wi fi in the USA and how does it work?

mikeouk

ok,first of all here is my plan.
im going to visit a friend in the usa in august and leaving someone to run my business.I need to get on the net daily to check emails from clients,compile the info in an excel file and email to the guy doing the work for me. I figured it would be alot less hassle if I had a laptop,so priced one up on dell.co.uk and then priced the same spec on dell.com, no suprises that if I order it from the us site and have it delivered to my friend,its about £100 cheaper.
Anyway,,can someone tell me how wifi works?is it just a case of finding a hotspot and connecting or would I have to load some other soft ware onto the laptop first? also, would the wifi device on a US spec laptop work in the UK.
thanks

koksrob

yes windows can manage your wifi so no real software required.

depends on the hotspot. but assuming the hotspot has security (WPA WEP etc) then you will neeed to enter a passphrase. which when you connect windows will ask for.

some other hotspots will allow you to connect straight away and then you pass through a proxy, which before you can go any where on the internet you will have to enter details into a webpage. This could be credit card details, a passphrase from a reception where you pay or other login details.

If you are using WIFI in a hotspot enviroment used by strangers for example a coffee house. please be aware has inherient dangers, look for the highest security (wpa2 etc). make sure you dont have any open shares on your pc. and do not enter credit card details when in this enviroment. if you have available use a VPN tunnel that will encrypt your data so no one will be able to view it.

Sorry to be a scare monger did my masters thesis on this

and onto your second question... america i believe uses a different frequency for its WIFI, but as far as im aware most hardware is inter changable between the two- so no worries there.

superscaper

koksrob wrote: »

and onto your second question... america i believe uses a different frequency for its WIFI, but as far as im aware most hardware is inter changable between the two- so no worries there.

Actually we use the same frequencies in the 2.4 GHz band, the only exception is that here in the UK and Europe we use a couple more (channels/frequencies eg 12 and 13) than the USA (only up to 11 I believe). But all numbered channels are the same frequency agreed internationally.

koksrob

I stand corrected. makes sense too... knew there was some small difference couldnt remember what it was (i blame the early morning ).

mascherano

doesnt say much for your masters degree, was it from the Open University by any chance (only joking)

koksrob

nope wasnt. why do you say that? i didnt do my thesis on the last bit about the differences in countries I just vaguely remembered there was a difference but they worked.

Im no way saying im the best (far from it) and i will always bow down to someone who knows more. All i was trying to say was that i did have some knowledge in the area.

cool-yeti

If I want to use my laptop in a Hotel Room in the USA and WiFi is not available, but the room has a broadband connection, What Cable/Connector will I need?

superscaper

ethernet (cat5 usually)

cool-yeti

Thanks for that, is that the same cable/connector that I'd use in the Uk or is this different?

superscaper

cool-yeti wrote: »

Thanks for that, is that the same cable/connector that I'd use in the Uk or is this different?

It's just a standard network cable, the same wherever you are in the world. Usually in the home it is what you'd use to connect your computer to a router.