What Is Wifi , What Are Wifi Hotspots & What Can They Do For Me?

by: Jose Miguel Poza

Wifi is an internet technology which allows you to access the internet within a local area without the need to physically connect your computer to a computer network, instead a wireless broadband signal is sent around the local area allowing computer users to connect to the internet in that area wirelessly. In case you were wondering Wifi stands for Wireless Fidelity and Wifi hotspots are public areas where you can access one of these wireless broadband signals. Public places where you can find Wifi hotspots these days are hotels, airports, restaurants, cafes, bars and railway stations. All this means you can travel around pretty much anywhere in the world and find Wifi hotspots from which you can wirelessly and easily access the internet, meaning you can keep up to date with your emails, surf the internet and do all the other useful things you do on the internet whilst on your travels. This technology is particularly good for business users who can gain extra work time by squeezing in internet time at various Wifi hotspots.

What Do I Need To Use My Computer In A Wifi Hotspot?

Well first of all you will need a wirelesss LAN network card installed in your laptop. This can be bought in your local computer store or in an online computer store and is not very expensive to buy. The other thing you will need is an account with a Wifi internet access provider so that you can connect to the net when in a Wifi hotspot. One thing to note is that there are several different Wifi internet access providers and that not all Wifi hotspots can be accessed by all the different Wifi internet access provider´s networks. This means that if you want to have maximum choice of Wifi hotspots to use, then it is a good idea to sign up with more than one Wifi internet access provider. The other thing you need to know is that most Wifi service providers charge you an hourly fee for using their service. These charges can add up, so if you are a regular or heavy user then it might work out cheaper for you to sign up for a monthly service plan which some providers offer and this could save you a lot of money as you will be paying a fixed monthly fee regardless of the amount of time you access the internet through Wifi hotspots.