Practically everyone you know has an internet connection. People are no longer in awe of the internet. Computers are now common fixtures at homes, and not just in offices. People now prefer to use laptops instead of desktops both at home and at work because they take up less space and are portable. There has been a corresponding natural progression to using wireless internet connections (Wi-Fi). Wireless internet uses radio waves rather than wires to transmit data.

There are two elements of a wireless internet connection. Firstly you need a Local Area Network (LAN), an actual internet source that broadcasts the internet connection. A computer needs to be equipped with a wireless LAN card in order to connect with it.

Wireless internet is the perfect solution to our modern need to be connected at all times and everywhere. More and more businesses are beginning to use Wi-Fi. They prefer to do without Ethernet cables all over the office. Installing cables all over a building or an office is time consuming and messy. With wireless internet employees can move their laptops wherever they want and still be connected online.

Many homes have also shifted to using a wireless internet connection. It takes less than an hour to install and costs hardly anything. Family members can then move their laptops to any convenient spot in the house and still be connected. Sometimes neighbors may be able to access your connection, which is why it should be configured with password security. Any machine that cannot complete a ‘handshake’ with the LAN will not get wireless access.

There is no need to worry about internet safety as wireless networks today use security protocols such as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and an even more advanced Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2). This ensures that no one can eavesdrop on your internet activity.

In many parts of the world entire business districts and corporate buildings are Wi-Fi hot spots where anyone with the appropriate hardware can connect to the internet. Coffee shops and malls all over Europe and North America are Wi-Fi enabled. Many hotels have jumped on the bandwagon and are offering wireless internet as part of their services.

Most of the latest computers, cell phones and PDAs come with web browsers already installed. It makes more sense for you to adopt the latest wireless technology and make the most of it whether at office, at home or while travelling.

By: Rizvana Abdul

Have you ever asked yourself the question: How does wireless Internet work? In this article you could find out more about four ways to establish wireless connection to the Internet – Mobile wireless internet, WiFi internet service, Internet access using WiMAX solution and Satellite Internet wireless access. To explain how does wireless Internet work let’s find out what is wireless internet. Wireless access is a connection to the Internet without any cables. Between your computer and internet provider it is a wireless radio signal. There are four main examples to use this kind of connection:

1) Mobile wireless internet

Mobile network operators are offering you a voice calls, but in the same time you could use their mobile wireless internet service. All new mobile phones have the option to connect to the Internet. They also have an ability to use the WiFi access. When you are between your home wireless router or WiFi hotspot, the best is to use the WiFi technology. In the rest of the cases, you could connect to the Internet with mobile wireless internet connection. There are also Cellular wireless cards usually with USB or PCMCIA connectors which you connect to the appropriate port on your PC. Thanks to them you could surf on the web and check your emails. GSM and CDMA connects you to the speed of 9.6 kbps, GPRS have transfer rate of 114 kbps, EDGE up to 384 kbps. UMTS are allowing you speed of maximum 2Mbps and HSDPA maximum bandwidth is 42Mbps. To answer on a question how does wireless Internet work, we need to explain other ways which are allowing us to use the internet without cable.

2) WiFi internet service

For WiFi internet you need to use the Wi-Fi providers. The biggest problem with the WiFi it does not have as big range as mobile operators do. WiFi or wireless fidelity refers to the wireless networks that use IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards – 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. These standards are defining a wireless signals used for the connection between the wireless access point or wireless router and WiFi cards. WiFi technology is also called a WLAN or wireless local area network – Wireless LAN. This technology is the first what usually came up to my mind, when somebody asks me – how does wireless Internet work. Its quality, speed and features bring WiFi as the top of all ways to achieve internet without the cables.

3) Internet access using WiMAX solution

WiMAX forum has formed IEEE 802.16 standard called Wireless MAN. WiMAX technology or Wireless MAN has the bandwidth of 70 Mbps with maximum range of 112 kilometers or 70 miles. Wireless MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) covers a bigger range than WLAN (WiFi). WiMAX solution has two types of subscriber units: Indoor units and Outdoor units. Indoor units have a lower range than outdoor units. Outdoor units need a professional installation and they are much more expansive, but they are offering wider range. WiMAX technology is much more expansive than a WiFi and this is the reason why WiFi is much more widespread than WiMAX.

