I need some Laptop help.?

Question

Ok, I am thinking about getting a laptop for College in about a week. I am wondering about internet access. I am wondering about routers and i am thinking about wireless n routers, which i kno have the fastest speeds and longest range. But like is wi-fi free depending on where are you at? well i kno that there are places with free wi-fi. but how do i find wi-fi hotspots, are they like finding service on a cell phone. like i get great service in my bedroom but not in my living room for my cell phone. Would that be the same as if finding wi-fi for my laptop. If not, is there any cheap prices on high-speed internet service, like DSL?

Answer 1

basically for wifi on laptops as long as your laptop is wifi enabled u just pick u p the signal and connect as long as thier is one as far as bieng free u can get on most anywhere but sometimes other people are paying for the wifi and u can just connect to it the system administrator decides if he wants to make the wifi freely available its free at a librayr and places like that

Answer 2

Wi-fi is free depending on where you are at. But beware bluetooth and free wi-fi are WIDE OPEN standards so any hax0r n00b kid with a laptop and a couple freeware apps can sit and silently log every single unencrypted thing you do or say online then go home and replay your AIM chats and websites. Also know that lots of people set up fake ad-hoc networks to steal your info, and sitting outside Panera Bread at 3am surfing the web is ILLEGAL. So don't log into just any free wi-fi you find unless you're doing it on the right terms. end disclaimer.

Here are some of the best maps of access points:

http://www.wigle.net/

http://hotspotr.com/

http://www.anchorfree.com/

If you have a mobile phone with GPS you can subscribe to these services to get instant triangulated wi-fi hotspot maps wherever you are:

http://www.skyhookwireless.com/

http://www.navizon.com/

Hotspotr offers the best user reviews for free spots, but it's new and needs more data. Anything you add to the hotspotr database appears instantly, no waiting or screening process. Wififreespot and Jiwire mostly cater to pay-per-use sources like McDonalds and Starbucks and they're way out of date.

You can buy laptop access to the web with many mobile phone providers using a USB cable to connect your mobile phone and use it as a broadband modem. Or you can buy a broadband internet card directly for that same purpose. These give you high speed internet wherever you get a phone signal. You get the safest wireless connection and don't have to share the bandwidth with other people nearby.

If you live in a city that offers it, you can get Clearwire. It's a "Wi-Max" system where you carry a special modem wherever you go and it connects and gives you access. The access is spotty because it uses local broadcasting nodes which can be blocked by buildings or trees, but the network quality is improving. It offers higher speed than a mobile broadband card. Much safer than free wi-fi or public hotspots.

Or you could get a hotspot contract with T-Mobile or AT&T where you can connect wherever they offer hotspot access. Disadvantage to that is you have to go to a spot they have a contract with, which limits you to certain retail stores and coffee shops, all of which will kick you out at 10pm.. Even though you have to log into a web browser these aren't encrypted connections so they are not safe, your internet traffic is openly broadcasting.

T-Mobile is in the process of suing Starbucks for changing the terms so anyone can log in at a Starbucks using a SB gift card, so I think contracted paid hotspots are on the way out in favor of paying for use at the store level.

Hope that helped and not too much info