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Wi-Fi for Dummies: What You Need to Know

Wi-Fi is the general term used to describe any wireless Internet connection or network in a home or office. Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity, enables a computer or laptop user to access the Internet from the comfort of their patio, deck, bedroom or kitchen without the need for expensive and extensive hardware and cabling. Wi-Fi applies to any device that can access the Internet wirelessly and in some cases, like that of PDAs and cellular phones; it is the only way for a device to access the Internet. Wi-Fi works by transmitting data in the form of microwave radio waves that can be interpreted by receivers attached to laptops, computers and internal antennas on cellular phones.

A wireless router or tower, in the case of PDAs and cell phones, transmits a radio signal that has data encoded on a harmonic of the radio wave. This simply means that the data is attached to the radio wave to be decoded by the receiver. Protocols and advanced mathematical calculations are used in the encoding and decoding process. This information is interpreted by an internal PCI/PCI-e card or USB card in the case of laptops or desktop computers as well. Cellular phones and PDAs use the same internal antenna for Internet access as for phone calls. After decoding the data is presented in the web browser, a PDF viewer or similar program can be used for accessing documents and data.

Being able to access data wirelessly frees users form being confined to a specific location, but in the case of a home wireless network there are a few limitations on the area of transmission. Most wireless routers have a range of about 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors; however, walls and furniture will inhibit some of the strength of the signal as it passes through the house or building. A simple solution to the transmission strength and area is to have a completely wireless broadband Internet connection for the computers in the home. MobilityPass offers wireless broadband Internet service with absolutely no contracts. An end user just pays for the data transmissions they use and has nothing to do with the time of day they are online.

MobilityPass enables a user to access the Internet anywhere from over 160 countries worldwide. In addition they provide security, privacy and confidentiality to every costumer. The company also offers an international SIM card for mobile phone users as part of their package. The beauty of Wi-Fi is that it is far simpler and less expensive than wired networking and wired Internet access. More often than not the wireless cards come standard on computers and laptops with no need for the end user to set up or configure the card. Most users will need to set up an access account for their Internet connection or access the wireless router. Accessing the Internet is as simple as entering the username and password provided by the ISP when logging on to the Internet. A password and username are set by the end user when preparing the home router for use.