4) Satellite internet wireless access

With this technology we will cover the most popular internet connections without wires and by now you get the feeling of all these various technologies and you know how does wireless Internet work. Satellite is the perfect solution for remote and rural areas and it is the only way to achieve a broadband internet. Beside big expense, the big delay caused by huge range that this kind of signal needs to travel, is the biggest disadvantages of this solution.

By: Igor Bartolic

As the popularity of broadband has soared, so has the desire for faster download speeds, with consumer expectations ever increasing.

Although the speed of your connection is limited by your chosen broadband package and the distance from your home to your local telephone exchange, there are a number of measures you can take if you feel your broadband is underperforming.

Firstly, if it is simply your connections browsing speed you are unhappy with, then chances are you would see the benefit of using an alternative browser. If for instance, you are using Microsoft’s default IE, then consider switching to Mozilla’s Firefox.

Along the same lines, nearly all of the major browsers have settings that can be altered, which should help to speed up page loading times.

Background applications can have a dramatic effect on your connections speed. Such applications you may only use once, but from then on in open every time you start up your computer, adding to your bandwidth overhead. Not only do such applications slow down your connection, but they are likely to add to your monthly usage.

As well as keeping out unwanted traffic, firewalls are an excellent way to monitor which applications are using your connection. It’s important to note though, that an improperly configured firewall can actually add to your download delays.

Moving away from the software side of things and onto the more physical aspects of your connection and you will find there are a few things you can do here that should make a positive difference.

To begin with simply reducing the distance between your main socket (where the broadband enters your home) and your broadband router can dramatically increase your connection’s speed, with increases of up to 3Mbps possible.

Although a more costly option, upgrading your router may prove useful, especially if you are currently using out of date hardware, which may be faulty.

If you connect to the internet through a wireless connection, then the closer you are to the router the better. If there is no way to get closer then purchasing a larger antenna will boost the signal’s strength.

By: Liam Gerken

The wireless Internet revolution has nearly come full-circle. Wireless technology is quickly approaching the point where wires and cables will be completely superfluous for the delivery of data, the streaming of music and videos, and all manner of other services provided over the Internet. Though there is a great bounty of potential offered by the promise of a fully integrated wireless Internet system, there are several notable obstacles and drawbacks to the implementation of such a system.

Costs

The development of a fully integrated broadband wireless system will take years to construct and implement, at a considerably high cost. Costs associated with wireless Internet include research and development, manufacture of parts and accessories, constructing the transmission systems in outlying rural areas and gathering a staff to administer, beta test and secure such a system. As opposed to Internet service provided through cable and DSL, wireless Internet faces a huge obstacle in delivering service in inclement weather or in unstable atmospheric conditions.

Technology

The technology itself, though technically available on a small scale, needs significant development and testing to scale up the system for a medium to large city to put in place. The city of Minneapolis recently found itself ensnared in a massive boondoggle. A plan to offer free wireless Internet service throughout the city floundered in the planning stages after years of work and millions of dollars spent. The city of Minneapolis has nothing to show for their efforts, because the technology required to make such a system work cannot be slapped together on such a large scale. Beta testing alone should be confined and concentrated to a small, finite space such as a rural proving ground that can be quickly set up and taken down.

Security

One of the biggest concerns with wireless service is the security issues involved. Whereas cable and DSL provide a measure of security through direct transmission of data, wireless Internet broadcasts its signal for the consumption of all. Computers will download data off of this wireless signal, and upload data onto it. Any thief or hacker can easily intercept this signal in transmission and have full access to your data. Also, hackers can use the constant signal to hack into your system and steal data. While this is also a problem with current wired Internet service providers, a wireless system makes it so much easier for criminals to act.

Interference

Another concern with wireless Internet is that simple electronic devices can interfere with its operation. Imagine how a cell phone affects other electronic devices nearby, especially computer speakers. It is the same principle with wireless Internet service. The signal is at significant risk of interfering with other equipment near your computer, and vice versa.

Health Concerns

There are also significant health concerns with wireless Internet service. Much like the uncertainty of whether cell phones can cause certain types of cancer with repeated use, so to are there concerns with wireless Internet being broadcast 24 hours a day throughout cities all over the world.

By: Laura Williamson

Once deciding to purchase a Mobile Broadband Card for you laptop there are still several choices to be made. The first is: Which Carrier to get?

