Be sure it's Wi-Fi CERTIFIED

You only have the freedom to be connected anywhere if your computer is configured with a Wi-Fi CERTIFIED radio (a PC Card or similar device). Wi-Fi certification means that you will be able to connect anywhere there are other compatible Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products — whether you are at home, the office or corporate campus, or in airports, hotels, coffee shops and other public areas equipped with Wi-Fi access available.

To be sure you are purchasing true Wi-Fi enabled products, look for the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo on product packaging. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo is your only assurance that a product has met rigorous interoperability testing requirements to ensure that compatible products from different vendors will work together. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo means that it's a "safe" buy. The color-coded Standard Indicator Icons or “SII” displayed with the logo will assist you in selecting products that are interoperable. Products displaying the same SII on their packaging are certified to work together.

Wi-Fi is easy to expand

It's easy to add another wireless computer to a Wi-Fi network. You don't need to purchase and connect more cable or find an available Ethernet port on your hub or router. Just plug in your card or USB connection, turn on your computer and you're ready to go! And, if you need to move to a new location, you don't have to invest in a new network infrastructure. Just plug the system into a power outlet at your new location and you'll be online in minutes.

A Wi-Fi CERTIFIED network can easily be expanded to ten users or more. It also gives you assurance that the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED equipment you purchase today will work with the equipment you add to your network in the future.

Large corporations use enterprise-level technology and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED wireless products to extend standard wired Ethernet networks to conference rooms and training rooms. Many corporations provide wireless networks to their off-site and telecommuting workers to use at home or in remote offices.

What are Wi-Fi access points?

Areas with Wi-Fi service are called "hotspots" and can either be free or for a fee. There may be metered access or with a pass, for example, a day, month or year, valid for one location or a whole chain. They are in coffee houses and airports around the world and can presently be found in many Starbucks Coffee houses in the US. Large hotspot providers in the US include Boingo, Wayport and iPass.

Finding Wi-Fi

The first commercially available "WiFi finder" is a tiny unit 3 by 2.7-inches and less than half an inch thick. Wherever you are, pull it out, push a button, and the three green lights on the front will tell you when you're in the presence of a Wi-Fi connection. The more lights you get, the stronger the signal.

The WiFi Finder only checks the 2.4GHz band, looking for signals from 802.11b or 11g-based networks. The manufacturer says it filters out signals from other items using the 2.4GHz band, Bluetooth networks, microwave ovens etc. The WiFi Finder is available for $29.99 at www.kensington.com.

Various Web site directories can tell you where the hotspots can be located, among them WiFinder.com, WiFiMaps.com and HotSpotList.com.

In-flight Wi-Fi

In-flight Wi-Fi Internet access service using "Connexion" by Boeing has been developing and testing for the last two years.  Boeing recently announced pricing for Connexion. It will offer flat rate and metered pricing. With the flat rate, which provides unlimited access to the Internet, passengers pay $29.95 for a long-haul flight (more than six hours), $19.95 for flights between three and six hours, and $14.95 for flights of less than three hours. With the metered pricing option, they get the first 30 minutes for $9.95 and pay $0.25 per minute thereafter.

It may seem surprising that Wi-Fi works onboard aircrafts when other wireless technologies, notably cell phones, are strictly banned because of the risk that they could interfere with navigational systems. "It's really apples and oranges," Boeing explains. “Wi-Fi and cell phones work on different frequencies, and a cell phone's power level is also about 20 times that of a Wi-Fi device.".

Wi-Fi Security

Whether you use a wired or wireless connection, you want to be sure that your communications and files are protected. If your transmissions are not secure, you take the risk of others intercepting your emails, examining your files, and using your network and Internet connection to distribute their own messages and communications.

You can use a variety of simple security procedures to protect your Wi-Fi® connection. These include enabling Wi-Fi Protected Access, changing your password or network name (SSID) and closing your network. You can also employ additional, more sophisticated technologies and techniques to further secure your business network.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a powerful, standards-based, interoperable security technology for Wi-Fi networks. It provides strong data protection by using encryption as well as strong access controls and user authentication. WPA and other wireless encryption methods operate strictly between your Wi-Fi enabled computer and your Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ access point. When data reaches the access point or gateway, it is unencrypted and unprotected while it is being transmitted out on the public Internet to its destination - unless it is also encrypted at the source with SSL when purchasing on the Internet or when using a VPN.  So while using WPA will protect you from external intruders, you may want to implement additional techniques to protect your transmissions when you use public networks and the Internet. There are several technologies available, but currently VPN works best.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is used by most major corporations to protect their remote-access workers and their connections. It works by creating a secure virtual "tunnel" from the end-user's computer through the end-user's access point or gateway, through the Internet, all the way to the corporation's servers and systems. It also works for wireless networks and can effectively protect transmissions from Wi-Fi equipped computers to corporate servers and systems.

Firewalls can make your network appear invisible to the Internet, and they can block unauthorized and unwanted users from accessing your files and systems. Hardware and software firewall systems monitor and control the flow of data in and out of computers in both wired and wireless enterprise, business and home networks. They can be set to intercept, analyze and stop a wide range of Internet intruders and hackers.

Wireless networks in public areas and "HotSpots" like Internet cafes may not provide any security. Although some service providers do provide this with their custom software, many HotSpots leave all security turned off to make it easier to access and get on the network in the first place. If security is important to you the best way to achieve this when you are connecting back to your office is to use a VPN. If you do not have access to a VPN and security is important, you may want to limit your wireless network use in these areas to non-critical e-mail and basic Internet surfing.

Many HotSpot providers and Wi-Fi manufacturers are now implementing improved security technologies to protect Wi-Fi users against interception and eavesdropping in public HotSpots.