How to hookup with a free Wifi connection

Using a free wifi connection may seem somewhat interesting especially if you are low on available cash-No money no problem! Generally, it may seem impossible to use a good internet connection without having to sacrifice a thing or two, but the financial implication or loss of data risk may be very minimal if you take some of the useful suggestions in my previous blogs.

Getting to find a reliable free wifi connection or network may seem a daunting affair if your laptop has adapter which is weak and unable to sniff broadcast wireless networks. The first thing you must do to prepare your laptop for a free wifi connection is to configure your laptop to automatically connect up to free wifi connection which is being transmitted by some wireless access point or a router.

A free wifi internet connection would allow people to access the internet as long as they have a wireless card, with this card installed in your laptop,you are able to sniff any available wifi connections plus the free wifi connections, and then you system seeks to connect to it by notifying you of its presence. It is now your responsibility to choose a preferred free wifi connection, because not all free wifi connection that are available are able to serve you well even if the signal strength is excellent.

A free Wifi network connection finder software can make getting online and finding a way to connect to the internet for free very easy since on installation, it takes over the burden of trying to locate or pinpoint a wifi hotspot and the connection process. There are many different free Wifi connection locator software utilities you can use to make this even easier, so take a look around online and you should have no problem finding what you need, even if you need to frequently change position the software takes over the nit gritty making it possible to enjoy a free wifi connection everywhere with little or no cost. Easy WiFi Radar works on most PCs with most wireless cards, but not on all. Also, it doesn't work on Vista and no update is planned.It's is a free product, and if you wish to take advantage of its functionality, change operating system-Use Windows XP.

An excellent free wifi connection that suits you should be compatible with your laptop and you should ensure that your laptop is connecting to a G or N-type router, since it will provide you with not only the fastest and most stable connection, but will also connect up from a farther distance so that you can move around and not end up losing your connection.

Now, some places you can get a free wifi connection to brows the internet are as follows:

Cafes, Shopping Malls, Universities, Bars, Parks, Libraries and some government offices.

Just select the network and click on connect and your laptop automatically connects to the network specified.

HOW DOES WIFI WORK (WIRELESS FIDELITY)

Wireless Internet access allows you to get rid of the cables dangling from the back of your PCs by giving you access to the internet via radio waves. So that you can connect to the internet without using an RJ45.

Here's how it works:

• Wifi uses high frequency radio signals a technology (usually referred to as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a or IEEE 802.11g) to provide a reliable wireless network connection for laptops which is wifi compliant, the internet connection could originates from a DSL or high-speed land-based Internet connection. Wireless network uses infrared or radio frequency of between 2.4 to 2.4835 gigahertz (which is also the frequency of common microwaves and cordless telephones) to link several mobile computer to its network. Mind you IEEE stands for Institute of electrical and electronics engineers. This institution produce the set of standards and specifications that defines the format and structure of wifi signals.

• A Wifi connection becomes available when router or wireless access point ( Routers are device that is able to broadcast wireless internet connection) transmits wifi signal it receives from a DSL or cable Internet connection. The antenna on the router beam this radio signal over a specific range which is about 300 feet for most home connections. The farther the user is from the signal, the slower the connection speed. With this in place any computer device with wireless adapter can connect wireless-ly to the internet by picking the signal broadcast from the Router. A wireless access point can also transmit wifi network it gets through a wired Local  Area Network or wifi connection from a router.

• Another antenna, which is installed internally in the laptop or personal computer, receives or catches the signal. With some clicks you can connect your laptop to wifi connection. for more information on how to connect your laptop see how to hookup to a free wifi connection.

The good thing about free wifi connection

Everyone wants something for nothing. That something varies, but we all want something don’t we. One of the intriguing things I have come to notice is the position that people take as it concerns the use of a free wifi connection in public places and businesses especially in coffee shops and hotels; people are acting as if these are absolute rights! And that the business owners are privileged to have them around. All around we see laptop users moving from one place to the other attempting to gain access to the internet in other to do one thing or the other.

Does cutting laptop use during the normal lunch period makes sense or completely restricting the use of laptops more desirable. Not everyone that carries a laptop into a coffee shop make proper use of the free wifi facility , since you cannot eat and type at the same time and do either of them well.

Sometime,I really wonder just how coffee shops which is traditionally meant for coffee break and relaxation became a place where people would work and study at the same time. There are certainly some exceptions but a good number at coffee shops and places like hotel Budapest have little or no reason why they feel it is a good idea to browse the net over a cup of coffee.

To the business owner there are possibilities of lose of sales when a customer is buying one or two cups of coffee and and using his laptop to displace someone who could have buy lunch or dinner simply because he has occupied the table and in addition is using the free wifi connection for an indefinite numbers of hours, it's better to lose the occasional coffee drinker and gain the customer that wants to have lunch and is very likely to leave there after. The provision of free wireless access to customers doesn't mean that they want you to sit there for five hours with a $1.70 cup of coffee while other people have to turn and leave because there isn't anywhere to sit.

