That is a question we hear often, but needs clarification before it can be answered. Does the person mean accessing the Internet from a cafe'? Do they mean using a wireless mouse? Or, do they mean wireless broadband?

In this segment we will review wireless as it relates to Internet cafe's and hotels.

Bring a notebook computer with a wireless card into an Internet café, turn the notebook on, make sure the wireless card is enabled and within moments you should see an icon asking if you want to connect to the wireless network.

Most communications between notebooks and Wi-Fi Hotspots are unencrypted. Meaning everything being sent from the notebook to the Internet connection can be seen by anyone using certain scanning software on their computer. If you want to read your email while sitting at a coffee house and you log into your web based email account, your user name and password are susceptible to being seen by many other people.

Having a firewall installed on the notebook can prevent people from accessing the notebook or data on the notebook, but it does not prevent the eavesdropping which can happen when using unencrypted Wi-Fi Hotspots.

Another type of wireless service is broadband. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint all offer broadband wireless access. Verizon advertises their typical speeds at 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps for downloads and typical speeds of 500-800 Kbps for uploads. Most notebooks require a special card to access a broadband wireless service. In addition to the wireless broadband card, a service account is required. This is similar to having a cell phone and needing a cellular provider.

Along with faster speeds, wireless broadband offers enhanced security as the data is encrypted. Monthly costs are usually between $50.00 and $80.00 per month for unlimited service.

Some of the new cell phones such as the Motorola Q and Treo 700's can allow the phone to act as a wireless broadband modem. In this case a cable would be used to connect the cell phone to the notebook. Wireless broadband access is required as with using a notebook card.