspots to use, then it is a good idea to sign up with more than one Wifi internet access provider. The other thing you need to know is that most Wifi service providers charge you an hourly fee for using their service. These charges can add up, so if you are a regular or heavy user then it might work out cheaper for you to sign up for a monthly service plan which some providers offer and this could save you a lot of money as you will be paying a fixed monthly fee regardless of the amount of time you access the internet through Wifi hotspots.

What Is Wifi

What Is Wifi , What Are Wifi Hotspots & What Can They Do For Me?

Wifi is an internet technology which allows you to access the internet within a local area without the need to physically connect your computer to a computer network, instead a wireless broadband signal is sent around the local area allowing computer users to connect to the internet in that area wirelessly. In case you were wondering Wifi stands for Wireless Fidelity and Wifi hotspots are public areas where you can access one of these wireless broadband signals. Public places where you can find Wifi hotspots these days are hotels, airports, restaurants, cafes, bars and railway stations. All this means you can travel around pretty much anywhere in the world and find Wifi hotspots from which you can wirelessly and easily access the internet, meaning you can keep up to date with your emails, surf the internet and do all the other useful things you do on the internet whilst on your travels. This technology is particularly good for business users who can gain extra work time by squeezing in internet time at various Wifi hotspots.

What Do I Need To Use My Computer In A Wifi Hotspot?

Well first of all you will need a wirelesss LAN network card installed in your laptop. This can be bought in your local computer store or in an online computer store and is not very expensive to buy. The other thing you will need is an account with a Wifi internet access provider so that you can connect to the net when in a Wifi hotspot. One thing to note is that there are several different Wifi internet access providers and that not all Wifi hotspots can be accessed by all the different Wifi internet access provider´s networks. This means that if you want to have maximum choice of Wifi hotspots to use, then it is a good idea to sign up with more than one Wifi internet access provider. The other thing you need to know is that most Wifi service providers charge you an hourly fee for using their service. These charges can add up, so if you are a regular or heavy user then it might work out cheaper for you to sign up for a monthly service plan which some providers offer and this could save you a lot of money as you will be paying a fixed monthly fee regardless of the amount of time you access the internet through Wifi hotspots.

About The Author
Jose Miguel Poza runs a website about broadband & broadband service providers with many reviews of UK and US broadband services, a guide to broadband technology and links to cool broadband content. You can check it out at www.broadbandassistant.com

Wireless / Networking.2

How to connect a PC running windows Vista to a wireless network?

This article is on how to connect to a wireless network in Windows Vista.You can connect your PC, running Windows vista as OS, to a home wireless network or a public network very easily.Infact this has been made much easier in vista, than in window XP.

Moreover, Windows Vista can even detect a non-broadcasting wireless network (hidden SSID), thereby enabling you to configure it as a preferred network. This is a new feature in Windows vista that Windows XP lacks.

How to connect a PC running windows Vista to a wireless network?

First, make sure that you have a wireless adapter and a driver installed on your computer.Otherwise do ensure that you set up an adapter and the appropriate driver(driver for connecting to the wireless network).

Then go to the Start menu and click on "Connect To"

A network window will pop up that will show all the available connections, like dial-up, VPN and wireless.Choose the wireless connection and click the Connect button.



If the network you try to connect is a security-enabled network, that requires authentication,then:

the connection will happen automatically,if the network key is automatically provided by your network or system administrator (i.e.,if the network supports IEEE 802.1x)

Else you need to edit the network key, before you can connect.The key can either be a WEP or a WPA or a WPA2 encryption key.

The connection will show up as connected,once you are actually connected to the wireless network.



You may see and modify the connection settings of the wireless network by right clicking on the connected wireless network and choosing "Properties".



You may even set up the network as the default wireless network.

Thanks Indyankk