A trip through Wi-Fi wonderland

A few years ago, the simplest way of getting online while away from your home or office was to visit an Internet cafe. Internet providers such as Easy Everything did a booming trade in giving users web and email access, but modern times have called for a more flexible solution.

With notebook PCs experiencing significant price drops and wireless networking growing in popularity, Internet cafés are no longer essential for access when travelling. Today’s users demand web and email access on their own portables without the constraint of wires.

We’ve looked at the latest technologies in wireless networking and over the following pages we explain what hardware and software you’ll need to get wire-free web access while on the road. You’ll also find out the differences between wireless Internet Service Providers.

For our more adventurous readers, we’ll explain how to get wireless Internet access on trains, planes and even automobiles. If you run a small business or just fancy joining in at home, you can discover how to create your own wireless hotspot and share your wireless network safely.

And that’s not all. Read on to discover several other uses for wireless networks, such as making cheap phone calls, streaming audio and video between rooms and downloading and sharing music on the streets.

A brief history of wireless
Today, thousands of computer users enjoy wireless Internet access and the freedom of getting online when they’re on the move. According to analyst Gartner, an estimated 456,000 Britons used public wireless networks last year, with the UK said to host more than a quarter of Europe’s 4,100 hotspots.

A hotspot is an access point in a public location, such as a café or hotel, where you can wirelessly connect to the Internet at broadband speeds.

The first attempts to provide wirefree Internet access were via the humble mobile phone. Using an ordinary cellular handset with a built-in modem, users could dial an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and connect to the web at speeds roughly equivalent to a 14.4Kbits/sec modem.

General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) allowed faster connection speeds (equivalent to a 33.6Kbits/sec line) but still required a mobile phone to be linked to your notebook via a slow infra-red link or Bluetooth connection.

It could also be expensive. Although you only pay for the amount of data you download, visiting a Flash-heavy website that measures only 1MB in size could cost you over £1 on some tariffs.

In the mid-1990s, a new solution was developed to tackle the issues of speed, convenience and (in theory) value. The 802.11 networking standard was developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as an over-the-air interface between a wireless client and an access point.

In essence, it served as a high-speed link between PCs, without the need for unruly network cables. The IEEE 802.11 standard was later rebranded Wifi by what is now known as the Wifi Alliance, because the term ‘IEEE 802.11-compliant’ was a bit long-winded.

The term ‘Wifi’ meant nothing initially, but it sounded similar to ‘hifi’, which most people were familiar with. Later, the meaning ‘Wireless Fidelity’ was attached to Wifi as a more user-friendly way of saying a product was 802.11-compatible.

Jumping on the Wifi bandwagon
Early wireless networking could be difficult for anyone but computer experts to set up and connect to but, today, joining the ranks of Wifi Internet users is pretty easy. Most modern notebooks are shipped with some form of wireless network interface card (NIC).

Many are based on the popular Centrino platform. Developed by Intel, Centrino mobile technology gives notebooks compliance with a set standard that is 100 per cent compatible with 802.11 networks.

Centrino-powered notebooks are easily identified by the red and blue Centrino logo on the chassis, and use a combination of a Pentium M processor, the Intel 855 chipset and the Intel ProBG network card.

As the popularity of wireless networking has grown, so has the demand for devices with wireless networking capabilities. These days consumers are seeking products such as desktop PCs, PDAs and mobile phones with integrated wireless adapters.

Once you have the hardware, the next step is to find a location that has wireless Internet coverage. Wireless hotspots usually fall into one of two categories. The first type of hotspot is operated by a single Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) – usually a large telecoms company such as T-Mobile or BT.

These WISPs normally provide a chain of locations (such as Starbucks coffee shops) with wireless coverage. The second type of WISP is known as a neutral network operator.

These companies tend to have the widest range of locations, because they incorporate the services of multiple providers into their infrastructure. In other words, visiting a hotspot operated by a neutral network operator may give you the choice of connecting via a T-Mobile, BT Openzone or Surf & Sip hotspot in a single location.

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