Its not that business owners can't make money from laptop users. sometimes they come with their computers for a couple of hours with only some cups of coffee. They next time they visit, they come in for lunch and leave almost immediately. The next day, coffee and food to go with. Then, they filled the place during off peak hours and in the evenings often ordering dinner. You can't have it both ways. You only need to adopt policies that pleases your customers and does not compromise your business.

While I recognize all the advantages of laptops and cell phones - I THINK I use both - their intrusion into the public space makes life less civil. Laptop users should be more aware that as they are using their laptop so also others too should have their turn with the use of such public facilities like the library. I'm so tired of going to my local coffee shop and finding someone has taking up two full tables with their laptop while I can't find a seat for lunch or dinner, its really annoying. Often they're also listening to music or other audio contraptions or gadgets through the speakers rather than on headphones. I don't get it, this is suppose to be a quiet public place not a ROCK N' ROLL concert. I don't fancy playing loud music with your laptop or cell phone because it will distract other library or coffee shop users.

Free wifi connection security

People from all over the world are now making use of wireless internet connectivity as it provides hassle-free wifi internet connection. Mean while as a free wifi connection provider it is important that some levels of security is put in place in other to have some control over who uses your network which usually helps to increase sales expecially if you are using it to attract customers to your hotel or coffee shop.If you don’t take steps to ensure the security of your connection, you make your connection vulnerable to attacks of hackers making it more likely that they can easily get away with your secret passwords, financial information and personal data. The truth is that, you don’t want any of your data in the wrong hands.

The way to make certain the security of packet data while using a free wifi connection has become one of the most asked questions amongst wireless network users in recent times. The reason behind this is that many spammers and hackers all over the world have taking advantage of  wifi connections of people who make use of free wireless internet connectivity. As companies and homes are now changing over to Wi-Fi connections for the reason that it provides more convenience and coverage with less expenses. So, what can you do to avoid this?

Most wifi compliant routers have the capacity to dynamically allocate IP/TCP address to wireless clients by simply enabling the DHCP service, which makes it pretty difficult to ascertain the numbers of client hooked up to your network, the person using the network and the recourses the person is accessing because most free wifi connections have little or no control measures in place. When you turn off DHCP server of your router and allocate IP/TCP manually by providing all the clients in the network a distinct IP address and subnet mask, you will make the network secure as the router will only give these computers access to the internet.

To heighten the security of the wifi connection you could enable wireless security which helps to encrypt packet data, by putting a strong admin password consisting of numerals, alphabets and may be some special characters like #,$,&,*. You can either use WEP or WAP settings to make encryption.

You must also activate the router's firewall to protect your Wi-Fi network. Many wireless routers come with default user id and password. You must change these details once you have achieved wireless connectivity. You must also check which computers are connected to your Wi-Fi.

It is also advisable to regularly change the admin password and network key.

Free wifi connection

Having access to the internet is fast becoming a priority for the vast users of computer, however before now internet was seen as a high tech luxury privilege for advance users of computers because of the cost associated with having internet connection and the know-how.

 Free Wi-Fi connection is available in most hotels, airport facilities, libraries, Resorts, coffee shops and around the environment of some offices. A simple site survey will reveal which connection has good wifi network. In other to gain access to the network one may need to undergo some connection process depending on the configuration of the wifi network.

 If you are new to wireless internet usage, then take time to familiarize yourself with the connection procedure outlined in this paragraph or else go to the next point. In order to track the available free wifi connection location, right-click on the network icon on the system tray and select view available network if you are using Windows XP, or connect to network if your operating system is Vista; this will then open a screen showing you the list of all network within range. Choose the required network and select connect. Sometimes one may be required to supply some information to enable complete connection. Basically the procedure to hook up to a free wifi connection is as follows:  1. Set wireless properties TCP/IP properties to -Obtain an IP address automatically- Which is simply enabling DHCP, 2. Disable dial up connection, 3. Select the SSID of the free wifi connection network, 4. Turn off any form of encryption-whether WPA or WEP, and select open before clicking connect.

Now that you have access to the wifi network, what remains is what you wish to do with this connection and how secure the data you send over the network. One thing you must not do using a free wifi connection is performing any form of transaction online without any form of security. This could be done by using SSL for emails or Sending data through HTTPS// rather than just HTTP://  for all forms of financial transaction.

Most free Wi-Fi connection(s) don’t use encryption to scramble the data being sent to and from your computer and the wifi network. This means anyone within hundreds of feet, with the right tools, can potentially intercept the raw data packets of your connection. At the smallest amount, without encryption, they could see precisely what Websites you visit. Moreover, if the Website connection isn’t encrypted with Secure Socket Layer (SSL), (indicated by a padlock icon in your browser) then they could peruse the contents and traffic relating to that particular Website. This could contain the username and password of Websites you log in to, if they aren’t using SSL. The same risk applies to other services, such as FTP or e-mail, that aren’t secured.