Discover the protection of Firewalls!

If you are a part of the wireless community via laptop is it very important that you be informed about the usefulness of firewalls. Firewalls can exist as either software solutions (programs) or hardware solutions (actual devices). I'm going to assume that you are not a network administrator and the you will not need to know about hardware firewalls. Although if you are a network administrator you REALLY need to do more research on firewalls if this is actually informational to you...

The firewall serves to regulate and in most cases monitor traffic between your computer and your network connection (in this case the internet). It's function is to protect you against harmful danger while allowing you to regulate what can and can not come through the firewall. Thus the name a Wall or barrier between your computer (and the information on it) from any harmful intrusions preventing you from getting burned. (so to speak)

* Picking a cheap laptop

WARNING: Be CAREFUL which networks you sign onto!

For those who have not been informed yet...
Please be careful which wireless connections you choose to connect with when away from your home and on you laptop. There are networks out there that have been setup to try and gather your confidential data from your computer. Reports have detailed that these networks can appear in close proximity to legitimate free wireless connections. Such that, if you are not careful you may choose their network rather than the business or free wifi network.

Businesses usually use their own name for the network name. So if you are going to Anna's tea house only connect to networks that mention Anna or something about tea. Avoid connecting to generic names such as ‘FREE wireless’ or manufacturer names. For instance, many wireless routers appear as linksys (the manufacturer of the router) do not connect to these networks unless you know for sure this is the network that is used by the business.

How do you know? When you order to sit down... ask what their network is named. Quick and simple, if they are not sure what the name is just look and see what is available if there isn't one that makes sense then you might want to move on to the next location. In addition, make sure you have a personal firewall running on your laptop to alert you of any suspicious activity.

* Picking a Cheap Laptop
** Be in the know on the fly!

Be in the know on the fly!

From the moment we stepped into the front door, we would smell the freshly baked pastries, aromatic teas, and brewing coffee. There was a slight buzz in the background of people having conversations, ambient music, and the unobtrusive typing on notebooks. It was easy to see that the people in the pastry shop today were having a pleasant time having good conversation or working quietly on their laptops.

I am fortunate enough to be in a city where free wifi is readily available. It is becoming more and more common for businesses like these to carry free wireless connections. In fact, even the city is moving toward making the whole city a free wireless zone to spur on business and the economy.

With these types of services you can: Drive to any part of town and map out the address where your appointment is going to be. Send a quick email to friends if you found a great place to hang out on a Friday night. Check movie listing times for that - spontaneous need to see a movie. Or just simply do some writing, research, study, or get ahead at work from any park bench or quaintly decorated coffee shop while enjoying the great weather.

You can be in the know on the fly just by a owning laptop / notebook (or some other device) with wireless capability. Luckily laptops have been around for several years. So this means that there are good bargains out there! (here are a few sources if you need help finding a cheap laptop*) Assuming you are not a high profile executive you can probably do very well with a reasonably priced used or refurbished laptop. (If you are an executive you probably already have a high end laptop issued to you by the Information Technology department) In either case, you only need one addition to your laptop for wireless capability... a wireless network device.

Wireless network devices can come in many different forms. This is a good thing because most notebooks built after 2000 or so come with either a PCMCIA bay or USB port. So even if the note book is NOT wireless ready by itself; it can be wireless ready with the additional of a wireless network card or device! This means that for $70.00 (sometimes as little as $25.00) you can have a wireless laptop even if it was not built with a wireless card by the manufacturer.

The install of these devices is usually pretty easy if your notebook is running Windows XP or later most popular network manufacturers (such as linksys, dlink, sony etc.) are already compatible with your laptop. If you have any other Operating System (OS) you may need to follow the instructions for the install, but even then they usually make things pretty easy too. Once you have it installed... usually your new device will automatically find any wireless network available and as you if you want to connect**. It is as simple as that.

Until next time.


* Picking a Cheap Laptop
** WARNING: Be CAREFUL which networks you sign onto!