Dumb Question re Wi Fi

[towman]

What hardware do I need for a laptop?
Is there good and bad versions of whatever I need?
Do i need to load my bt connect software onto the laptop?

Apologies for what may seem like dumb questions!

It`s for Italy btw - hotel has WiFi network.

Steve

[bogie]

you just need a wireless network adapter - PCMCIA format is best for a laptop.

loads here:
www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopSearch.asp?CategoryID=58&ShopGroupID=8&Alt=Yes

you dont need any BT software if you are accessing via a WiFI hotspot...

[Raify]

You need a pci laptop card like this

Not sure about the software, probably not...

[towman]

Thanks chaps.

Another silly Q. How does one pay for access time?

[roadsweeper]

Hi Steve

A lot of laptops come with Intel's 'centrino' mobile technology which should do the job. Failing that you just need to pick up a wireless laptop card. This will depend on your laptop if you want an internal one, or you could get one on a PC card which should slot into the PCMCIA socket on your laptop so you don't have to disassemble anything. Example:

Product List

You do need to be aware that there are currently three major wireless standards based on the IEEE 802.11.

You probably don't know what standard the hotel network runs, plus it is sensible to buy the most flexible card anyway as I'm sure you'll be using it again, so I'd recommend the following type of card that can handle all the major wireless technologies:

3com 1A/B/G WIRELESS PC CARD £60.12

3com is a very good networking brand, so you might be able to find cheaper alternative cards if you look around. Personally I'd be tempted to stick with the 3com card though.

I hope this helps.

roadie.

[roadsweeper]

towman said:

Thanks chaps. Another silly Q. How does one pay for access time?

It depends on the hotel. In my experience it can often be free, otherwise you might have to go to a certain webpage and buy time with your credit card once you connect.

[towman]

Thanks to all for the advice.

Steve

[LongQ]

Do you need to connect to the web in general or a particular ISP service? If the ISP then you need to consider how you pay for the connection and whether they charge differently for connection away from your normal line and, more specifically, from a remote location

This may not be an issue - but if there is an ISP connection requirement I would check for any funny things before deciding how to approach it.

I have a number of laptops in the family, all with different WiFi cards both Centrino and PCMCIA. Most of my home network is only 802.11b (pretty much the slowest max speed) capable but is is fast enough and seems failry reliable. The cheapest PCMCIA card I have seen recently (802.11g spec iirc, so potentially faster and still backwards compatible) are under 20 quid, some well under that price.

I'm not sure what sort of instructions you are likely to get at the hotel re. setting up a connection but I would suggest it's worth trying it out before you go so you know what sort of thing to expect. They can be interesting from time to time.