Walk into any coffee shop and you'll see scores of people pecking away at theirlaptopcomputers. If you feel like everywhere you go -- from college campuses and libraries to Starbucks and McDonald's -- haswireless connectivity, you're not alone. Currently, 241,506WiFi hot spotsare scattered throughout 134 countries, and some of those "spots" are entire cities [source:JiWire].
These hot spots usually connect to the largerInternetcommunity by wires or cables and broadcast the Internet signal wirelessly to individual computers usingradiofrequencies. Many personal computers pick up that signal using awireless Internet card, a small device about the size of a credit card.
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Wi-Fi everywhere. See morelaptop pictures.
Wireless Internet cards, also known asLocal Area Network, orLAN,cards, are one of the many types ofadapter cardsthat add capabilities to your computer. Other adapter cards can enableteleconferencing, improve sound systems or download photos from adigital camera.
Wireless Internet cards come in several forms. Different cards exist for laptops, desktops andPDAs. Many computers come with one preinstalled, but they can also be purchased relatively inexpensively and self-installed or simply inserted into a slot on the side of the computer.
The sheer number ofWiFihot spots has made wireless Internet cards even more desirable. Initially used mostly in homes or businesses so that multiple people could share an Internet connection, they are a hot commodity for anyone with a computer, especially with entire cities going wireless. For more information, readHow Municipal WiFi Works.
In this article, you'll learn how wireless Internet cards communicate with hot spots to connect to the Internet. You'll also learn about the different wireless cards available and what you should look for when buying one, so that you too can check youre-mailwhile sipping a soy latte.
Find out how a device no bigger than your hand can detect a signal hundreds of feet away on the next page.
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