A giant leap for mankind

[White Lightning]

Two weeks ago I entered another phase in my web life, Only 2 years after my previous Internet leap - connecting to ADL, I am now officially a wireless Internet geek!

My home is now a wireless Internet zone so I surf the net wherever I want! I think it’s geekily cool to write this post in bed! I must confess though, that the primary use for my home wireless network is doing some work in some strange hours from bed or in front of the TV, but that's even less cool so try to ignore it...

I any case, it actually changed my work habits. I used work from home at least one day a week, since commuting to work takes over an hour each way.

In the past 2 weeks I established a temporary office in my Jerusalem day in a coffee shop - arranging meetings there and working in between meetings on my laptop.

Since the entire Jerusalem center now has a free wireless internet access, and many coffee shops also provide free wireless hot spots, I am able to check my emails, talk with the office via messanger, etc. - all from the coffee shop. Not to mention surf the net while drinking my double espresso.

For me, Wireless Internet is indeed a giant leap for mankind

[GloriousBlues]

Wireless rules. Tonight I've been surfing in my backyard while smoking a cigar. (It hasn't been easy because these San Diego winters can be brutal. I had to put on a sweatshirt at 8:30. B-) )

[Jim Alfredson]

Yeah, San Diego. I feel for you, man!

NOT!

It was so cold up in northern Michigan (I played a casino gig this weekend up there) that my car almost wouldn't start this morning as I left the hotel. I think with the windchill it was -30. It took a full hour of driving for the car to warm up and actually give me heat through the air vents.

It's not much warmer here in Lansing. I think the high temp today was 10.

I went wireless awhile back. Right now I'm sitting on my couch trying to clear my mind and get back to sleep (Zora woke up screaming... must've been a bad dream).

[wesbed]

The weather is tough in Tucson too. I was out on my back porch using my wireless this evening. I had to switch from a short-sleeved shirt to a long-sleeved shirt. It was ridiculous.

[vibes]

I went wireless in 2001, and it was one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I spend most nights laying on the sofa, surfing the net and listening to music over my network while my wife watches her inane TV programs.

I always enjoy seeing where I can pick up wireless connections when I travel. Sometimes I find them in places I would expect them, like airports, and sometimes in very unexpected places, like in mall parking lots (picked one up on a recent trip to Utah).

[Claude]

Home Wireless LAN has become incredibly cheap. I paid $500 for a set of two WLAN cards (working in Adhoc mode) in 2001, to be able to use my laptop anywhere in the appartment. I've recently upgraded to a WLAN access point and router, which has increased the network performance and convenience, but cost just $80. The network cards now cost $30 and less.

Be sure to activate WEP or WAP encryption, to avoid that your neighbours can browse your network

Here in Europe, public WLAN hotspots are still rather rare. I have a WLAN-capable PDA, and I check the networks at every airport, hotel or other public place. Most of them require a monthly subscription payment, and as there are so many different operators, one would need a couple of subscriptions when traveling.

Edited December 20, 2004 by Claude

[White Lightning]

I think it's a wise decision for Coffee shops etc. to provide free wireless service. Like Claude said, it has become very cheap, and the Cafes will get more customers this way.

Edited December 20, 2004 by White Lightning

[brownie]

That's what all those McDonalds' are doing nowadays, providing wifi access plus junkfood!

[Brad]

I find I have a problem with this. We have the DSL line upstairs and the wireless connection upstairs and my son has an Xbox downstairs where he likes to play online downstairs. But it seems more often than not that the wireless connection doesn't work. Any suggestions? Could the weather have something to do with it (e.g., if it's cloudy outside)?

[Jim Alfredson]

Wireless connections aren't the best for playing games over. They are usually much slower than advertised (but fast enough for basic web surfing).

How good of a signal is he getting downstairs?

[Brad]

He was getting a good signal but then at times, it seems to go out and he can't connect to the Xbox network. Is it possible that it has to do something with atmospherics. Right now, he's so ticked that we've got an ethernet cord running from the Cisco router upstairs down to the xbox.

[Jim Alfredson]

My laptop goes out all the time. It's annoying. My laptop is in the living room and the router is down in the basement. The weird thing is that my office computer, which is on the second floor, never loses it's signal. It makes no sense that the laptop, which is only one floor away, loses signal all the time and the office machine, which is two floors up, doesn't.

Who knows?!