What is Wi-Fi? How do I use it?
David E. Damouth www.damouth.com
updated: 11 March, 2006
(A work in progress - suggestions and corrections welcome.)
WiFi is the commonly used name for a wireless communications method and a set of products which allows computers to talk to each other or to a central control box called an "Access Point" or "hotspot", without wires, at high speeds. This Access Point is in turn connected to the Internet via cable, high speed telephone line, etc. Many new laptop computers have this capability built in. For older computers, WiFi transceivers are available to plug into a PC card slot of a laptop computer, a USB connector, or for internal installation in a desktop computer. If you have one of these "Wireless LAN Adapters", and you are within a few hundred feet of a hotspot, (and if the owner of the hotspot has given you permission to connect) your software can automatically connect you to the Internet. A more detailed and relatively non-technical description of WiFi and related topics can be found at "How Things Work". For some practical detail about setting up a WiFi network, see http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1428. To ask questions and otherwise keep up with the WiFi community, send a blank EMail to InternetByWiFi-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InternetByWiFi/> to join the InternetByWiFi forum/Email group.
WiFi may be the best choice for
interconnecting
among your own computers in an RV. It could, for example,
connect
the navigation laptop in a tow vehicle with the main desktop computer
back in the trailer. And a WiFi-equipped laptop, carried to
the
telephone hookup in the RV Park Office, can then also provide Internet
connectivity to the desktop computer back in the RV. The
simple,
inexpensive, WiFi adapters for laptops have built-in omnidirectional
antennas and are intended for communicating over relatively
short
distances - up to about 300 feet outdoors and perhaps 50 feet in a
building with multiple walls between transmitter and
receiver.
More expensive adapters may achieve greater distances by using higher
power and/or external directional antennas. An RV park system
can
work over larger distances by using carefully placed outdoor antennas,
and sometimes by using multiple access points carefully located around
a larger park.
Thousands of WiFi hotspots are available around the country. Some are free, and some have access controls which require paying a fee. Starbucks, for example, is installing hotspots in many of their locations. Hotels, airports, and even McDonald's Restaurants are installing this capability. In a few locations, free hotspots are installed as a public service - in a city park or library for example. RV Parks are beginning to install hotspots, with a few available now and many more appearing soon. Price varies widely, from free to $10.00 per day, with lower weekly or monthly rates. Many of these hotspots are installed by national companies, with whom you can establish an account giving you access to all of their hotspots throughout the country (but generally not access to any of their competitor's hotspots!)
A Wireless LAN adapter for a laptop currently costs $45 to $75 (sometimes much less if you happen upon a special sale), and is available from any local or Interent computer store, and often at the office of RV Parks and truck stops which provide WiFi hotspots. The first generation of products were designed to the IEEE 802.11b standard and operated at up to 11 Mb/s. Although still widely offered, these have significant disadvantages and should be considered obsolete. Products using a newer standard, IEEE 802.11g, are now widely available, operate at up to 54 Mb/s, and have much better security. All of these new 802.11g products will also work with the the older standard (although at the lower speed of the old standard), adapting automatically to whichever type is detected. Note that data rates in typical use are much lower than these advertised rates. A typical 802.11b network may run at about 5 Mb/s in good conditions, and much slower if distances are long and signals are weak. Actual connection speeds to the Internet also depend on the type of communications link between the hotspot and the Internet, and can be much lower, particularly if there are many simultaneous users..
I've run across several lists of WiFi hotspots around the country. None are particularly complete, and I'm still looking for something better. Most of these do not show price or other details about the individual sites, but some have links to individual vendor's sites with more information.
--- http://hotspots.wirelesstrips.com/ Unlike most of the sites below, this one lists only RV-friendly WiFi locations, currently mostly campgrounds and truck stops. It has a nice interface - click on a national map to see sites within a specified radius from that location, then zoom or pan the map to fine-tune the location.
--- http://rvtravel.com/publish/RVwifiloc.shtml This is Chuck Woodbury's list of RV Parks with WiFi, organized by state. It's far from complete, but still useful.
--- http://www.jiwire.com/hotspot-hot-spot-directory-browse-by-country.htm
This convenient site allows searching by any combination of
city,
state, ZIP code, type of location (such as RV Park), cost, commercial
provider, etc. In most cases there is a link to the pricing
plans
for commercial providers. Quite a few free sites from
independent
providers are included, but the coverage of free sites is not
comprehensive. It lists 38 free sites within 20 miles of
Golden, CO.
--- http://www.linkspot.com/portal/common/enabledparks.html A listing of about 70 RV Parks which have, or soon will have, hotspots installed by LinkSpot. Prices are:
$2.95 per hour
$5.95 per day
$25.00 per week
$35.00 per month
--- http://www.surfthing.com/surfthing.html SurfThing has 60 free locations in Minnesota and South Dakota. This system is supported by advertising - be ready for a deluge of ads when you log in.
--- http://www.tonservices.com/hisp_home.htm Flying J Travel Plazas has hotspots at 160 of its own Travel Plazas and 125 other major truck stops. This website has a list of locations and instructions for use. Subscribing can be done (with a credit card) when you first log in. They claim that the wireless signal covers the entire interior of the Plaza and the entire parking lot, except perhaps in the "shadow" of big trucks.
Current rates:
| 24 Hours | $4.95 |
| Monthly Billing (cancel anytime) | $19.95 |
| 31 Days | $24.95 |
| 365 Days (Best Value) | $199.95 |
--- http://www.wififreespot.com/ A listing of free hotspots, organized by state. Many of these are hotels where you can only use the service if you are a guest of the hotel. A specific listing of RV Parks is offered, but is not complete
--- http://www.wifinder.com/
Search by city/state/ZIP for 13,0006 "public-access" hotspots
worldwide, 6000 in North America. Most (all?) of the sites
are
commercial. Many have limited access, such as hotel sites
accessible only to hotel guests. There is an option to search
for
free sites. Both the free and for-pay site listings are more
limited than some of the other links in this list.
--- http//www.80211hotspots.com/
This URL redirects to http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/
(see below).
--- http://www.ezgoal.com/hotspots/house/ This can be searched by type of location, but not address. Clicking for a "residence" search turns up a list of mostly free community sites.. Links to the various providers are here, so you can check for cost and other information.
--- http://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot/ T-Mobile is the largest commercial WiFi operator, with hotspots at most Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, many airports, at their own cellular telephone stores, etc. If you simply connect at one of their hotspots, you'll pay $.10/minute, with a $6.00 per login minimum charge. They offer several other plans, including unlimited use for $29.95/month (with a one-year commitment).
--- http://www.hotspot-locations.com/modules.php?name=HotSpots This site lists both free and commercial sites worldwide and can be searched by location and type of service. Like all the lists, it is very far from complete - but it's easy to use and worth checking to see what's in your area.
--- http://www.nodedb.com/
This
site seems awkward to navigate, but has listings of free community
wireless sites. For example, there are 103 free
hotspots in
the Atlanta area, loosely organized via a website.
--- http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/ United States only, searchable by city or state.
--- http://www.wifi411.com/index.php
Search 34,100 listings world wide, by country, state,
city. Easy to use, and can be queried for free spots
only;
Does not list costs, but has links to the commercial
providers.
Listed 19 free sites within 20 miles of Golden, CO.
---
http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/
A convenient search capability, but seems to list only the major
commercial WiFi networks.
--- http://www.hotspothaven.com/ In addition to the usual search capabilities, this one will search for free hotspots by city or ZIP code. Seems to have mostly the large chain locations and very few independent operators, and does not include as many sites in my area as some of the other lists. (Found no free hotspots in a search of ZIP 80401)