Wireless Internet - Wireless Internet Access

Homes, schools and businesses connect to the Internet today using a variety of different methods. One method, wireless Internet service, provides Internet access to customers without the need for underground copper, fiber or other forms of commercial network cabling.

Compared to more established wired services like DSL (digital subscriber line) and cable, wireless technology brings added convenience and mobility to computer networks.

Wireless Internet access is basically what it says "wireless." Wireless Internet access provides high-speed access to the World Wide Web without the use of a phone line. Much like a radio signal, data is transmitted to and from your computer via antennas.

Low-cost and easily-installed wireless access points have grown rapidly in popularity in the early 2000s. WAPs (wireless access points) offer a way to avoid the tangled messes of category 5 cable (an unshielded twisted pair cable type designed for high signal integrity) associated with typical ethernet networks. Wiring a business, home or school often requires stringing many cables through walls and ceilings. However, wireless networking offers the ability to reduce or eliminate entirely the stringing of cables. Wireless networks also allow users greater mobility, freeing individuals from the restrictions of using a computer cabled to the wall.

A person with a Wi-Fi (WIreless FIdelity—a trademark for the Wi-Fi Alliance® certification of wireless networks) enabled device such as a computer, cell phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) can connect to the Internet when in proximity of an access point. The region covered by one or several access points is called a hot spot or hot zone. Hot spots can range from a single room to many square miles of overlapping hot spots.

As more and more locations roll out wireless hot spots (zones of coverage for wireless networking), business travelers are seeing an increase of service provider choices. You can find hot spots almost as easily as you can find gas stations, ATMs and public phones.

Many businesses offer free wireless hot spots to draw you to their locations. The owners of these coffee shops, book stores, restaurants and bars hope you'll choose their location over a Wi-Fi-less location, and therefore offer the wireless hot spot for free to entice you in to make other purchases (coffee, books, meals, snacks cocktails, etc.). This philosophy of treating Wi-Fi as an amenity is no different than providing clean bathrooms or attractive decor in a restaurant or offering a high-quality gym or swimming pool at a hotel.

Another source of free Wi-Fi is the large number of community wireless networking. Several cities, including Seattle, New York and San Francisco are seeing incredible growth in wireless use by hobbyists and other community service groups.

Wireless home networks are getting faster and less expensive. Today, home computer networking users can take advantage of Residential Gateways that can link up to 10 computers and allow people to use wireless networks to access many functions simultaneously. Wireless home networks can access the Internet, check e-mail, access an intranet (private computer network) and print to a printer from anywhere.