IT Question

[caddyman]

Chaps,

There's a whole bunch of you out there who know these things, so I'd appreciate input.

What do I need to buy for my Laptop so that I can use wireless internet while I'm out and about? At home I don't have a wireless router or such, but I do have a very long cable down to the normal router, so intarweb access isn't a problem there.

Any idea of costs and such I should be looking out for?

Thanks.

Comments

[jfs.livejournal.com]

If your laptop is reasonably new, it might well have a wireless card already. If not, that's what you'll need.

It's possible to get a PC-MIA card for a laptop, which will work on pretty much any pooter that has the requisite slot.

What's your laptop model?

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

What's your laptop model?

Ah. Now you're asking. I won't know until I get home tonight. It is only 18 months old, though.

[irdm.livejournal.com]

Do you mean
- to access a known wireless router at (a) specific site(s)
- to surf at random places about the country

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

The second....

[romney.livejournal.com]

You can get a USB dongle to allow connection to a hotspot.

The one I have (virtually waves dongle in air) came with my wireless router and might not be generic enough to work with all networks, but then nothing will be.

Amazon and everywhere else sell the little fellas.

you can borrow my dongle (virtually waves again) to try out if you like. But I will have to find which box the actual dongle resideth in.

[romney.livejournal.com]

...but if you want to surf anywhere rather than at a hotspot, you will need either a 3G card with a sim in it, and a contract for the sim, or the electrical and financial mechanics that might turn your mobile fone into a 3G modem for the laptop.

Current 3G services are expensive but great fun as I can attest to, as my PDA fone thingy is so equipped and my O2 contract includes a data element that I can ill afford.

[romney.livejournal.com]

...and having peeked at lunchtime, John Lewis sell a good wireless laptop card for 30 quid.

[crazedgiggles.livejournal.com]

Consider the Airport Extreme: although an Apple based product, it also works with Wi-Fi capable Windows PCs.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

3G card: around £150 + £25 PCM for 70Mb
BT Openzone

Various WiFi Packages

Wireless Access

[barrettyman.livejournal.com]

Well you could go down the route of 3G modem via mobile phone link however I have found that using wireless hotspots is just as easy. It just means that you have to be in a town and one that has a cafe or some such with wifi access. I think most StarBucks (curse their eternal coffe black souls) now offer WiFi internet at reasonable prices. You then only pay when you actually use the internet when out and about rather than paying a monthly fee. The USB dongle will set you back about £25.