Using Mobile Wireless Internet
When people talk about mobile wireless internet they are talking about wireless internet connections with their laptops. There are two ways to get mobile wireless internet. The first way to get mobile wireless internet is through a cellular connection like the one you get with your cellular phone. The second way to get mobile wireless internet is by utilizing the growing public wi-fi system that is developing in the United States. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and we will take a look at both forms of mobile wireless internet here in this discussion.
Cellular
Long before there was public wi-fi there was cellular connections to the internet for your laptop. This was the only type of mobile wireless internet that existed for years and for what it did it was very effective. Today the various cellular phone companies are offering special cards that you put into the expansion slots on your computer in lieu of connecting your actual cell phone to your laptop which is the way it used to be done. There are some good and bad things about cellular connections.
A good thing is that theoretically you should be able to connect your laptop to a cellular connection anywhere you can use your cell phone. It is theoretically because sometimes you cannot get a strong enough signal to stay on the internet where you can still get cellular phone reception. A bad thing is the quality of the signal. As you know from using your cellular phone that cellular connections are not reliable and tend to fade in and out. This can get pretty frustrating when you are downloading, or uploading, something and it is this volatility that limits the range of a cellular connection.
Wi-Fi
Wi-fi is the fastest growing form of mobile wireless internet access and it is looking like wi-fi will be the way you connect your laptop to the internet in the not too distant future. Some major cities in the United States are already wired completely for wi-fi and the rest of the country needs to catch up. The plan, or at least the grand plan, is to offer wi-fi anywhere in the United States even in areas you cannot get cellular reception in. It seems like a pipe dream but if it could happen it would be nice.
Wi-fi is a public access internet connection that you will find in an airport or restaurant that allows you to connect to the internet without cables or need of a cell phone. You can sign up for a wi-fi service through a carrier like AT&T and that can save you a lot of money if you are always going to be around AT&T wi-fi. If you are near anyone else's wi-fi then you will need to pay an hourly fee. That is the drawback to wi-fi, it is too new to be really effective right now. Too many corporations are fighting to control wi-fi and that makes for a mess right now. But if they ever straighten it out then wi-fi will change the world.
