Wi-Fi hot zones, also known as Wi-Fi clouds, provide public Internet access, just like hotspots, but they cover a larger area and they are typically for use outdoors. These hot zones might cover anywhere from a city block to an entire city, commonly referred to as a muni or municipal network, or even a whole county.

Even though end users in these hot zones connect using Wi-Fi, these systems typically use a different design approach, called mesh networking, instead of the traditional wireless LAN infrastructure, such as in Wi-Fi hotspots.

Along with giving citizens and visitors convenient Internet access, these wireless networks might provide a concurrent private network and Internet connections over the same system. Companies might be able to purchase a secure Internet connection for their business, and government departments could support communication services such as parking and utility meters and city cameras.

More and more cities are hopping on the muni Wi-Fi bandwagon, trying to keep up with the digital world and wanting to attract people and businesses to their area.

These hot zones are convenient, allowing people to check their e-mail and browse the Internet pretty much anywhere outdoors within the coverage area. In some cases, users can even access the Internet in moving vehicles, where traditional hotspots do not cover.

Wi-Fi hotspots bridge the Wi-Fi connectivity gap between wireless networks in homes and businesses. People can access e-mail and other online services between home and work or while traveling. This allows them to keep up with customers, associates, and family members.

Wi-Fi hotspots are found in many public places where people might want to pop open their laptop and browse the Internet. Following are some typical places where you might find a Wi-Fi hotspot:

• Cafés, restaurants, and bars
• Hotels, conventions centre
• Bookstores and libraries
• Office building reception areas
• Airports, Bus Terminal, Train Stations
• Clubs and organizations

Cafés and restaurants provide wireless Internet access for customers while they are enjoying their food and beverages. Along with other businesses and organizations, cafés and restaurants will likely benefit with more foot traffic to their location when they provide this convenient Internet service to customers and visitors.

A majority of travelers these days choose only hotels that provide broadband Internet access within the rooms. This lets people keep in touch with their office while they are out of town. Some hotels provide a wired Internet connection usually an Ethernet or data port. Ethernet provides broadband Internet access similar to Wi-Fi, but Ethernet requires a cable to connect the user laptop to the network. This restricts the user to a single location in the room usually a desk. In addition, most hotels provide a data port on the telephone for dialup modem users to plug into. This also requires a restrictive cable connection, and the performance is slow and unusable for some websites and e-mail attachment downloads.

Even though wired Internet connections are widely available, most people prefer Wi-Fi Internet access. This enables guests to move about the hotel and still be connected to the Internet. For example, a business traveler can use the Internet from anywhere within the room, such as from the desk or while relaxing on the bed. In addition, this person can go down to the bar or lobby and still have Internet access. A Wi-Fi network in a hotel also becomes useful when one or more people with laptops are staying in the same room, because wired connections allow only one person at a time to use the Internet.

Students, business people, and others typically use Wi-Fi hotspots at local bookstores and libraries while working on homework or work-related tasks. Bookstores typically did not have Internet access before they began offering Wi-Fi access. For years, libraries have had computer workstations connected to the Internet for public use.

Yet offering Wi-Fi Internet access helps eliminate some costs, enables more people to use the Internet at once, and lets users move about the building while using Internet applications.

Corporations in the past did not have Internet access available for visitors throughout their office buildings because of the difficulties in allocating a wired connection. In most cases, an unused wired Ethernet port is not available or is in a physical location where it is not practical for the visitor to access it. An open port, for example, could be located on the wall within the conference room. Regularly scheduled meetings in the conference room would likely get in the way of the visitor using the room to use the network connection. Visitors such as salespeople, customers, and consultants, though, can definitely benefit from Wi-Fi Internet access while inside the facility, even if the wireless network is made available only from specific places, such as the company lobby, and kept separate from the corporate network.

Wi-Fi Internet access within airports enables travelers to send and receive e-mail and conduct other necessary tasks while traveling. This is useful during long waiting between flights and unscheduled delays or cancellations. Many airports today still have not installed wireless hotspots. Given that airports can be extremely large, this could be an expensive task for the airport authorities. However, even installing a small hotspot within specific restaurants, airline clubs, or concourses of the airport would be useful to travelers.

Wi-Fi access is also available while onboard aircraft during some international airline flights, but limited to some airlines or selected routes. When Internet access on airplanes becomes widely accepted, many people will benefit, especially during longer flights. Business travelers will certainly be more productive if they can correspond via e-mail and use Internet-based applications while they are restricted to an airplane seat.

Wi-Fi hotspots provide wireless Internet access within public areas. They enable people to keep up-to-date with their digital world in places such as cafés,, convention centers, libraries, hotels, shopping complexes, restaurant and others. Users can connect to hotspots from mobile computers, such as laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Other media devices with Wi-Fi capability, such as the PlayStation Portable (PSP) or mobile phones, can also take advantage of hotspots. Wireless hotspots allow people to do such tasks as browse the webpages and send and receive e-mail. Wi-Fi hotspots are similar to wireless networks that are used in homes and businesses; however, they are not as secure, and they are intended for public use.