Since Sprint & Verizon are generally considered the leaders in this technology, we will limit the discussion to these two choices. As far as monthly pricing goes they are exactly the same, $59.99 a month. However, there is a very important distinction. Sprint offers truly Unlimited service for businesses and a 5GB limit for individuals, where Verizon has a 5GB limit per month for all customers. For the casual user this is plenty of data, but for a power user, Sprint clearly is the better choice here.

The other factor is coverage. Both carriers are going back and forth with their claims of “more coverage”. The best thing to do is check the coverage maps and see who has the most Rev A coverage in the areas you need service. Rev A is the fastest service currently available, so go with the carrier that covers you the best, but if it seems equal, Sprint would be the better choice since you do not have any usage restrictions.

Now that we have picked a carrier, it is time to decide which card to get. This involves several steps depending on what you plan to use the card for.

If using the card only in your current laptop, then determine what kind of slot your computer has. There are 3 types of slots now in use.

1) PCMCIA or Type ll Card Slot.

This slot is the size of a Credit Card and has been around for over 5 years. Most older laptops have this slot. The advantage of using this type of card is that it keeps most of the card inside the laptop, with just about an inch of the card sticking out. You can install this card once and just leave it in the laptop. As these are going away and being replaced by the smaller express slots, it is probably best to go with one of the options below unless you know you will be staying with the same computer for a few years.

2) ExpressCard Slot.

This is the newer type of card slot that is about half the width of the PCMCIA card. Most of the newer laptops will have this slot. Once again, the advantage here is that most of the card is inside the computer and you can just leave it there without risk of it getting bumped or loosing it. ExpressCards vary in price from $0 to $150 with a new agreement.

3) USB Card Slot.

Every modern computer has a USB slot. This is the main advantage of a USB Card – it will work with a new or old laptop, and even desktop computers. If you have an older laptop with a PCMCIA slot, but know you will be upgrading laptops in the next 6-18 months, then get a USB card so that you won’t limit your selection of a new laptop. The one slight downside to a USB card is that most of it is external to the computer, making it a bit more to keep track of when transporting your laptop. USB cards are usually priced from $0 to $100 with a new agreement.

Other factors to consider:

Mobile Routers.

If you want to use a Mobile Router to share your connection, currently you will want to stick with either the PCMCIA cards like the Novatel S720, with the Kyocera KR2 router. Almost all the USB and Express Cards are compatible with the CradlePoint line of routers.

GPS Functionality.

To take advantage of some neat and free GPS functions like finding the nearest restaurant, gas station, mapping your location, and even real time traffic updates, go with a Sierra Wireless Card from Sprint. The Sprint Connection Manager for these cards allows you to use this service at no extra charge.

By: Steve Sasman

Wireless Internet is an incredible way to keep in touch with friends and family, especially when you are living far apart from them. Now, when your sister has a baby halfway across the country, you can see all of the pictures for yourself within hours of the birth. Her husband or partner will likely post them on a social networking website like Facebook. Or maybe if the happy parent is one of the few people still holding out on joining such a website, the pictures will be shared through another site, such as PhotoBucket or Flickr. Even though one of you is in Seattle and the other is back home in Iowa, it will feel like you are living blocks away, able to share all of the simple moments in life without having to buy a plane ticket!

But wireless Internet is not just good for staying in touch with people that you still talk to on a regular basis. It is also a great way to find people that you haven’t seen in years! Everyone on occasion wonders what happened to their high school boyfriend, or how their roommate from freshman year of college is doing. Did he or she get married? Do they have good jobs, or are they working at the post office? Did they gain a bunch of weight? Did they start their own business? These are all questions that you can answer with just a little creative research, thanks to wireless Internet.

The first thing that you want to do is join a social networking site. This is the number one place where old friends can use wireless Internet to reconnect and maybe eventually even meet in real life. These days, everyone and their mother has Facebook, so that might be a good place to start. If you do not already have a profile, create one for yourself. Then start adding people. You might find that looking through the friends of other people is a good way to find familiar faces. Perhaps someone you are still in touch with from high school has been an active social networker for years now, and is already friends with everyone from your senior class. This is a great resource for you to use!

