I'm sitting in a Borders bookstore, sipping coffee and running my business, thanks to T-Mobile's Wi-Fi network and a Sony Vaio laptop that is more powerful than the 2.4Ghz Pentium IV sitting in my office back in Arlington, Virginia.
I've been on the road for a while and the Vaio and Wi-Fi networks have made it possible to connect to the 'Net at T-1 speeds in coffee shops, hotel lobbies, airline clubs and bookstores.
Life on the road sure ain't what it used to be. For example:
T-Mobile operates Wi-Fi "Hotspots" not only in Borders bookstores but also many Starbucks coffee shops;
Boingo, a competing Wi-Fi service has Hot Spots in hotel lobbies, airline clubs, coffee shops and restaurants;
While T-Mobile, Boingo, Verizon and others charge a daily or monthly fee for access through their services, a growing number of businesses offer the service for free. Panera Bread, for example, has free Wi-Fi in many of its shops around the country.
Roanoke, Virginia, installed Wi-Fi transmitters in the city's downtown area and offers the service for free to anyone with a laptop or PDA with a wireless card.
Wi-Fi beats looking for a modem-capable payphone or suffering through the agonizingly-slow data connections of a cell-phone.
I've been on the road for a while and the Vaio and Wi-Fi networks have made it possible to connect to the 'Net at T-1 speeds in coffee shops, hotel lobbies, airline clubs and bookstores.
Life on the road sure ain't what it used to be. For example:
T-Mobile operates Wi-Fi "Hotspots" not only in Borders bookstores but also many Starbucks coffee shops;
Boingo, a competing Wi-Fi service has Hot Spots in hotel lobbies, airline clubs, coffee shops and restaurants;
While T-Mobile, Boingo, Verizon and others charge a daily or monthly fee for access through their services, a growing number of businesses offer the service for free. Panera Bread, for example, has free Wi-Fi in many of its shops around the country.
Roanoke, Virginia, installed Wi-Fi transmitters in the city's downtown area and offers the service for free to anyone with a laptop or PDA with a wireless card.
Wi-Fi beats looking for a modem-capable payphone or suffering through the agonizingly-slow data connections of a cell-phone.
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