Hotspots provide high-speed Internet access. This type of connection is much faster than traditional Internet connections, such as dialup access using a telephone modem. However, the Internet speed that individual users experience while connected to a wireless network varies, depending on many factors, including the following:

• The size and configuration of the hotspot
• The number of concurrent users
• What the users are doing on the network

For example, the Internet speed for individual users on a hotspot might be faster if a few people are synchronizing e-mail, rather than a dozen users downloading large files or viewing streaming video on a website.

Many types of hotspots exist throughout the world. Traditional hotspots provide coverage in and around a building or small group of buildings, such as restaurants, coffee shops, airports, and hotels. Access to hotspots can be free or fee-based. Even if Internet access on a hotspot is free, users might be required to register or view advertisements before accessing the Internet. Fee-based hotspots require users to register and purchase access time. These rates and times differ between each hotspot network.

E-mail and web browsing are available through most mobile phone service providers. However, these phones have limited keypads and displays. Devices such as the Blackberry offer quick and simple e-mail access and have had great success in the market. However, creating or viewing larger e-mail messages and viewing most websites are not practical. In addition, the data rates available through the phone systems are relatively slow. Therefore, people who have laptops and PDAs equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity can benefit much more by connecting to the Internet via a Wi-Fi hotspot, which offers a more effective user interface and much higher speed.

Most hotspots display a splash screen the first time a user connects and accesses the Internet with a web browser. With free hotspots, this splash screen might require the user just to accept terms and conditions (the “fine print”) or view advertisements before accessing the Internet connection. If the hotspot is fee-based, a user would enter his logon information or sign up and set up payments if he has not used that hotspot network before. In most cases, the fee-based hotspots accept payments by having the user securely enter credit card information.

Ever notice something fishy in all those magazine spreads featuring gorgeous home offices? Where the heck are the wires? Wouldn’t it be nice if your home office could somehow look that pristine? With a few exceptions, it can, provided you incorporate all of the latest wireless technologies.

Wireless Routers
First, you’ll need a router (sometime also called as Access Point). Routers use wireless standards, such as 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a. For maximum compatibility, look for a router that supports all three standards, such as the Linksys WRT55AG Dual-Band 2.4Ghz Wireless A+G Broadband Router
With 4-Port Switch.

802.11g and 802.11a are newer and faster than the older 802.11b wireless standard, but there is an emerging standard called 802.11n that is up to 10 to 14 times faster than 802.11g or 802.11a. Speed is important because 802.11b isn’t suitable for streaming video wirelessly, while 802.11g and 802.11a can stream DVD-quality video and transfer large folders across the network very quickly. 802.11n is fast enough to stream high-definition video and can move large files and folders in a very short time.

If you see a router labeled “pre-n,” “SpeedBoost,” or something similar, it sends and receives data at near-802.11n speeds, but only with products from the same manufacturer as the router that support identical speedboosting technology.

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As you build a wireless home network, remember this principle: You should be able to access your data anywhere, anytime.

To get the most out of your network, we advises that you begin with a high quality router.

A Speedy Hub

The newest routers are based on the 802.11n wireless standard, a new technology that is 10 times faster than the 802.11g standard.
The Belkin N1 Wireless-N Router employs MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output) technology, as much as three antennas, good to improve speed and increase coverage throughout your home. You can theoretically transfer data as quickly as 300Mbps with this router, though you won’t reach that speed when using the Wireless-N for streaming high-definition video or multiplayer gaming.

The D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit router has four gigabit Ethernet ports, which noticeably speed up data transfer. Like other 802.11n-compliant routers, it doesn’t require range extenders or boosters, so you need not worry that the router will work better in certain places in your house than in others.

With three transmitters and three receivers, the Xtreme N is so powerful that it needs a Good Neighbor mode. The router can detect if your neighbor is using his wireless network and will power down a bit so as not to interfere with it.

Apple makes the AirPort Extreme Wireless N Base Station for Macs and PCs running Windows XP SP2. Like the other routers, it uses MIMO, 802.11n-compliant technology. It also has a USB port for connecting an external hard drive or printer, supports up to 50 computers, and has a time-based access feature that you can use to limit your kids’ access to the network during certain times of day.

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Anycom’s BFK-200 is one of the most portable keyboards we’ve seen. It’s small to begin with (the keyboard doesn’t have a traditional number pad), but it’s just a little larger than a wallet once you fold it in half and slip the device into its travel bag. The BFK-200 is a Bluetooth keyboard (thanks to two AA batteries), which means no clutter, and it has a detachable stand that props up your Bluetoothenabled Pocket PC PDA or smartphone. Of course, it’s not limited to superportable devices: You can also connect the board to Bluetooth-enabled notebooks or desktops that have WinXP or Mac OS X.

Link:
ANYCOM Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard BFK-200 - Keyboard - wireless - Bluetooth - silver - English

Wi-Fi finders aren’t the most exciting devices around, but they come in handy if you want to check for wireless connectivity without firing up your notebook. Kensington’s WiFi Finder Plus has a column of LEDs that indicate signal strength for any 802.11b/g networks in range. Of course, a positive test doesn’t mean that the network is accessible, but you can rest assured that you’re looking at a true network, as the Finder filters out irrelevant 2.4GHz signals (such as microwave ovens and cordless phones). The keychain device also has a moderately bright flashlight and an LED that denotes active Bluetooth networks.