The one tricky thing about finding people via wireless Internet is sometimes people’s names have changed. Women who have changed their last names after getting married might be more difficult to hunt down, for example. (A hint: if this is your situation, and you want people to be able to find you easily, include your maiden name in any profile you might create. For example, if the last name you were born with is Anderson, but now you use your husband’s last name, which is Pazera, register your account under Tina Anderson Pazera). Other people choose to hide their accounts from view, because they are afraid of people gaining too much access to them via wireless Internet. In these situations, you might simply have to scan profile pictures and hope that no one has changed too much!

By: Jason Tandle

Wireless broadband is fast becoming the most popular way to connect to the internet. With most broadband providers now offering packages that include a free wireless router or one at discounted price, and most laptops now come with an integrated wireless receiver. This makes the ideal opportunity to take advantage of wireless broadband.

Wireless broadband works by your router sending a signal throughout your house and beyond; it doesn’t just stop at where your laptop is. With an indoor range of around 30-45 metres, this signal may be picked up by your neighbour too, allowing them to benefit from your broadband.

Someone else using your wireless broadband can be extremely dangerous in a sense that not only can that person access your broadband, that person can also;

o Slow down your internet performance

o View files on your computer and spread dangerous viruses

o Look at the websites you visit, read your emails and copy your usernames and passwords

o Send spam or perform illegal activities with your broadband connection

To prevent this only takes a few minutes, you can protect your wireless broadband connection the same way that banks protect your password when you log onto their websites. This method is called encryption; this is scrambled data on your wireless broadband network that only computers with an encryption key can read your communications.

To protect your wireless broadband network; follow these steps:

1. Login to the control panel of your router/wireless modem; details are usually found in the documentation supplied with your router/wireless modem.

2. Make sure a 128bit WEP Key is on your router.

3. Change the default username and password on your router immediately after you turn it on.

4. Close all ports on your router (if any are open).

5. Make sure the DMZ is inactive

6. If you can turn ping responses off on your router, do so

7. Change the SSID (router name) of your router to something you will recognise, but choose something that does not relate to you, your broadband provider or the manufacturer of the router.

To set up your PC/Laptop, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that the SSID (router name) is not the same as your PC/Laptops name.

2. Make sure your PC/Laptop has a secure password that contains numbers as well as letters. Make sure that it very difficult to guess your password

3. Do not store any personal information on your PC/Laptop like bank details, bills, credit card numbers etc.

Additional advice is to change your WEP Key once a month to disable potential threats gaining access to your broadband. This WEP Key can be configured automatically.

So make sure your secured and not given others access to free broadband.

By: Adair Cameron

If you have seen the Samsung Galaxy Tab, your initial reaction must be awe. You must be entranced with the sleek, slim, compact, and lightweight design. However, one of your concerns may be ways of connecting to the internet with this tablet. There are actually two ways to connect to the internet with the Tab. Here, you will find out more about the two ways to do so.

3G Internet Access

With 3G internet access, you can connect to the internet wherever you are. Depending if you have 3G coverage in your area, you can enjoy 5.76 mbps or uploads and 7.2 mbps of downloads. This simply means that you can enjoy more with broadband internet.

With this much internet speed, there are so many things that you can do on the go. Checking your emails will be easy to do. Web browsing will be possible wherever you go. You can make use of instant messaging services from wherever. Video conferencing will be easy. Video streaming will be seamless. Uploading your multimedia on your favorite social network will be instant. Lastly, downloading anything from the internet will be lightning fast. Internet access on the go with the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be sheer pleasure.

Wi-Fi Internet Access

There will be instances when you do not have 3G coverage in an area, or you might want to connect to the internet in another way. In these cases, there is another way to connect with this compact tablet. You can make use of a wireless network through the tablet’s Wi-Fi capabilities.

Setting this feature up is simple. If you have access to a home or office wireless network, you can easily connect to the internet. All you will need is the internet service provider and a wireless router. This will allow you to do anything from browsing, surfing, chatting, emailing, video streaming, downloading, and uploading via Wi-Fi.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab also allows you to access the internet via hot spots. These too are wireless networks. These hot spots can be found wherever you go. They can be found in the mall, cafés, restaurants, shops, and many more establishments. With these wireless networks offered, you are sure to gain another way to access the World Wide Web.

