I don't know if anyone might care or not, but this is a great comprehensive listing of our local wifi spots for those of you around here like me whose butts stay in a constant incendiary state, unfortunately.

www.ipsaonline.org/wifi/

Being the resident Old F#$* & living on the  end of a dusty dirt road in the darkest reaches of N. Alabama doesn't give me much of an opportunity to get out and see what modern things the "Real World"  has developed.  Heck, my email even takes 2 weeks to get to me with my internet coming from a string & 2 tin cans!    

So without too much snickering & laughter, would you mind telling me what the h$## WIFI is?  Heck, I just heard the word "Blog" for the first time last week and I'm still wondering about that one.  Too chicken to ask this group about it though.  

Rick

I'm new to the game too, don't fret.  It is simply the tech term for wireless internet access.  I have tapped into it because I have a laptop that I will be taking around with me and needing to access the internet with for school/work purposes (oh, and arfcom, of course).

Remember to have the proper firewalls, etc. on your laptop since anybody logged on at the same time can get into your computer otherwise if they know what they are doing.

If it's wireless, how do you tap into it?

Rick

If' it's not password locked. and you have a computer that has wireless ability, turn computer on and it will pick up. Use it all the time in motels I stay in

Quoted: If it's wireless, how do you tap into it? Rick

Most laptops now come with wireless network cards.  It uses radio to transmit and receive data to and from the internet.

Or, it's magic.  Which ever explanation works for you.  

Quoted: Quoted: If it's wireless, how do you tap into it? Rick Or, it's magic.  Which ever explanation works for you.

When I retired from Bellsouth, my job was installing & maintaining ADSL.  Often times customers would ask how it worked, and often I would answer with "It's just Magic".  Most of the time that worked, but some would insist on a better explanation.  

FWIW, I don't miss working with ADSL at all,  I hated that job (the ADSL thing)  & I sure was glad when I got away from it.  My BP went down several points when I got away from all the stress.

Rick

My new laptop has it.  The only time I've used it outside of my office building (where it works just fine) was in a hotel out in Dallas a few months ago - it was very "spotty."  I don't know if it was the hotel's signal or the fact that I was thirty-something floors up?...