I have a Laptop computer that i use mostly for word processing. It has windows 98SE. I want to be able to use it to check my Email and stuff at airports and other public venues that have wireless Internet service.

What do I need to do that?


I saw a NETGEAR  
54 Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter on Dells website and from the product description it looks like what i need. is that it?

If you can upgrade to Windows XP, do it.  Windows 98 SE is full of security holes and is no longer supported by Microsoft.  

Windows 98 will need the USB drivers for whatever thingy you might plug in there.  USB is not natively supported in '98.

I'm a little leery of doing secure stuff in public hot spots: banking, email, etc. unless I'm at home or at work.  

Quoted: Windows 98 will need the USB drivers for whatever thingy you might plug in there.  USB is not natively supported in '98.

Wouldnt the hardware (NETGEAR
54 Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter) typically come with the proper drivers on CDrom or something?

They may or may not. Like phish said, win98 is no longer supported so a lot of manufacturers dont bother with putting out drivers for that version. Even if they do, you might run into some complications getting your device to work with the win98 usb drivers. If you can't upgrade your OS, do some research on whether the drivers are available or not and how good they work with your OS.

I would still upgrade though....

Basically 98 sucks.  Get yourself windows XP Pro (not home) and wifi will be much easier.