As you can see, there are two options you can make use of to access the web. You can use the device’s 3G or Wi-Fi capabilities. These are the 2 ways of connecting to the internet with the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

By: Sethe Gomez

A static society stuck on one way to acquire Internet connection is losing on the benefits of broadband wireless Internet. This form of Internet connection is constantly changing thus improving its services. Companies offer wireless Internet connections are in stiff competition and this is because Internet users know the best Internet providers and the best deals in the market.

A wireless connection improves in reliability, the prices for these services drop and signal strength improves. The main reason to get broadband wireless Internet connection is that the services improve with time. After a year, the service provider will have new improved products for the customers and potential clients. Businesses expand with good clientele and this means that the services are first class.

Wireless Broadband Internet is a high speed connection. The Internet is full of websites that run online TV, movies, games and radio stations that play music. Navigation through the site is not the only thing Internet users do when people go online per user of Skype and other online chats that are in real time. This amount of data needs at high speed to watch movies, play online games with opponents around the world and chat with family and friends over the Internet. The Internet is inexpensive and reliable, because many people can use simultaneously. An office is the best place for the wireless connection because many people are on the network and everyone is using Internet for various tasks.

Wireless Broadband Internet is reliable and has strong signals. When the conference with clients or business partners abroad, is very important to use a reliable Internet service is not disconnected in the middle of a meeting. This means that audio and video components have to be very clear. Sending emails to friends and family are some of the most important things in today’s society, because it is a cheap and quick to communicate.

Wireless broadband Internet can be accessed from any location. There are Internet service providers that create accounts for clients where clients pay a certain amount of money to use wireless Internet at home, on the move, at the park or while eating lunch with friends. The only device that is used to pick up the signal is a modem that is plugged into a portable computer.

A good reason for using broadband wireless Internet connection is that it will increase the productivity of the company because of its reliability and speed. This will in turn create a lot of time for a person to be a good spouse and parent at home and even go for vacation once in a while.

By: Brian W Lakeman

The greatest difference between your wired internet connection and the wireless internet connection is just that – the wires. The wired connection uses a router or network cards (which are usually built into your computer) and the wires which connect your computer to the router. On the contrary, wireless internet does not have so many connection hassles. The only components you need are your computer and a router. How does the wireless internet work? Well, your Wi-Fi internet provider would have towers in the vicinity which are designed to receive radio signals from the provider. The antenna in your computer receives the signal from the tower. So when your computer successfully receives the radio signal transmitted by the nearest tower, you are connected to the Internet.

Commercial enterprises in their struggle to offer better services to their customers have set up wireless internet hubs in certain areas. In many cases, such services are offered free by the business owners to lure more customers. As mentioned above, the wireless internet services provider uses radio signals over long distances to get the end user connected to the Internet. However, since the radius of the radio signal is limited, it becomes weaker as you move further away from the tower. Therefore it is necessary that the user be in a specific area to enjoy seamless connectivity. If you move out of the range of the tower, you will be disconnected. For a service that promises internet connectivity on-the-go, this is a minor disadvantage. This may well be the reason that the wireless internet service has not been able to completely outrun the wired connection market.

One of the major advantages of wireless internet is that they supposedly offer more reliability than the wired connections. The service provider gains because they do not have to incur any expenditure on cables or for any satellite transmission. On the other hand, there are some concerns regarding the effect of the radiation on the health of the users. It is said that wireless internet emits three times the radiation emitted by a mobile phone. So, it is deemed to be a health hazard though such studies are not yet confirmed. The other advantage is the compatibility of various devices which can use a Wi-Fi connection. People who have a cell phone or PDA equipped with a web browser can easily connect to the internet wherever the Wi-Fi services are offered.

Since cell phones are now fully equipped to make the lives of their users easier, they can do almost anything that a personal computer can. Operating systems are now available in the cell phones making them equally capable for communication and computing needs. In effect, what the wireless internet promises to do in the near future is offering us 24×7 connectivity without any of the usual hassles. If you list the breakthrough developments in the field of science and technology, I think wireless internet can be termed as one of them. Considering the convenience and simplicity it offers, it will play a major role in redefining the way we live our lives on this planet.

Now there are claims of an even better solution for seamless connectivity and it is called cellular internet. Earlier cellular internet was not fast enough to really be called as a viable option. But now with ever advancing technology, cellular internet has grown by leaps and bounds. It has the potential to give the wired internet connection services a run for its money. So, is wireless internet really better than your wired internet connection? Yes, it certainly seems so.

By: Reed Vallejera