Hook up to a wireless hotspot
Everything you need to know about connecting to the Internet away from home
By Mara Gulens
If you've taken the plunge and installed a wireless home network, you've probably discovered the joys of connecting to the Internet from just about anywhere around the house. Out in the garden, propped up in bed, in front of the TV — your laptop goes wherever you go. The next step, already big with business travellers and students, involves moving beyond the borders of home to a "hotspot."
Hotspot is the cool term for public spaces equipped with wireless Internet access; in other words, a place where you can connect to the Internet with your own Wi-Fi, or wireless-equipped device, such as a notebook computer, without cables. Current locations worldwide include hotels, convention centres, airport departure lounges, golf clubs, libraries, coffee shops, restaurants and even trains.
In terms of family benefits, I'm already thinking forward to our next trip. Instead of having to surf for places to go and things to see before setting out (who has the time?), I'll simply do so from the comfort of a hotel room. Come to think of it, I'll even be able to find local restaurant reviews, and perhaps even e-mail home some "wish you were here" images.
Brad Fisher, general manager of Consumer Internet at Sympatico, envisions families extending the reach of what they do at home. "Wouldn't it be great when you're with the family in Walt Disney World to send pictures or videos of your kids with Mickey Mouse to their grandparents back home?" he asks.
Find hotspots around the world
The number of people connecting wirelessly is growing. "Communication [without wires] will just be a part of what comes with every computer," says Doug Cooper, country manager for Intel of Canada. "People want to be untethered."
The number of hotspots is also on the rise. Market research firm In-Stat/MDR estimates for-fee hotspots worldwide have grown to nearly 150,000.
Numerous websites (see below) offer identifiers that locate hotspots within half a kilometre of a specific address. They also provide pricing, with many hotspots charging as low as $5/hour to connect; often that payment limits the user to zones covered by a specific provider. In other words, if you pay to use a hotspot in coffee shop A, it won't necessarily entitle you to surf at coffee shop B.
Cooper says a recent roaming agreement by Canada's major cellphone carriers, which will allow for monthly fees and access anywhere, will be a big boost to overall hotspot usage. "I think we're right on the edge of seeing that have an impact," he says.
How to connect on the go
Is it easy to connect to a hotspot? Extremely. In a nutshell: if you can surf wirelessly at home, you can surf wirelessly anywhere.
Newer laptops already come equipped with wireless technology. Older laptops require a wireless access card, available at any computer store, which gets plugged into a slot on the side of the laptop. Here's what to do next:
- Arrive at a hotspot, power up your laptop and check to see whether you're getting a network signal. The signal indicator may be a green light on the wireless card or an icon on the bottom of the screen.
- Most operating systems will configure your wireless networking card automatically and a login screen will pop up to announce you have wireless access. Access could be free, but either way you will be required to input user information such as an e-mail address, password and method of payment — make sure the site uses 128-bit encryption. You are ready to start surfing.
- If your wireless networking card is not configured automatically, you can do the following: Click on Start > All Programs > Choose your wireless card utility > select the Configuration tab > Set mode to Infrastructure > Set SSID to the name of the hotspot you are frequenting, which you should be able to glean from someone on the premises. Once configured, launch your browser, log in, manage your account and connect to the Internet.
Set up your security options
In terms of security, it's important to remember "public hotspots, by their pure nature, are open," says Fisher. Users should make sure they take precautions, and have firewalls and antivirus protection "to stop other folks from getting in and seeing their files, accessing their private information and making changes to it."
Intel's Cooper is equally blunt: "Consumers need to understand that what they are sending over the Internet can always be viewed."
In addition to firewalls and antivirus software, notebook users frequenting hotspots should make sure they:
- Disablefile sharing: Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > click File sharing, Public folder sharing, Printer sharing and Media sharing to off.
- Encrypt any folders containing sensitive personal or financial information (locate folder > right-click for Properties > under the General tab click Advanced > enable Encrypt contents to secure data).
